Summary:

The intense activity of these years is reflected in short dramatic satires and Singspiele; in essays on art, architecture, and religious tolerance; in scenes written for Faust and the uncompleted dramas Mahomet and Prometheus; in Clavigo (1774), a tragedy of destructive ambition, and Stella (1775), a drama of will-destroying sentimentality; in lyrics ranging in tone from the witty and cynical to the sublime and pathetic; and—most substantially—in Werther, which quickly became an international best seller.