Werther is asked to leave the Count C—’s gathering after entering a society from which subalterns are considered excluded. The episode converts an unnoticed breach of rank into a public humiliation: Werther departs politely, but the spreading story makes him feel exposed to the pity and triumph of those he regards as his enemies.

Setting and Circumstances

In a letter dated March 15, Werther recounts an incident from the previous evening. He had dined with Count C—, who liked and distinguished him, and then stayed with the Count in the large hall as the hour of the evening assembly approached. Werther says he had not thought about the gathering or about the fact that subalterns did not belong to that society. His presence begins, in his account, not as a deliberate challenge but as an oversight he recognizes only after the social occasion is already under way.

The contrast between the Count’s personal favor and the assembly’s exclusion shapes the encounter. Werther describes the arrival of a titled lady, her husband, and their daughter, whose disdainful looks and haughty manner make him want to leave. He waits for the Count to be free, but stays when Miss B— arrives, because speaking with her gives him pleasure. Only after she grows confused and stops answering with her customary ease does Werther begin to suspect that the room’s social atmosphere has changed around him.

The Request to Leave

As more guests arrive, Werther notices that acquaintances answer him curtly. He does not at first realize that women are whispering at one end of the room and that the murmur is spreading among the men. Miss B— later tells him that Madame S— speaks emphatically to the Count before he approaches Werther. The exclusion reaches him through a private conversation rather than a public reprimand: the Count takes him to the window and says that the company is displeased by his presence, while acknowledging the absurdity of the customs that require this distinction.

Werther responds with an apology and says he should have thought of the restriction sooner. He adds that he had already intended to go, then smiles, bows, and takes his leave. The Count shakes his hand in a manner Werther understands as expressive of feeling, preserving their personal regard even as the Count communicates the assembly’s rejection. Werther hurries from the gathering, gets into a carriage, and drives to M—.

Immediate Aftermath

Away from the company, Werther watches the setting sun from a hill and reads a passage in Homer about Ulysses being entertained by hospitable herdsmen. The scene offers a brief counterpoint to the gathering: after being excluded from aristocratic hospitality, he finds pleasure in a literary image of welcome. Yet the respite does not last. When he returns home for supper, an acquaintance quietly tells him that he has heard about the disagreeable adventure and confirms that the Count obliged Werther to withdraw.

Werther initially insists that he was glad to leave. The acquaintance is relieved by his apparent lightness but regrets that the story is already widely discussed. That report changes the event’s force. Werther begins to imagine that everyone who looks at him is thinking about the incident, and his heart grows embittered. What had seemed manageable as a private departure becomes painful once it is recirculated as public gossip.

Social Meaning and Narrative Role

The rebuff exposes the boundary between the Count’s individual favor and the aristocratic society assembled at his house. Werther may dine with the Count and converse with him, but those signs of personal acceptance do not grant him membership in the gathering. The episode’s social rule is enforced through whispers, a warning delivered aside, and the expectation that Werther will remove himself without disrupting the company.

The letter’s movement from self-description as a mere chronicler of facts to the report of wounded pride makes the incident more than a record of etiquette. Werther first presents his departure as a reasonable response to a slight and recounts the gestures that kept it outwardly civil. He then describes how pity and mockery make the humiliation harder to bear. The event thus turns on a reversal: leaving the room ends the immediate confrontation, but cannot prevent the story from following him into the wider social world.