Werther's departure from Charlotte turns a concealed decision into a painful farewell: he intends to leave at daybreak, but she does not know that the meeting is meant to be their last before he goes. The scene binds separation to the place where their shared affection first took shape, then ends with Charlotte vanishing from his sight beneath the linden trees.

Decision and Departure

On September 3, Werther says that he has spent a fortnight thinking of leaving and thanks Wilhelm for helping to settle his wavering purpose. Charlotte has returned to town and is staying at a friend's house; Werther also names Albert as a reason he must go. By September 10, the decision has become immediate. He waits for dawn, when horses are to be at the door, and believes he will never see Charlotte again.

The resolve follows a period of intense distress. Werther describes becoming physically overwhelmed after spending hours in Charlotte's company, then tearing himself away to wander through the country or force a path through thorny thickets. Leaving is presented not as the result of a quarrel but as an attempt to break from a passion that has consumed his attention and brought him no relief.

The Moonlit Meeting

Before the departure, Werther meets Charlotte and Albert in the garden. He waits beneath the tall chestnut trees, where he had often watched the sunset with Charlotte. The spot matters to them both: before they knew each other, each had loved the same view, and the avenue of beech trees leads from it to a dark, secluded recess that Werther associates with a foreboding of future happiness or misery.

After supper, Albert joins Charlotte in the garden. Werther has spent half an hour struggling between going and returning before he runs to meet them. He trembles as he takes Charlotte's hand and kisses it. As they approach the recess, the moon rises behind the wooded hill; Charlotte sits down, Albert beside her, while Werther repeatedly stands, walks, and sits again, unable to remain composed. The stillness of the moonlit scene contrasts with his visible agitation.

Charlotte speaks of how moonlight recalls her departed friends and leads her to thoughts of death and an afterlife. She asks whether those who live again will recognize one another. Werther answers that they will meet again, here and hereafter, while recognizing that the question intensifies his fear of their separation. The conversation gives the farewell a spiritual register, but does not resolve the uncertainty Charlotte raises.

A Farewell Kept Secret

Werther has just spent two hours with Charlotte without betraying his intention to leave. When she rises and asks to go because it is late, he continues holding her hand as she tries to withdraw it. He says he is going willingly, yet allows that he may not keep his word if he calls the departure forever. Charlotte answers with a smile that she thinks they will see each other tomorrow. Her expectation exposes the gap between them: she treats the leave-taking as temporary, while he regards it as an imminent and possibly final separation.

After Charlotte and Albert walk down the avenue, Werther stands watching them in the moonlight. He throws himself on the ground and weeps, then runs onto the terrace. Under the linden trees he sees Charlotte's white dress disappearing near the garden gate; he stretches out his arms, and she vanishes from view. The departure thus ends not with an acknowledged agreement between the three, but with Werther alone, confronted by the distance he has chosen and concealed.

Narrative Significance

The event is recounted in Werther's letter to Wilhelm, so the reader knows what Charlotte does not: the departure has been planned, the horses are expected at sunrise, and Werther has disguised his purpose throughout their meeting. That dramatic disparity makes her casual expectation of seeing him tomorrow especially painful. His hesitation over whether he can truly say forever also leaves the farewell emotionally divided between a declared departure and a longing that refuses to make separation certain.

The scene draws together recurring elements of Werther's attachment: a landscape shared with Charlotte, the hand he cannot readily release, and his appeal to a reunion beyond death. Their familiar avenue becomes the path by which she leaves his sight. The scene's decisive change is from physical closeness and shared conversation to an irreversible-seeming image of absence, even as Charlotte herself remains unaware of the meaning Werther assigns to it.