Epistolary Novels as Narrative Therapy: Werther to The Color Purple

Introduction: Letter Writing as Therapy

"Narrative therapy" was developed by modern psychology as a new tool using one of the oldest habits of the civilized world: letter writing. In the case of literature, "the healing power of art" shifted from a catchphrase to a genuine meaning. Narrative psychotherapy is a relatively new field of research that developed scientifically what literature had already presented empirically as a form of therapy. Even in presenting readers with fictional letters, the epistolary novels of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries already suggested that letter writing had a therapy-like effect on their fictional authors. Letter writing acted as a catharsis for letter-writer characters in epistolary novels, even when it could not prevent them from ultimately taking their own lives.

The Epistolary Novel and Individual Psychology

In his study The Epistolary Novel, Joe Bray emphasizes that he intends to regard this type of novel as "fundamental to the novel's development in increasingly sophisticated ways of representing individual psychology" (The Epistolary Novel, 2). Today, epistolary novels are considered the precursors of the psychological novel.

Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung: Real Letters, Real Healing

An early real-world example of psychotherapy through letters is the correspondence between the world-renowned quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli and the psychiatrist Carl Jung. The two maintained a correspondence over more than two decades. The dilemmas of a twentieth-century scientist — the ethical problems that arose at every turn, as well as Pauli's own personal traumas — led him to seek professional guidance beyond the cold rationale of scientific methods. His correspondence with Jung helped him explore his own subconscious more deeply, reaching into the world of archetypes. Their exchange of letters succeeded in drawing him out of the ivory tower of science into which he had isolated himself.

Pauli was born at the beginning of a century that would bring dramatic changes to all fields of science, including those dealing with the human mind. From his correspondence with Jung, Pauli benefitted from the latter's expertise both as a scientist and as a psychiatrist exploring new methods and treatments in the field of psychoanalysis.

The Sorrows of Young Werther: Catharsis and Descent

The Sorrows of Young Werther is one of the most renowned novels ever written in the epistolary form, and it precedes by more than a century the breakthroughs made in psychotherapy. The novel is partly autobiographical and reads like a catharsis for the author himself, as well as for the fictional author of the letters: the young Werther. Wilhelm, the recipient of these letters, speaks in the novel only through Werther's references to his advice, suggestions, and encouragements.

Goethe's novel is written in the spirit of a clinician who has asked a patient to write down his everyday experiences and dreams in the form of a diary. Goethe explained that even though the names and the letters themselves are fictitious, the reactions, thoughts, and experiences are drawn from real people, including himself. He was twenty-four when he wrote the book, and he drew mainly on his own experiences as well as those of a close friend who had committed suicide because of a tragic love affair. The book had a powerful impact on contemporary and future audiences who were able to identify with at least one aspect of Werther's life.

The reader is presented with a young man who seems to lie down on a psychotherapist's sofa and recollect recent memories from a vacation spent in the countryside. Werther's friend Wilhelm appears to approve and encourage the idea of passing time away from the crowd, enjoying the new environment, and avoiding tormenting thoughts as much as possible. The letter Werther writes on the 14th of May reveals that Wilhelm is not only very close to him but also knows him well: "My friend, need I tell you all this, you, whom I have so often burdened with the sight of my transitions from grief to excessive joy, from sweet melancholy to fatal passion. I treat my poor heart, moreover, as though it were a sick child, and satisfy all its desires. Do not tell this to anyone; there are those who would strongly disapprove" (Wain, The Oxford Library of Short Novels, Vol. 1, Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 6).

At the beginning, Werther's letters alternate between outbursts of joy and deep moments of sadness. He is often in a contemplative or deeply meditative mood. At other times he observes the people around him — especially children — and finds great pleasure in doing so. He describes children as being frequently drawn to him, which pleases and puzzles him, making him eager to discover what in his character appeals to them so much. This predisposition to introspection is characteristic of the act of writing down one's experiences. The interaction with others is encouraged by this disposition toward analysis and self-analysis.

Freedman and Combs write about their own revelations in the field of therapy through storytelling, inspired by Erickson's "teaching tales." Erickson's therapeutic solution was aimed at "expanding and enriching people's stories about themselves" (Narrative Therapy, 10). Werther's letters converge toward a point where he seems eager to expand his self-knowledge through his interactions with others and his responses to them.