In late 18th-century Europe, you knew trouble was brewing when your son started wearing yellow pants.
This was a sign he might be suffering from the “Werther Effect,” so named for the main character in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1774 popular novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. The story revolves around a romantic youth with signature yellow trousers who, spurned by his true love, takes his own life. Young men in several countries, overcome by amorous fervor after reading the book, would emulate the protagonist in manner and dress, seek out their soulmates, and audaciously declare their love. And when the objects of their affection were women totally out of their league who were unswayed by maudlin displays and yellow trousers, these men would, like Young Werther, do themselves in.
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