July. The young poet Werther visits the house of the recently widowed Bailiff where his young children are practicing a Christmas carol. Werther is to escort Charlotte, the Bailiff's eldest daughter, to a ball that evening. He is strongly attracted by the beauty and tenderness of Charlotte as she looks after her siblings. On their return from the ball, Werther declares his love to her, but he finds out that Charlotte is already engaged to Albert, who she promised her dying mother to marry.
