Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark · Question
How does Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark develop the theme of Freedom and Despotism?
Answer
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft develops Freedom and Despotism across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The narrative contrasts the liberating potential of democratic ideals with the stifling effects of monarchical and economic despotism, seen in rigid customs, corrupt laws, and the treatment of the poor.
Wollstonecraft criticizes the despotism of Swedish pilots and customs officials, contrasting it with English enterprise and freedom.
Despite being under an absolute monarch, Norwegians enjoy freedoms such as a free press, mild laws, and patriarchal but accountable local governance, which Wollstonecraft praises as the most free community she has observed.
Wollstonecraft feels imprisoned by the rocky landscape and the narrow, confined life of the town, describing it as a 'bastille by nature' and longing for escape.
Evidence in the book
- Letter I
Wollstonecraft criticizes the despotism of Swedish pilots and customs officials, contrasting it with English enterprise and freedom.
- Letter VII
Despite being under an absolute monarch, Norwegians enjoy freedoms such as a free press, mild laws, and patriarchal but accountable local governance, which Wollstonecraft praises as the most free community she has observed.
- Letter XI
Wollstonecraft feels imprisoned by the rocky landscape and the narrow, confined life of the town, describing it as a 'bastille by nature' and longing for escape.
- Letter XVIII: Copenhagen
Observations on the king's puppet-like existence and the Prince Royal's failure to act decisively, reflecting on the nature of power and tyranny.
- Letter XXII
The sight of soldiers in Sleswick recalls 'German despotism'; she reflects on the waste of human life in war and the bartering of soldiers by princes.
- Letter XXIII
Critique of Hamburg's governance as oppressive to the poor and narrowing to the rich, and the loss of individual character in the 'Hamburger.'
- Appendix
She notes the vanishing of 'gigantic evils of despotism and anarchy' and advocates for gradual reform rooted in reason and national maturity.
