Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark · Chapter
Letter II explained
Wollstonecraft describes the town of Gothenburg, its Dutch-built canals, and the commercial society dominated by wealthy merchants.
What happens
Wollstonecraft describes the town of Gothenburg, its Dutch-built canals, and the commercial society dominated by wealthy merchants. She critiques the excessive hospitality, formal politeness, and heavy dining customs of the Swedes, contrasting them with the natural politeness of the peasantry. The letter ends with a lyrical, romantic reverie on the beauty of the Swedish summer night, offering an escape from social constraints.
Themes in this chapter
Social Critique and Class
Wollstonecraft critiques the merchant class's materialism, empty formalities, and the contrast between wealthy Swedes and the more genuine peasantry.
Nature and the Sublime
The chapter concludes with a sublime description of the Swedish night, where nature offers spiritual and emotional release from societal pressures.
Commerce and Morality
Wollstonecraft observes how commerce enriches merchants but raises the cost of living for others, and links hospitality to indolence rather than virtue.
Characters to notice
- Mary Wollstonecraft
The narrator and observer, reflecting on Swedish society and seeking solace in nature.
Key passages
“The more I see of the world, the more I am convinced that civilisation is a blessing not sufficiently estimated by those who have not traced its progress; for it not only refines our enjoyments, but produces a variety which enables us to retain the primitive delicacy of our sensations.”
Wollstonecraft argues that civilization, through imagination and the arts, enhances human experience and prevents sensory dullness.
This passage defends the value of civilization against those who romanticize primitive life.
“I could not help reckoning the peasantry the politest people of Sweden, who, only aiming at pleasing you, never think of being admired for their behaviour.”
She finds the Swedish peasants more genuinely polite than the upper classes, because their courtesy is natural and unselfconscious.
Highlights Wollstonecraft's critique of artificial social forms.
“Eternity is in these moments. Worldly cares melt into the airy stuff that dreams are made of, and reveries, mild and enchanting as the first hopes of love or the recollection of lost enjoyment, carry the hapless wight into futurity.”
In the sublime natural setting, she experiences a timeless, dreamlike state that transcends everyday worries.
Shows the emotional and philosophical relief she finds in nature.