Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark · Chapter
Letter VI explained
Wollstonecraft describes her sea voyage to Laurvig (Larvik) and her arrival in Tonsberg, Norway.
What happens
Wollstonecraft describes her sea voyage to Laurvig (Larvik) and her arrival in Tonsberg, Norway. She reflects on the kindness of strangers, the beauty of the Norwegian landscape, and her anxieties about raising her daughter in a world that oppresses women. The chapter is marked by deep emotional introspection, memories of lost loved ones, and a meditation on nature as both a source of sublime joy and melancholy.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Sublime
Wollstonecraft vividly describes the Norwegian landscape—cliffs, forests, and the sea—as sources of sublime emotion and deep sentiment.
Gender and Women's Condition
She reflects on the 'dependent and oppressed state' of her sex and her fears for her daughter's future, highlighting the constraints on women.
Reason vs. Sentiment
The chapter explores the tension between the dangers of fostering deep sentiment and the natural human inclination toward emotional and aesthetic experience.
Characters to notice
- Mary Wollstonecraft
Narrator and protagonist; reflects on her emotions, her daughter, and her travels through Norway.
- Frances Blood
The 'dear friend' and 'friend of my youth' whose memory Wollstonecraft cherishes; her grave is mentioned.
- Gilbert Imlay
Referred to as 'another' from whom fate has separated her; his 'fire of whose eyes' still warms her breast.
- Edward John Wollstonecraft
Wollstonecraft's daughter; she expresses deep maternal anxiety about her future and the dependent state of women.
Key passages
“Nature is the nurse of sentiment, the true source of taste; yet what misery, as well as rapture, is produced by a quick perception of the beautiful and sublime when it is exercised in observing animated nature...”
Nature nurtures our emotions and aesthetic sense, but being acutely sensitive to beauty and grandeur can bring both joy and suffering.
Wollstonecraft reflects on the dual nature of aesthetic sensitivity.
“I dread lest she should be forced to sacrifice her heart to her principles, or principles to her heart.”
I fear my daughter may have to choose between following her true feelings and adhering to her moral beliefs.
Expresses maternal anxiety about the difficult choices women face.
“The grave has closed over a dear friend, the friend of my youth. Still she is present with me, and I hear her soft voice warbling as I stray over the heath.”
Though my childhood friend is dead, I still feel her presence and imagine hearing her voice as I walk through the countryside.
A poignant memory of Frances Blood, evoking enduring grief and connection.