# Letter XI explained — Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark

> Chapter companion for Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft.

## What happens

Wollstonecraft describes her journey from Portoer to Rusoer, a bleak and rocky coastal town. She reflects on the oppressive landscape, the mercantile and morally blunted character of the inhabitants, and the contrast between the sublime natural scenery and the stifling social environment. She also recounts an evening boat ride with a French horn, which evokes thoughts of Shakespeare's magic island, and a dinner with the English vice-consul where she observes the early signs of cultural improvement.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and the Sublime

Wollstonecraft describes the sublime landscape of rocks, cliffs, and sea, evoking feelings of awe and contemplation, and compares the scenery to Shakespeare's magic island.

### Social Critique and Class

She criticizes the mercantile, money-driven society of Rusoer, the lack of cultivation, and the coarseness of the inhabitants, while noting early signs of improvement through reading and refined manners.

### Freedom and Despotism

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.

## Character check-ins

### Mary Wollstonecraft

Narrator and observer; reflects on the landscape, society, and her own feelings of confinement and longing for freedom.

### Gilbert Imlay

Addressee of the letter; Wollstonecraft writes to him, sharing her experiences and thoughts.

## Key lines

> I soon perceived that an experienced mariner was necessary to guide us, for we were continually obliged to tack about, to avoid the rocks, which, scarcely reaching to the surface of the water, could only be discovered by the breaking of the waves over them.

Wollstonecraft realizes that only a skilled sailor can navigate the treacherous waters, where hidden rocks are revealed only by the waves breaking over them.

_Highlights the danger and difficulty of the coastal journey._

> Talk not of Bastilles! To be born here was to be bastilled by nature—shut out from all that opens the understanding, or enlarges the heart.

Wollstonecraft declares that being born in this rocky, isolated place is like being imprisoned by nature itself, cut off from intellectual and emotional growth.

_Powerful metaphor linking physical confinement to intellectual and spiritual deprivation._

> Nothing genial, in fact, appears around this place, or within the circle of its rocks.

There is nothing warm, kind, or life-giving in this environment or among its people.

_Expresses her sense of the barrenness and inhospitality of both the landscape and the society._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/letters_written_during_a_short_residence_in_swed_se/chapters/letter-xi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/letters_written_during_a_short_residence_in_swed_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/letters_written_during_a_short_residence_in_swed_se/chapters