Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark · Chapter
Letter XXII explained
Wollstonecraft travels through Germany, contrasting its lively, industrious towns with the somber silence of Denmark.
What happens
Wollstonecraft travels through Germany, contrasting its lively, industrious towns with the somber silence of Denmark. She reflects on the despotism of petty princes, the waste of human life in war, and the condition of women and the poor. A tedious crossing of the Little Belt, where her child goes hungry, triggers a meditation on separation and the fragility of human connections.
Themes in this chapter
Social Critique and Class
Wollstonecraft contrasts the comfort of German towns with the poverty of Denmark and critiques charity as a cover for sin, arguing that national wealth hardens the rich and increases the cares of the poor.
Freedom and Despotism
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.
Gender and Women's Condition
Observations on the grotesque, cumbersome dress of German women and the role of women in 'polishing manners' as a means to better their condition.
Travel and Self-Discovery
Wollstonecraft's journey through Germany prompts reflections on memory, separation, and the ennui of travel, as well as the difficulty of observing new scenes while burdened by sorrow.
Characters to notice
- Mary Wollstonecraft
Narrator and traveler, reflecting on German society, despotism, and maternal anxieties during the crossing.
- Marguerite
Traveling companion who amuses herself with local costumes and looks forward to recounting her adventures in Paris.
- Gilbert Imlay
Addressee of the letter; Wollstonecraft's spirits have languished since returning to Gothenburg, alluding to him.
- Young
Wollstonecraft's daughter, whose hunger during the crossing triggers a vivid, anguished reverie.
Key passages
“I had often endeavoured to rouse myself to observation by reflecting that I was passing through scenes which I should probably never see again, and consequently ought not to omit observing. Still I fell into reveries, thinking, by way of excuse, that enlargement of mind and refined feelings are of little use but to barb the arrows of sorrow which waylay us everywhere”
She tried to force herself to pay attention to the new landscapes, knowing she would never return, but kept sinking into melancholy thoughts—concluding that greater understanding and sensitivity only make grief more painful.
Wollstonecraft reflects on the futility of refined feelings in the face of pervasive sorrow.
“I viewed, with a mixture of pity and horror, these beings training to be sold to slaughter, or be slaughtered, and fell into reflections on an old opinion of mine, that it is the preservation of the species, not of individuals, which appears to be the design of the Deity throughout the whole of Nature.”
Watching soldiers drill, she felt pity and horror, recalling her belief that nature cares only for the survival of the species, not individual lives—a principle she sees in war, disease, and social prejudice.
A meditation on the waste of human life and the indifference of nature to individual suffering.
“All the world is a stage, thought I; and few are there in it who do not play the part they have learnt by rote; and those who do not, seem marks set up to be pelted at by fortune, or rather as signposts which point out the road to others, whilst forced to stand still themselves amidst the mud and dust.”
She muses that most people mindlessly follow prescribed roles; those who deviate become targets of fate or serve as examples to others while remaining stuck themselves.
A theatrical metaphor for social conformity and the cost of individuality.
