# Letter XXIII 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 arrival in Hamburg and Altona, critiquing the mercantile spirit of Hamburg's inhabitants and contrasting their greed with the dignified suffering of French emigrants. She reflects on the moral decay caused by commerce, mentions Madame la Fayette's plight, and addresses a personal reproach to Imlay for his own transformation through business.

## Themes in this chapter

### Commerce and Morality

Wollstonecraft critiques the moral degradation caused by commerce, contrasting the greed of Hamburg merchants with the dignity of emigrants.

### Social Critique and Class

Observations on the vulgarity of new wealth and the contrasting fortitude of fallen aristocrats among the emigrants.

### Freedom and Despotism

Critique of Hamburg's governance as oppressive to the poor and narrowing to the rich, and the loss of individual character in the 'Hamburger.'

## Character check-ins

### Mary Wollstonecraft

Narrator and observer, reflecting on Hamburg society and addressing Imlay directly.

### Gilbert Imlay

Addressed directly by Wollstonecraft, who reproaches him for his alteration due to commerce.

### Madame la Fayette

Mentioned as having left Altona to seek her husband's release, living humbly with her daughters.

### Young

The author of the American Farmer's Letters, who dines with Wollstonecraft and joins in declamations against commerce.

## Key lines

> Hamburg is an ill, close-built town, swarming with inhabitants, and, from what I could learn, like all the other free towns, governed in a manner which bears hard on the poor, whilst narrowing the minds of the rich; the character of the man is lost in the Hamburger.

Hamburg is a cramped, overcrowded city whose governance oppresses the poor and stunts the rich, so that individual identity is subsumed by the mercantile label 'Hamburger.'

_Wollstonecraft's social critique of Hamburg's political and moral climate._

> Men entirely devoted to commerce never acquire or lose all taste and greatness of mind. An ostentatious display of wealth without elegance, and a greedy enjoyment of pleasure without sentiment, embrutes them till they term all virtue of an heroic cast, romantic attempts at something above our nature, and anxiety about the welfare of others, a search after misery in which we have no concern.

Men wholly absorbed in commerce lack or lose refinement and nobility, flaunting wealth tastelessly and pursuing pleasure without feeling, so that they dismiss heroic virtue as unrealistic and concern for others as pointless misery-seeking.

_Wollstonecraft's moral condemnation of the commercial mindset._

> But you will say that I am growing bitter, perhaps personal. Ah! shall I whisper to you, that you yourself are strangely altered since you have entered deeply into commerce—more than you are aware of; never allowing yourself to reflect, and keeping your mind, or rather passions, in a continual state of agitation?

You might think I am becoming bitter or personal, but let me confide that you have changed profoundly since immersing yourself in commerce, losing self-reflection and keeping your passions in constant turmoil.

_Direct reproach to Imlay, linking his personal transformation to commercial pursuits._

## Links

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