In the Nineteenth Letter of Wollstonecraft’s
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, she informs her unnamed recipient, “Do not forget that in my general observations, I do not pretend to sketch a national character; but merely to note the present state of morals and manners, as I trace the progress of the world’s improvement… my principal object has been to take such a dispassionate view of men as will lead me to form a just idea of the nature of man” (Holmes 172). The result is one of the most unorthodox eighteenth-century travel narratives, a mixture of vivid description, Romantic rhapsody, pointed social commentary, and veiled scorn for her long-time lover, Gilbert Imlay. Remarkably, these disparate threads cohere into a kind of field study…
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Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 October 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3983, accessed 03 December 2024.]
