Elysian Woods and Desolate Shores: Wollstonecraft’s Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and her Perception of Rousseau’s Ideas of Solitude

Abstract

This paper explores the philosophical approaches toward solitary living and social progress of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft. Comparing Wollstonecraft’s Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark against Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and his Reveries of the Solitary Walker, reveals how they understood the ideas of isolation and solitude in irreconcilable ways. Both authors approached solitude and social progress from distinctly personal standpoints, having both experienced crises in their personal lives, which prompted their social critiques of eighteenth-century Europe and England. Rousseau suffered from years of political exile, and the mental struggles of social paranoia, and Wollstonecraft faced and fought against sexism and female dependence. The article examines these two authors to show how one’s reaction to a state of solitude is determined by historical ideas, gender experiences, social experiences, selfishness, social consciousness, and dependence vs. independence. The paper concludes that Rousseau eventually found solace in a fantasy of solitary living, with a bleak outlook for the social progress of mankind, whereas Wollstonecraft more stoically accepted a life amidst a corrupt society in order to fight for the rights of women.