| Summary: | The poet Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht (1718–63) wrote extensively on the subject of love. Often, her texts discuss love in relation to Enlightenment subjects, such as female emancipation and education. Her works bear traces of so-called précieuse ideas – an adjective sometimes used to pack together learned French aristocratic women who frequented the Parisian salons in the mid seventeenth century. The précieuses have become famous for their original and radical thoughts on the role of women. This thesis examines the view of love expressed in a selection of pastorals, fairy tales and lyric poems by Nordenflycht, bringing the précieuse protofeminist heritage into focus. Nordenflycht was an extremely assured debater who, throughout her life, consistently advocated practically the same ideological messages. Her advocacy of female emancipation runs through nearly all her texts in some form and is, as this thesis demonstrates, apparent even in her pastorals, fairy tales and lyric poems. In this respect, she bridges differences of genre. Nordenflycht used the realm of fiction to create and promote an alternative to the traditional amorous attachments: tender, equal and spiritual friendships, inspired by Madeleine de Scudéry’s amitié tendre. She portrayed ideal love as a relationship between two free souls, helping each other reach true wisdom. Interestingly, this emphasis on ethereal affection seems to have led to the complete exclusion of sexuality from her writings. Furthermore, by depicting love as path to individual self-realisation, Nordenflycht heralded romantic love. This thesis provides a comprehensive picture of Nordenflycht’s philosophy of love and the way it relates to early modern protofeminist ideas.
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