Love, Class‐Crossing Courtship, and the Reading of English Novels in Late Eighteenth‐Century Sweden

Abstract This article examines how novel reading influenced the courtship practices of Pehr Stenberg, a peasant who became a clergyman. Stenberg wrote a detailed account of his life in which his courtships of high‐born women are described in detail. These courtships took place during a transformative time when the ideal that marriage should be based on love became more firmly established. This ideal made a significant mark on novels of the time which were read and admired by Stenberg. Focusing on Stenberg's infatuations with aristocratic women during his time working as a tutor in noble homes, this article illustrates how novel reading could intensify emotions, create new expectations of the role of emotions in marriage, and influence the way in which emotions were expressed.