Eighteenth-Century Europe

The first, most obvious point of inquiry is the late eighteenth-century during which the story's action takes place. The story's physical setting is Denmark, but in light of Adam's preoccupation with the intellectual currents sweeping England, France, and the newly independent United States, it is clearly important to consider what is happening in these places as well. Although changes during this period are many, the most significant are that the French Revolution and the American War of Independence have ushered in a new age of individual rights. The once clear divisions between the landed nobility and the landless peasantry now became increasingly complicated. One complicating factor is the emergence of a "middle" class-a consequence of the fledgling Industrial Revolution. Another is the contradiction between "the divine right of kings" and the "inalienable rights of men." It is important, however, to keep in mind that these new...