Kungen, drottningen och folket : En studie i folkligt motstånd och genus i 1700-talets Sverige

The purpose of this study is to examine ordinary people’s resistance against the king and queen between the years of 1718 and 1790 in Sweden. This is done by examining court cases of treasonous and defamatory words used against the king and queen. The criticism and resistance towards the king and queen are analysed and compared to see how men and women in powerful positions were perceived differently. This essay also tries to answer how the dominant elite respond to the resistance. To analyse the everyday resistance, James C. Scott’s theories about hidden and public transcript are used. Criticism against the royal family was illegal in 18th century Sweden and was therefore often spoken in private settings. When the criticism or defamation was spoken in public places, it was often the result of drunkenness, outbursts of strong feelings or mental illness. The resistance found in these words can also be publicly displayed when the sender was disguised, either by anonymous texts or using a physical disguise. The king was the main subject of the critique; in 17 of 21 cases the king was criticised and the queen in 6 cases. These numbers includes cases where both were criticised. Criticism against the king often concerned political issues or a person’s discontent about something. In contrast, the queen was subject to slander against her character. The king was also more often represented as an abstract power figure in the analysed cases. This is connected to the king’s formal power, whereas the queen’s power was more informal. Both the king and queen was criticised for their reckless spending, since society’s divisions affected both men and women. Class also affected how the resistance was performed, where people from higher classes gave written criticism and lower classes tended to express their criticism more spontaneously