Well-meant advice to young women : A qualitative content analysis of the forewords by Swedish female cookbook writers from mid-18th to mid-19th century

The aim of this thesis is to illuminate the ideals and values explicitly expressed by five female cookbook writers in mid-18th to mid-19th century Sweden. A qualitative content analysis of their forewords was implemented to highlight ideals and values connected to the categories: cookery, household maintenance, gender, class and education. An aspiration for order and frugality regarding cookery and household maintenance disclosed how the ideological current of mercantilism permeated the Swedish society. To economise and not overconsume was considered a patriotic deed. Marriage was the only way for women to advance socially and to assure economic stability. Therefore, the need to abide by the conventions of the ideal female was important, as to avoid life in the periphery. The treatment of the lower classes was held to reflect the relationship between man and God. For women, education, and more importantly experience, was to be obtained by own practice at home and never neglected. The Lutheran faith was steadfast and, seemingly, the Enlightenment could not compete, whereas if it could, maybe the forewords would have been phrased differently