Nordenflycht was a leading Swedish writer of the 18th century. She composed poetry from a young age, but after her husband’s death in 1741 her work became more refined. The poems in Den sörgande turturdufvan (The Grieving Turtle Dove, 1743) are tenderly personal, marked by loneliness, sorrow and regret. Another work from this period is Svenska fruntimrets klagan (Lament of the Swedish Woman), an elegy to Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Younger. In works like Fruntimrets försvar (Defence of Women, 1761), Nordenflycht stood up for women’s emancipation.