If anything, the migration of Shakespeare into Sweden was complex and fraught with uncertainties. The scant existing documentation of performances in the 18^thcentury indicates that the introduction of Shakespeare often took the route via French or German translations, although in some cases there are clear indications that English was the source language. Gothenburg, on the west coast of Sweden, had lively contacts with Great Britain and it was also here that for example Hamlet was staged the first time. Notably, Shakespeare was not performed in the capital of Stockholm until the 1810s: it was theatres in provincial towns like Gothenburg and Norrköping that introduced Shakespeare, in various versions, to the Swedish stage. In the light of this historical development, the present paper argues that the migration of Shakespeare into the country was strongly linked to the rise of a wealthy provincial bourgeoisie, often with economic connections in England and Scotland. Once Shakespeare begun to be staged in the capital, it was for different reasons, involving the rise of literary Romanticism, and from the horizon of a Europe that had been affected by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Thus, the paper concludes, the early history of Shakespeare in Sweden was not so much the result of national projects or specific agendas as the consequence of an emerging class restructuring and economic interests.