The other important female character in Oroonoko besides Imoinda is the unnamed female narrator. The narrator of the story does not tell us much about her. We know that her father died on the sea voyage to Surinam (Behn, Oroonoko 194). She also tells us she has an influential position and that she is respected: "As soon as I came into the country, the best house in it was presented me" (Behn, Oroonoko 195). She seems sympathetic to Oroonoko and his plight even claiming that she was respected by him: "[m]yself, whom he called his Great Mistress; and indeed my word would go a great way with him" (Behn, Oroonoko 192). However, she turns out to be an unreliable narrator. She has an ambiguous stance on many topics and often doesn 't state her opinion …show more content…
Her stance on men is also confusing (Pearson 186). For instance, she calls Colonel Martin "a man of great gallantry, wit, and goodness, and whom I have celebrated in a character of my new comedy, by his own name, in memory of so brave a man" (Behn, Oroonoko 214). However, when danger pounces in form of a tiger he is asked to "stand aside, or follow the ladies" (Behn, Oroonoko 196). Oroonoko is the one to kill the tiger in the end (Behn, Oroonoko 197). In general, there are some negative implications of the word man throughout the narrative: "a feeble old man" (Behn, Oroonoko 160), "a man of very little religion" (Behn, Oroonoko 177), "a man that had no sense or notion of the God that he worshipp 'd" (Behn, Oroonoko 181). In the end, it is a "bold Englishman" (Behn, Oroonoko 221) and "a wild Irish man" (Behn, Oroonoko 222) that kill Oroonoko …show more content…
In conclusion, one can ascribe a rather ambiguous role to the narrator. She has an ambiguous relationship towards Oroonoko (sympathy vs. fear) and his enslavement (convinces him to stay but says he 'll be free). She is excused from evil deeds done to Oroonoko because she herself is in a powerless position but by telling Oroonoko 's story she herself exerts her own power. Jacqueline Pearson sums up the role of this narrator perfectly in her text "Gender and Narrative in the Fiction of Aphra Behn" by stating:
The female narrator of Oroonoko is used as a highly effective part of Behn 's critique of subordination, of slaves and of women. Anxious, shifty, duplicitous, divided between sympathy and fear for the royal slaves and doubt and complacency about her own female powers and abilities, between criticism of European colonialism and her desire to earn the approval of the colonists, she reveals, partly by her attempts to conceal, an extraordinarily vivid image of the cultural position of seventeenth-century woman. (Pearson 190)
Behn may or may not criticize slavery but in the end she leaves it open for the readers to decide. This is only possible because of the unique role of the female narrator and her position in the narrative as
The next chapter highlights the gendered division of labor and the difficulty to keep a family as a slave. Chapter six and seven moves on to the eighteenth century and shows how women have improved in areas such as more political participation and increasing social class of
Analogous in form to the spiritual autobiography, the slave narrative emphasizes the difficulty of upholding moral goodness under the weight of slavery. By revealing herself as a “fallen woman” Jacobs creates a hazardous problem, capable of eliminating the sympathies of a primarily white audience. Moreover, Jacobs risks portraying herself as an impure woman, whose virtuousness departs from the piousness and gracefulness typically exemplified by the ideal woman or “angel in the house,” according to the “Cult of True Womanhood.” Therefore, in an effort to preserve the ethos of her argument, Jacobs attributes her unchaste condition to the systemic effects of American slavery. Hoping to destroy the ideology of benign paternalism, Jacobs reveals her consequential ethical dilemma through a faint description of her master’s, Dr. Flint’s, licentious behavior.
Though she has made some dramatic claims, they don’t seem to bear much
Jacobs decided to write her autobiography “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” in order to share the true life of enslaved women, since men wrote most autobiographies. She wanted a woman’s perspective and she thought she was obliged to write it because she was well educated for a black woman during the times of slavery. Her life and other people alike her had their lives greatly affected by Andrew Jackson and his political roles during the late 1920’s to early 1950’s. Jackson’s policies, politics, and societal roles during and after his presidency affected the lives of enslaved women in the United States between 1828 and 1850.
“This women has violated the roles rightly reserved for women participating in “manly activities”’, many rules made it so that it was not a land of opportunity for women, children and even Native Americans. During the 1600’s many people such as Native Americans, English, and African Americans, (both men and women) which played an important role in the question was it a land of opportunity for children, women, indentured servants, colonist and Native Americans. Children had to work before and after school, working on plantations or chores such as weaving clothes, or feeding animals which gave them little free time. Women didn’t have the rights they should of had, the men thought that women weren’t strong and that they shouldn 't be doing manly
Unlike, male slaves, women were rarely given the opportunity for advancement via skilled labor. Their daily lives were largely shaped by the harsh realities of agricultural production. The final chapter turns more explicitly to ideas of autonomy and reproduction, examining what Morgan refers to as a “gynecological revolt.” She looks at how women could use reproduction, or a lack
As many other literary texts such as Jane Eyre or Gone with the Wind are more straight forward with their exhibit of views on women, this short story requires a more in depth, close reading to illustrate
4. Abject in “About Face” Similarly to the crucial aspects above, the poem “About Face” represents some issues already mentioned. The poem “About Face”, by Patience Agbabi is a poetic depiction of the mythological painting of the goddess of the hunt Diana and a hunter Actaeon. First of all, the poem has an interesting structure and way of representing and conveying its meaning.
Her subjective female voice challenges the gender expectations of the Victorian Era. In the 19th century, strict social rules guided the interaction of men and women. Victorian women weren’t allowed to meet men without permission or supervision. Additionally, most marriages were based on money and materialistic means.
The book expounds more information on race information of the slaves in the land of the Caribbean. It further clarifies on the sexual relationship that existed between the masters who owned the slaves and enslaved women of color in the Caribbean Island. The author gives more light on the sexual assaults against young black girls had to undergo while in the hands of white planters who owned large track on sugar plantation on the Island, unlike the white who lived freely. Though Stuart is girl barely out of childhood age, she sees the glaring proof of affection as well as obligation on her part do something concerning dehumanization of women through sexual assault. Stuart knows pretty well that she can hardly speak of dedication or desire or choice in such unequal situation may be living in a hell of sexual assaults.
As many events occur throughout the novel, the reader is able to understand a first-hand understanding of a historical period of time, while also gaining the emotions and logistics of consequential personal experiences. Therefore, from these experiences the reader may achieve a greater understanding of history itself which would not have been possible without the rhetorical devices found inside literature and the truth of Cora’s struggles which were analogous to other slaves of the time, may never have received the general comprehension that it
It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.
The Cult of True Womanhood in “The Yellow Wallpaper” In her essay “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”, Barbara Welter discusses the expected roles and characteristics that women were supposed to exhibit in accordance with the extreme patriarchy of the nineteenth-century America. The unnamed narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is seen to conform and ultimately suffer from this patriarchal construct that Welter labels the Cult of True Womanhood. The narrator falls victim to this life of captivity by exhibiting several of the fundamental characteristics that Welter claims define what a woman was told she ought to be.
Furthermore, the author displays a dystopian society completely dominated by a totalitarian and theocratic state. The main subject of this novel is the role assigned to women, mainly represented by the handmaids. In Gilead, the made-up country where the novel takes place, women are completely subjected by the government, and especially by men, who clearly have a higher status than women. Moreover, women’s freedom is entirely restricted, as they cannot leave their house at their will, they are forbidden to hold properties or jobs, they cannot read or write, and they are treated as sexual slaves whose only purpose in life is to bear children for elite spouses. The other option is a miserable, short life at the Colonies (a type of concentration camp), and death.
This causes a major difference in her perspective of the events; she attempts to use a reasonable interpretation of events, so