Jacobs directs her account of the afflictions a woman is subjected to in the chain of slavery to women of the north to gain sympathy for their sisters that were enslaved in the south. In showing this, Jacobs reveals the danger of such self disapprobation women maintained by accepting the idealized role that men have set a goal for which to strive. She suggests that slave women be judged by different standards than those applied to other women. Jacobs develops a moral code that apprises the specific social and historical position of captive black women. Jacobs’ will power and strength shown in her narrative are characteristics of womanly behavior being developed by the emerging feminist movement.
Inventing the American Woman: An inclusive History vol 1 (Harlan Davidson, 2001). 5. Solomon, Martha M. The Woman Suffrage Press. (University of Alabama Press, 1991). 6.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl uses clear detail and straightforward language, except when talking about her sexual history, to fully describe what it is like to be a slave. Jacobs says that Northerners only think of slavery as perpetual bondage; they don't know the depth of degradation there is to that word. She believes that no one could truly understand how slavery really is unless they have gone through it. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl do not only tell about the physical pains and hard labor that she went through. It mostly concentrates on the emotional viewpoints on it and what it did to shape who she is.
Nevertheless, Jacobs’ female slave narrative would eventually be discovered as an important literary achievement for the female slave and feminism. Harriet Jacobs female slave narrative brought to the fore-front many issues relating to gender and sexuality in the patriarchal society of antebellum America. In particular, the author described how the ideals of the “True Woman” were unfeasible depending on race and class and the refusal to submit to the patriarchal male to gain the power of choice. Jacobs’ narrative’s lack of acceptance during its time also shed light on patriarchal views. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl calls out to women for a break from the tyrannical oppression of the ideal “True Woman.” Jacobs’ work is an inspiring feminist narrative describing femininity and sexuality as related to the Feminist/Gender Theory.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1988. Thompson, Dr. L.S. Memoir of Old Elizabeth: a Coloured Woman. Six Women's Slave Narratives. Edited by William L. Andrews.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs strongly speaks to its readers by describing the brutalities of slavery and the way slave owners can destroy peaceful lives. After reading and rereading the story have noticed certain things regarding how Jacobs tries to educate her readers and her intended audience which is the women of the North. As if we do not know enough about how terrible slavery is, this story gives detailed examples of the lives of slaves and provokes an incredible amount of emotions. She uses several tactics in her writing to reach her desired audience and does so very well. The way she wrote the story does not seem as though she is emotionally connected.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Penguin Group Publishing, New York, 1987. Hughes, Langston, Milton Meltzon. A Pictorial History of the Negro and America, New York: Crown, 1968. O'Neale Sondra. "Olaudah Equiano," Dictionary of Literary Biography, American Writers of the Early Republic, ed.
In her book, A Black Woman’s Civil War Memoirs, she narrates her life being born into slavery and eventually gaining freedom. She was born in 1848 on an island off the co... ... middle of paper ... ...that there are only a few people aware of the treatment of women slaves. The responsibilities of white women are also overlooked, for most people believe they had it easy. People forget that women lacked civil rights in the same way that slaves did. It was extremely dangerous for abolitionists, especially as women, to help slaves read, write, and become free.
Additionally,women in the slave communities acted like teachers to pass down stories, traditions and resistance of slavery to the younger generations. Black women had a lot to deal with: forced sexual encounters with the master, taking care of their children, working and looking after and being the strength of the slave communities. The life of enslaved Black women was brutalized, dehumanizing and sexually exploited, but they found strength through outside influences, one being resistance networks. Dehumanizing means to take away positive human qualities, and that is what happened to slaves. Slaves were looked down upon as though they were gum on the bottom of a shoe.
It is the message Jacobs hopes to burn deep into the intended readers mind. Like most slave narratives, the reader feels a form of guilt and sympathy for the protagonist, but for Harriet Jacobs there is much more to be felt. Freedom is arguably life’s greatest gifts and it being taken away can sometimes be a fate worse than death. In Harriet Jacob’s narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she tells a story of the painful truths that plagued slave women in the nineteenth century. It is a story that deserves to be read long after this period of time.