'A Runaway Slave To Pilgrim's Point'

It is the best example of how women were suppose to act, housewives who take care of the children and serve their husbands. In “Long Black Song” this can be seen as well from how Sarah stays home and takes care of the child while her husband has gone to sale his crop, she also has no say in if she can buy the radio the salesman has brought without asking her husband first. In “Desiree's Baby”, Armond just has to tell her to leave and she does it because he told her too, instead of staying and trying to prove him wrong she follows his orders. According to the time he is not only the slave’s master but Desiree’s, “He defines himself by his pedigree and by his role as master of his slaves and his wife” (Rosenblum). In all three short stories all the husband has to do is say jump the wife in any of the stories would do it because he is the “master” of each

She emphasizes that the life of a slave woman is incomparable to the life of a slave man, in the sense that a woman’s sufferings are not only physical but also extremely mental and emotional. Whether or not a slave woman is beaten, starved to death, or made to work in unbearable circumstances on the fields, she suffers from and endures horrible mental torments. Unlike slave men, these women have to deal with sexual harassment from white men, most often their slave owners, as well as the loss of their children in some cases. Men often dwell on their sufferings of bodily pain and physical endurance as slaves, where as women not only deal with that but also the mental and emotional aspect of it. Men claim that their manhood and masculinity are stripped from them, but women deal with their loss of dignity and morality. Females deal with the emotional agony as mothers who lose their children or have to watch them get beaten, as well as being sexually victimized by white men who may or may not be the father of their children. For these women, their experiences seem unimaginable and are just as difficult as any physical punishment, if not more so.

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

Slavery was common in the eighteenth century. Slaves were seen as property, as they were taken from their native land and forced into long hours of labor. The experience was traumatic for both black men and black women. They were physically and mentally abused by slave owners, dehumanized by the system, and ultimately denied their fundamental rights to a favorable American life. Although African men and women were both subjected to the same enslavement, men and women had different experiences in slavery based on their gender. A male perspective can be seen in, My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass. A female perspective is shared in Harriet Jacobs’ narrative titled, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Upon reading both of the viewpoints provided, along with outside research, one can infer that women had it worse.

The narrative exhibits her awareness of the peculiar paternalism arising from the intertwinement of slavery and the cult of true womanhood/domesticity. She further notes that this form of bondage is not only enacted by husbands, fathers, and brothers, but it is also perpetuated by women themselves, who create the cage that holds them captive (Jacobs et al.,

In her book Recollections, Browning describes what poetry means to herself. She explained that it “became a distinct object with me; an object to read, think, and live for” (Preston xii). Browning was described as a strong woman-poet who had little to no training. She came from the “Italian hills into a prim English feminine household, and inevitably assuming there that attitude of superiority to

lthough the enslaved women were married, their husbands could not protect them because of the control that the masters had over both spouses. Many times, due to rape and sexual intercourses between the slave and masters, both white and African American women had to keep their pregnancies hidden and they were not allowed to speak on who the father of the babies were. Often times black women would rebel against their masters because they felt it was morally wrong and often like "their ancestors and counterparts of Africa, most slave women took their motherhood seriously. They put this responsibilities before their own safety and freedom, provided for children not their own, and gave love even to those babies born from violence." (Hallam, 2004) . If a enslaved women, who had children, were to tell who the child's

When the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade ended in 1807, there would be no new slaves brought into the country so reproduction was imperative to maintaining the slave holder’s profit. First and foremost African American women had to be equipped to bear children and to raise them. A barren woman was separated from her husband and usually sold and it was not uncommon for slaveholders to demand their money back for female slaves they had purchased who had later proved incapable

Elizabeth Barret Browning was born in 1806 in England. She lived the first twenty-six years of her life on her family’s estate, Hope’s End, in Herefordshire, England. Being from a wealthy family who made a fortune in Jamaica, she lived in luxury riding horses, making house calls, and hosting get-togethers with family friends. With a large private library, she spent much of her time reading classic literature and learning different languages. This somewhat carefree life was greatly affected when her mother died in 1826,

During the time of slavery, not only were African Americans were treated unfairly, but their women had it worse at times; African American women would be raped would be raped by their owners, or be trafficked around from man to man (Browne-Marshall). The white man was seen as evil, disgusting and cruel, so being a black woman carrying a white man’s child was basically

“The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” is a poem written by Elizabeth Browning. This poem is a powerful dramatic monologue. It is written in thirty-six verses with a rhyming scheme pattern of ababccb, and ababcccb in the final verse. The title suggest that a slave is on the run to freedom. In this poem, Browning details her thoughts about slavery and racism among African Americans. The main character of this poem is a black slave woman. Browning uses her as a speaker to express what slave women endure.

Slavery was a horrible institution that dehumanized a race of people. Female slave bondage was different from that of men. It wasn't less severe, but it was different. The sexual abuse, child bearing, and child care responsibilities affected the females's pattern of resistance and how they conducted their lives. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, demonstrates the different role that women slaves had and the struggles that were caused from having to cope with sexual abuse.

Looking at the female slave as a mother, we find that she fetishizes her relationship with her child. Fueling her state of distortion further, we suggest that the mother believes her infant son’s existence is another mistakes. Boldly, the mother takes on the unprecedented role of God and makes a multitude of distasteful decisions about her infant son. Like deeming his fair skin unbearable, predicting that as an adult he will claim a “master-right” over black slaves, and finally ending his life. By all accounts, the mother is unable to make sensible decisions about anything.

In “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, Harriet Jacobs shares her experience as a slave, from sexual advances from her master to being safe by being trapped in a crawling space intending to evoke an emotional response from Northern free women. Jacobs writes specifically to this group in order to enlighten them on the specific suffering of female slaves, mainly abuse from masters, and gain their sympathy, so they will move to abolish slavery. In order to complete this, Jacobs is compelled to break the conventions of proper female behavior at the time. Harriet Jacobs demonstrates the suffering of female slaves by creating a feminine connection to her female audience with the intention of earning their sympathy, defying the cult of

In “Aurora Leigh,” Aurora decides she will not marry her cousin Romney because not only she not love him, but she also does not want to be held down by him. Women at the time were seen as the property of their husbands; thus, Browning felt that unless they dauntlessly rebelled against the constraints of the patriarchal society, women would be stuck in the same perpetual state of tyranny. With the help of her poetry, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was able to transform the opinions of many and bring social change to an era which, so desperately needed it.