Racial Issues in The Runaway Slave and Life of a Slave Girl Essay

Racial Issues in The gala affair striver and spirit of a knuckle down missyIf you section us, do we not feed? -- Shylock, The Merchant of VeniceLike Shylock in Shakespe atomic number 18s The Merchant of Venice, the smuggled slave women are dehumanized by the other characters in Elizabeth Barrett cooks The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point and Harriet A. Jacobs Incidents in the feel of a Slave girlfriend Written by Herself. sexually harassed by their duster masters, these slave women are forbidden to bear the human emotion of sack out. Pressured into a disgrace gravelhood, they cannot bop their children in the analogous ways that a white mother can. Moreover, slave women are hardened like chattels. The scandalous women in brown and Jacobs works are ladened sexually, forced into unwanted motherhoods, and barren of their identities. Yet, because they compositors case these cruelties with courage and dignity, these black slaves bring out as heroines of their own fates.According to her white owners, a black cleaning lady in bondage not solo has no rights to discern, save is incapable(p) of loving. In browns The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point, the black bank clerk speaks of her love affair with a black man, but she is brief in its exposition because it is a forbidden act. The fibber remains anonymous throughout Brownings poem, for to be named is to capture power and to open an identity. She sings her lovers name, showing that enslavement cannot continue her from loving or from giving a fellow slave an identity. The narrator and her lover meet in secret, but their furtiveness is seen in a positive light since their commitment to love one another is alter by their piety We were two to love and two to pray (86). Although they demonstrate to have faith in God, they are alienated... ...ving their children. Furthermore, they are able to develop forgiveness in their hearts scour though they have been stripped of their humanity. Like the alienated Shylock in Shakespeares play, Linda and the narrator in The Runaway Slave will melt if they are pricked. Indeed, these slave women have bled, both physically and emotionally. These wounds can further heal when they begin to fundament up for their rights as human beings, so that eventually they will repudiate to be trampled under foot by their oppressors (Jacobs, 177).WORKS CITEDBrowning, Elizabeth Barrett. The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point. 1850. remainder Course Notes ENGL 205*S Selected Women Writers I, Spring-Summer 2003, pp. 51-58. Kingston, ON Queens University, 2003.Jacobs, Harriet A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself. London Harvard University Press, 1987. Racial Issues in The Runaway Slave and Life of a Slave Girl EssayRacial Issues in The Runaway Slave and Life of a Slave GirlIf you prick us, do we not bleed? -- Shylock, The Merchant of VeniceLike Shylock in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice, the black sl ave women are dehumanized by the other characters in Elizabeth Barrett Brownings The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point and Harriet A. Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself. Sexually harassed by their white masters, these slave women are forbidden to express the human emotion of love. Pressured into a shamed motherhood, they cannot love their children in the same ways that a white mother can. Moreover, slave women are treated like chattels. The black women in Browning and Jacobs works are oppressed sexually, forced into unwanted motherhoods, and stripped of their identities. Yet, because they face these cruelties with courage and dignity, these black slaves emerge as heroines of their own fates.According to her white owners, a black woman in bondage not only has no rights to love, but is incapable of loving. In Brownings The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point, the black narrator speaks of her love affair with a black man, but she is brief in its description beca use it is a forbidden act. The narrator remains anonymous throughout Brownings poem, for to be named is to have power and to have an identity. She sings her lovers name, showing that enslavement cannot prevent her from loving or from giving a fellow slave an identity. The narrator and her lover meet in secret, but their furtiveness is seen in a positive light since their commitment to love one another is strengthened by their piety We were two to love and two to pray (86). Although they try to have faith in God, they are alienated... ...ving their children. Furthermore, they are able to find forgiveness in their hearts even though they have been stripped of their humanity. Like the alienated Shylock in Shakespeares play, Linda and the narrator in The Runaway Slave will bleed if they are pricked. Indeed, these slave women have bled, both physically and emotionally. These wounds can only heal when they begin to stand up for their rights as human beings, so that eventually they w ill cease to be trampled under foot by their oppressors (Jacobs, 177).WORKS CITEDBrowning, Elizabeth Barrett. The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point. 1850. Correspondence Course Notes ENGL 205*S Selected Women Writers I, Spring-Summer 2003, pp. 51-58. Kingston, ON Queens University, 2003.Jacobs, Harriet A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself. London Harvard University Press, 1987.