Destiny Vega
May 2020
There are many elements that we can see within the eighteenth century. Historical and Literary are our most common elements that are seen in the literature that we have read. I think a majority of what we read is all connected to each other in one way. I also think that what we have read also connects with us in our real life. One connection that can be seen almost everything is slavery and racism. We could see this within Oroonoko and the story about his life. There was a part in the story where Alphra Behn writes, “He was adorned with a native beauty, so transcending all those of his gloomy race that he struck an awe and reverence even into those that knew not his quality; as he did into me, who beheld him with surprise and wonder, when afterward he arrived in our world.” This quote is important to what we learned and to the connection because though her words are trying to come off as normal, they are in fact racist. Behn is telling her readers that despite the color of his skin and his physical feature he is still beautiful. This is something that the black community hears often today in our society. Comments like “you’re pretty for a black girl,” are laced with racism because it is being said with the belief that people of color are not automatically beautiful. People assume that a person of color need other qualities to make them beautiful or pretty and that it is not simply just them.
This reminds me of the poem On Being Brought from Africa to America. The speaker in the poem talks about how the Christian community views African Americans. She rejects the notion of racism because in her eyes all people are equal under the eyes of God. It is her way of saying that despite different shades of skin tones we all bleed the same way. Phyllis Wheatley writes “Some view our sable race with scornful eye, / ‘their colour is a diabolic die.’” A lot of people look down on African Americans because of the color of their skin. They believe that they are a creation of the devil. This goes back to the ideology that people of color are not deemed beautiful because of their skin. Wheatly also uses the word “sable” which is often used to describe an animal. This is often how white people view African Americans. They never considered people of color as human and used a word that emphasized on African Americans being savages. I think is an important takeaway because this is an issue that we are still having in the word today. There is a big difference between how white people and people of color are described. For example, when we think about the recent protests going on against COVID, majority of the protesters are white. We are being told that they hold no threat to us and that they are allowed to protest. However, when people were protesting for the Black Lives Matter movement, they were being abused and arrested. What we are reading is important for everyone to read because although the world is a better place now than it was before, we are still having similar problems.
Another major connection throughout the stories we’ve read is the notion of inequality. Mary Wollstoncraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was a book that was written about bettering women’s status in society. She believed that men and women should be treated equally. This is something that is still talked about today. Women face inequalities in every aspect of their lives. Women live in a world where patriarchal standards are normal and accepted. Many women grow up believing that they have to live under traditional gender roles. Wollstonecraft writes “I wish to persuade women to endeavor to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them, that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness, and that those beings who are only the objects of pity and that kind of love, which has been termed its sister, will soon become objects of contempt.” She wants women to live to their full extent and be all that they could be. She did not want women to be subjected to having to live with traditional gender roles. She saw potential in every person regardless of gender. It’s unfortunate that women still have to live like this. This is something that has been going on for a long time and still has long ways to go before they gain the equality Wollstonecraft wrote about.
One of the more recently discussed topics recently was Metafiction and how it’s important to the class. In order to explore this idea, we had to read Northanger Abby by Jane Austen. The purpose of metafiction is to deliberately make the reader aware that what they are reading is fictional. I think this is important because it forces the reader to distinguish between reality and fiction. We aren’t allowed to fall into the fictional world because once we think that we are, we are pulled right back out by the author. “The company began to disperse when the dancing was over… and now was the time for a heroine, who had not yet played a very distinguished part in the events of the evening, to be noticed and admired.” This line pulls us away from the story and forces us to acknowledge that what we are reading is not real. It is telling us that the character is the heroine without us making that this distinction for ourselves. This is important because given our time in the world today we need to be able to tell the difference between what’s real and what isn’t. Sometimes we need to have a firm grasp on reality so we are not fed lies.
