Lili Whalen
Micheal Rumore
British Literature II: Restoration Through Revolutions
Writing Assignment #4: Period Recap
15 May 2020
The Effects of Slavery
Throughout this class, I was able to obtain a deeper understanding of the eighteenth century by learning what enslaved Africans have gone through, and what enslaved woman have done in order to escape slavery. Aphra Behn, who was a white woman, focuses on the cruelty towards African Americans and how they were affected by slavery in the novel, Oroonoko or, The Royal Slave. Behn zooms in on the love affair between Prince Oroonoko and Imoinda. Little does Imoinda know that her love for Oroonoko will have major repercussions. On the other hand, Phillis Wheatley, who is considered to be the first African American to have published writing is also an emancipated slave. Wheatley writes about her own experience as a slave as well as her views on religion in her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” In this poem, Wheatley writes as an enslaved person about how she is taken from her homeland to a foreign country. She also divulges how far from Christianity she is. Wheatley states, ” ‘Their colour is a diabolic die.’ / Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, / May be refin’d and join the’ angelic train” (6-8). In these lines, Wheatley places the sixth line in quotation marks to highlight what Caucasian people have said about African Americans. She also displays how far apart she is from the Christian religion, while referencing that God punished Cain for murdering Abel. In another poem of Wheatley’s, “An Hymn to Humanity,” she goes more into detail about her views on Christianity. For instance, she begins her first line by writing, ” … dark terrestrial ball” (1). Wheatley refers to the word, “ball” as earth, while challenging Christianity, since she sees the religion as rejecting African Americans. Throughout these works of literature, the class is able to see Imoinda and Wheatley’s journey unravel as African American women.
In Oroonoko or, The Royal Slave, Imoinda’s love for Oroonoko comes with a cost when the king, Oroonoko’s grandfather, seeks to have a sexual relationship with Imoinda. However, when the king learns that she is in love with Oroonoko, he punishes both Oroonoko and Imoinda by selling them off as slaves. During Imoinda’s enslavement, she was able to rekindle her relationship with Oroonoko, who was surprised to see her, since his grandfather had him believe she was deceased. While Imoinda was enslaved, she displayed a strong and brave disposition as she stood by Oroonoko to fight against the slave owners. Behn states, ” … heroic Imoinda, who, grown big as she was, did nevertheless press near her lord, having a bow and a quiver full of poisoned arrows, which she managed with such dexterity that she wounded several, and shot the Governor into the shoulder” (Manifold). In this passage, Imoinda is pregnant with Oroonoko’s child, but continuously fights for her and her family’s freedom. This also reveals that Imoinda will do whatever it takes to make sure her family is safe. However, both Oroonoko and Imoinda were not able to free themselves and did not succeed in the revolt against the white slave owners. The only way Imoinda and her unborn child are able to be free is if Oroonoko puts them out of their miseries. Oroonoko stabs Imoinda to death. Behn writes:
… the lovely, young, and adored victim lays herself down before the sacrificer; while he, with a hand resolved, and a heart breaking within, gave the fatal stroke, first cutting her throat, and then severing her yet smiling face from that delicate body, pregnant as it was with the fruits of tenderest love. As soon as he had done, he laid the body decently on leaves and flowers, of which he made a bed, and concealed it under the same cover-lid of nature. (Manifold)
Imoinda was given an opportunity that not many slaves have, to die in peace by the hand of someone she loves. She agreed to be killed by her husband in order to liberate her unborn child from growing up not only as a slave, but being raised in a country filled with fear.
Phillis Wheatley was another woman who acquired the luxury of being liberated from slavery. Wheatley was emancipated from her slave owners after her published poems led to her fame. Wheatley was captured from Africa when she was eight years old. Her poems describe her experiences as a slave. In her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” she reminisces about when she was forced to leave her country. She also discusses her views on religion by stating, ” ‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, / Taught my benighted soul to understand / That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too” (1-3). When Wheatley says, “Pagan land,” she points out that she has different religious views than others. She then mocks the Christianity religion, since she is trying to comprehend if there really is a God that looks over her since she was enslaved. She then goes into more detail onto how she was treated as a slave. Wheatley says again, “Some view our sable race with scornful eye” (5). Throughout this poem, she writes about her views towards Christianity. When she touches on Cain and Abel in this peace, she is alluding that people see her and other African Americans as prodigies of Cain.
In another poem of Wheatley’s, “An Hymn to Humanity,” questions the world she lives in, as she implies that the “ball” is earth. She continues to examine the earth as she reflects of herself by calling herself a lyre. Wheatley states, “For when thy pitying eye did see / The languid muse in low degree, / Then, then at thy desire / Descended the celestial nine; O’er me methought they deign’d to shine, / And design’d to string my lyre” (25-30). In this fifth stanza, Wheatley speaks through an instrument as she describes how she was treated when she was enslaved. She recalls the slave owners making themselves look good by mistreating her. This piece explores the topic of humanity, while the slave owners are dehumanizing her and treating her as if she was an animal.
Throughout Oroonoko or, The Royal Slave, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” and “An Hymn to Humanity” displays what Imoinda and Wheatley have experienced while they were enslaved. Although they have been through a lot, these two women showed their strength throughout their enslavement while Imoinda fought the white slave owners and Wheatley wrote down her experiences and feelings while she was enslaved. However, both of these women were able to become free of their slavery, even if it meant dying or becoming a famous poet. However, although Wheatley was an emancipated slave, but her years of slavery have made her so exhausted. Unfortunately, her life was cut short when she passed away at thirty-one years old. This displays that even though both Imoinda and Wheatley have tried so hard to separate themselves from the life of slavery, they never fully recovered from the wounds that it has brought them.
