Stephanie Brito

ENG 302

Professor Rumore

May 18 2020

    Through the course of the semester we have looked at different works of literature from the 18th century. During this time women writers held a spotlight in this male dominated profession. We often take the profession of a writer for granted, but women like Aphra Bhen, Phylis Wheatley, and Jane Austen are exemplary pioneer writers of the 18th century. Some key themes within their writing and other 18th century writing include themes of freedom. 

    In Aphra Behn’s tragic story of “Oroonoko” we are told the devastating tale of Oroonoko, a “royal slave”. Throughout the novel we are exposed to the horrors of enslavement during what would be the Transatlantic Slave Movement. Behn puts the question into our heads, “do some people deserve freedom or do some deserve to be enslaved? Reading this novel now the answer is quite obvious, yet to a reader back in the 18th century it was not clear. Slavery was the norm during this time. Behn showed the audience the horrors of slavery to her audience. Behn presented Oroonoko’s story in a way that appealed and created empathy to the reader. As a smart, beautiful, and capable man Oronooko knew that his place was not of a slave. Bhen states,“And why,” said he, my dear friends and fellow-sufferers, should we be slaves to an unknown people? Have they vanquished us nobly in fight? Have they won us in honorable battle? And are we by the chance of war become their slaves?” (Oroonoko). The narrator highlights that Oroonoko is too special to become a slave, although the narrator never chimes in to explain whether they believe slavery is wrong it gives the reader a chance to form their own opinion. Unfortunately, Oroonoko realizes that his efforts to form a rebellion he accepts his fate just like the other slaves. 

    While Bhen used her novel to help 18th century readers who have accepted slavery as part of their lives, Philis Wheatley uses her poetry to almost make fun of the way that these people have come to accept such a horrible act. In Wheatley’s poem  she mocks the idea of Christianity saving her from her “pagan land” (On Being Brought to America). To 18th century readers, they might think that Wheatley feels genuinely grateful that she has been saved when she was taken to America. Along with the theme of freedom, mercy is also brought up in Wheatley’s poem. By using the words, “redemption” and  “Saviour” the reader knows that Wheatley refers to faith and can make the connection that the enslavement was out of mercy. In Wheatley’s poem the first line states, “T’was mercy brought me from my pagan land,” (On Being Brought to America). She personifies mercy and mercy becomes her enslaver who comes to “save” Wheatley. Although both Behn and Wheatley do not make direct claims that they believe that slavery was wrong, one can notice similarities that both Oroonoko and Wheatley faced. Both of them had to accept their fate in the end, and both of them did not end up fighting against their enslavement. 

    Although Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey” does not have anything to do with freedom of enslavement. Austen uses her writing as a way to free women from stereotypes set against them. By writing Catherine as a non-traditional heroine, Austen is giving freedom to her character. Catherine also defies the traditional “weak” and terrorized woman she is the contrary. As a child Catherine preferred, “cricket to dolls” (Austen 37). The first image we see of Catherine is nothing like what a typical woman would be written as. Rather focusing on victimization and romance, Austen focuses on how Catherine matures into a rational, competent woman. For readers, “Northanger Abbey” is more of a coming of age story rather than a romance story. Austen understood that the role of female characters in this century were written entirely to be victimised, yet she chose not to focus on Catherine’s victimization by Tilney, she focuses on satirizing their interactions. Austen also critiques vanity in her novel on page 72 she writes, “A woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone. No man will admire her the more, no woman will like her the better for it. Neatness and fashion are enough for the former, and a something of shabbiness or impropriety will be most endearing to the latter” (Northanger Abbey). Austen makes it clear to the reader that Catherines efforts to impress others do not work because men will not like her more based on her appearance and women will just look down on her for trying too hard. As a writer Austen questions social customs that can force women into irrationality in order to attract a male partner. Austen knew what it meant to be a female writer during this time, she understood the criticism women faced if they wrote for financial necessity. By breaking gender stereotypes and redefining romance in Northanger Abbey, Austen was able to demonstrate her own narrative freedom. 

    Female writers played an immense role in 18th century literature, Aphra Behn became the first woman to earn a living from writing, Philis Wheatley was the first African-American woman to publish her poems, and Jane Austen was the first English writer to modernize the novel. All three of these women introduced ideas of  class division, race, and female empowerment from the woman’s perspective.