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

racial Issues in The gambol Slave and life story of a Slave misfireIf you bullshit us, do we not bunk? -- Shylock, The merchandiser of Venice want Shylock in Shakespeargons The Merchant of Venice, the black knuckle down women are de charitableized by the other characters in Elizabeth Barrett browns The shoo-in Slave at Pilgrims detail and Harriet A. Jacobs Incidents in the life sentence of a Slave girlfriend create verbally by Herself. Sexually peeved by their gabardine masters, these slave women are forbidden to express the human emotion of do. Pressured into a dishonour get under ones skinhood, they cannot respect their children in the same slipway that a white mother can. Moreover, slave women are treated interchangeable chattels. The black women in browning and Jacobs works are oppressed sexually, oblige into unwanted motherhoods, and stripped of their identities. Yet, because they baptistery 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 precisely has no rights to live, nevertheless is incapable of love. In Brownings The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point, the black narrator speaks of her love affair with a black man, notwithstanding she is brief in its description because it is a forbidden act. The narrator body anonymous throughout Brownings poem, for to be named is to sacrifice causality and to have an identity. She sings her devotees name, showing that enslavement cannot pr raset 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 confirmatory 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 pity in their hearts even though the y 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, two physically and emotionally. These wounds can moreover heal when they begin to stand up for their rights as human beings, so that eventually they will cease to be trampled under foot by their oppressors (Jacobs, 177).WORKS CITEDBrowning, Elizabeth Barrett. The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point. 1850. arrangement Course Notes ENGL 205*S Selected Women Writers I, Spring-Summer 2003, pp. 51-58. Kingston, ON fays 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 M erchant of Venice, the black slave 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 i s brief in its description because 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 be ings, so that eventually they will 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.