Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Essay Example

? The Introduction ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’ gives a narration of the true life story under slavery of Harriet Ann Jacobs, using the pseudonym, Linda Brent. The setting is in the 19th Century when bondage, capitalism and oppression intertwined to shape, determine and redefine the lives of African Americans (Littlefield 2007, 53). The African American woman in the cult of true womanhood was a domestic hostage, and also a laborer, breeder and concubine. The attributes by which a woman and her husband, neighbors and society defined true womanhood, as documented by Welter (1966, 151), were divided into domesticity, submissiveness, purity and piety, and anyone who tampered with these virtues would be considered not only as the enemy of God, but also of civilization and the Republic. The response of the African American women to these conflicting roles entailed the creation of a new meaning to true womanhood, the basis upon which Jacobs bases her story. Through her struggles, Jacobs fights to redefine the cult of true womanhood from its oppressiveness so as to secure her life and that of the future generation. As a young African American woman slave, having lost her mother and a few years later her mother’s mistress to whom she was bequeathed, Linda Brent fights all odds against sexual oppression from her father, Dr. Flint, to the extent of having an affair with a white neighbor, Mr. Sands, with whom she begets Benny and Ellen (Jacobs 2003, 131). Linda seems to have discovered herself and her intolerance to the oppression and mistreatment that slaves, and particularly the women, were subjected to, causing her to always run away from its perpetrators, not leaving her children behind. The cult of true womanhood The 19th Century African American woman was expected to be a domesticator. To put this into context, Welter (1966, 157) argues the unquestionable place for a woman to be by her own fireside, not only as a sister and daughter, but most importantly as a wife and mother. The woman had to cheerfully and faithfully perform her family and social duties. When describing the virtues that made her grandmother “a remarkable woman,” Linda cites her “indispensable personage in the household, officiating in all capacities, from cook and wet nurse to seamstress” (Jacobs 2003, 1). Furthermore, Linda appreciates responsible motherhood as a critical aspect of true womanhood and she sacrifices her welfare so as to ensure the well-being of her children. Even when she plans to escape to the North, she considers all options of having her children escape with her. She fights to see that they do not fall into the bondage of slavery, knowing the oppression involved. This indicates her embrace of motherhood together with the involved responsibilities as an appreciation of true womanhood. The excellence of a woman in domestic tasks made her worth of praise as a true woman. Secondly, submission was a key trait of true womanhood. African American women were to abide by what their husbands and men in general dictated without questioning, since men had God-given authority over women. According to Welter (1966, 156), the society then considered submission as the most feminine virtue that a woman had to portray whereas men were expected to be religious and pure, even though they barely had time for these. This submissiveness is portrayed when Dr. Flint objects to Linda’s wishes to marry her love, a young free black man, and in turn Linda asks him to leave and give up on the marriage. Religion propagated this submissiveness as observed of the minister who preached obedience to masters and hard work as Christian ethical obligations (Jacobs 2003, 82). Women were particularly to be passive, submissive responders in this society. To this African American woman, marriage was not to be guided by money but pure love, and its corollary is motherhood, adding to the prestige and usefulness of such a woman. As documented by Littlefield (2007, 54), motherhood for slave women was rooted to a bondage system as opposed to the white women motherhood identified with social status and privilege. A majority of the African American women who experienced forced motherhood supplied the demand for slaves. Linda’s grandmother was one such woman, who had her children divided amongst her master’s children when he died, with Benjamin, the youngest of them all, being sold out and the returns shared equally among the heirs (Jacobs 2003, 1). She did not object to her children taken away from her as she had accomplished her duty of bringing them forth to the world, then the society takes over from there. Womanhood as defined by Jacobs’ life Even though Linda Brent did not realize that she “was born a slave… till six years of happy childhood had passed away,” after she discovers herself, she spends the rest of her life redefining womanhood in her society (Jacobs 2003, 1). Brent flees to the North from her home for her safety from the domestic hostage situation that she lived since her birth. This signifies a break-away from the hostage of domesticity marred by oppression and disrespect from men. Even when Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law and thus exposed Linda to being captured by Mr. Dodge, she finds a way to escape, a clear indication of her intolerance to the way domesticity was approached by the society in the South (Jacobs 2003, 198). She uses her domestication skills to earn her independence and livelihood as opposed to using it to domesticate and be confined to only doing household chores for her family. In this context, Linda finds herself work in New York as a nursemaid for the Bruces (Jacobs 2003, 254). Instead of using the society’s subjection of a woman to domesticity siege, she uses it to work for money. Thus, she uses her womanhood for her economic empowerment, enabling her to be independent and meet her family needs as opposed to being home domesticating and waiting to be provided for by the men. Linda puts submission in a whole new perspective, not as a form of enslavement and oppression, but as a way of finding the greater good for both the women and men. It is for this reason that Linda opted not to have a sexual relationship with her father, Dr. Flint, but instead have an affair with Sands. It would have been oppressive and immoral for Linda to have a sexual relationship with her father, and so, despite the need to be submissive to men, Linda objected to his overtures. Perhaps, his father wanted her to know that she was ready for sexual life. Instead, Linda chooses to have an affair with Sands as an indication that she has not lost her submissiveness as she obeyed her father’s indication of her sexual maturity, though in an autonomous way. Even so, she makes an informed move of not fully abiding by her father’s demands and opts to have an affair with Sands so as to keep her father away from her (Jacobs 2003, 85). This redefined meaning to submission means that women do not have to abide fully to demands by men but look out for what would be of good to both parties. As an African American female slave, Linda redefines the purpose of having children. As opposed to the cult of true womanhood which expected women to give birth just to add to the supply of slaves, Linda portrays a woman whose decision to have children is autonomous for personal good. She stands against forced motherhood through her affair with Mr. Sands. As a woman, one can also autonomously make a decision to have children for own gain and not necessarily as a product of marriage. In her case, she chooses to have children with Mr. Sands so as to protect herself from Dr. Flint’s oppression. This shows that a woman should not be enslaved to motherhood after marriage but motherhood should be at own will. Even so, this does not exempt women from the associated responsibilities. When she talks of Ellen, her daughter, she says that, “She was mine by birth, and she was also mine by Southern law, since my grandmother held the bill of slave that made her so. I did not feel that she was safe unless I had her with me” (Jacobs 2003, 272). Whereas the 19th Century woman would protect her children and surrender them to slavery, Linda redefines the protection of children as a lifetime engagement as a mother. She knows that her duty as woman does not just end with giving birth, but goes further to protect the children and ensure their well-being. Conclusion Jacobs exposes abolitionist discourse, not through outright rejection, but through redefinition of womanhood. She presents the role of domestication among women as one that should be used to gain independence and livelihood and not as a way of holding women hostages at home. Even though women are supposed to be submissive, submission should be exercised with wisdom to make sure it does not oppress the women but benefit the whole society equally. Furthermore, women should not be enslaved to marriage as the only reason to have children but make autonomous choices as to when and why to have children. This redefinition of the cult of womanhood enables the author to front abolitionist agenda that saves the African American woman from bondage, capitalism and oppression. References Jacobs, Harriet A., Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself. 2nd ed. Edited by Lydia M. F. Child. Boston, 2003. Littlefield, Marci B. “Black women, mothering, and protest in 19th Century American society.” The Journal of Pan African Studies 12 (2007): 53 – 61. Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820 – 1860.” American Quarterly 18 (1966): 151 – 174. Read More