The essayist of our short reading, Helena Woodward, talks about novelists during the 1700s writing of far off lands and observing them under a western European magnifying glass and perpetuating a negative image for readers to digest. The Author of A Woman of Color clearly intended the novel to serve a social purpose. The author wants the novel to influence the prejudiced English perspective. Looking at Olivia Fairfield, her status, how she conducts herself, how she perceives English society and how English society perceives her, is the author's interpretation of the cultural perception and alignment.
First the author presents to the reader the hurdle that Olivia's race creates for her. We even see the person who is supposed to love and marry her, Augustus, talk about that first instant when he was repulsed by her skin. He said "for I confess to you, that the moment when my eyes were first cast on the person of my cousin, I started back with a momentary feeling of disgust for I beheld a skin approaching the hue of a negroes,". (91) In this statement, we get a sense of the inherent prejudice in his uncontrollable association. That skin color association is a barrier that Olivia already understands when she sets foot in England. Giving the reader the opportunity to look at the world through Olivia's eyes, is beneficial because it lets the reader see a norm that they might just accept, from the other side of the situation in order to show its complexity.
Olivia comes from an environment that suggests her having a very acute sense of race. She comes from Jamaica where she would have witnessed the brutal conditions of slavery and saw how the aristocracy was built on a sense of racial entitlement. She would have had experience dealing with a society that practiced real racism instead of being influence by it like English society. When talking to Mrs. Milbanke she is not shocked by the shocked by peoples perception of her but rather anticipated it. "They walked up in pairs hanging one on anthers arm, and with a stare of effrontery, eyed your Olivia, as if they had bee admitted purposely to see the untamed savage at a shilling a piece!" (85) Here we see her readily accepting it and planning to overcome it in every which way she could. She's tough and unflinchingly aware of the racial and gender inequality of the society in which she lives.
Olivia comes into the situation from the outside and the author chooses to convey Olivia's perception of English culture to her friend in an unflinching and unapologetic way. She talks about this curious racism judges people harshly for the values they hold dear and she makes it a point to step back and understand that she does not fully understand their way of life. In A Woman of Colour, we see Olivia, an outsider who is very consience of her surroundings and her status observe English society and people with a watchful eye. She has the opportunity to express to her pen pal Mrs. Milbanke the negative and positive of English life. When she talks about Lady Ingot and Sir Marmaduke she sees the way they position themselves in society as very problematic. "Ease and elegance, are in my opinion, are terms nearly synonymous; hence I have made a point of letting him lounge, and loll and curvet in every interesting and carless attitude." (119) Here we see her show upper elites laziness and willingness to excel being taught from mother to child. Through this situation the author does a good job of conveying a reality that sheds light on England's societal issues.
Olivia says that she is "studying" them. How much does her observation from the outside reflect English values? Does it add to the readers understanding of English culture?
Is the author making a political statement about prejudice and judging foreign culture?
First the author presents to the reader the hurdle that Olivia's race creates for her. We even see the person who is supposed to love and marry her, Augustus, talk about that first instant when he was repulsed by her skin. He said "for I confess to you, that the moment when my eyes were first cast on the person of my cousin, I started back with a momentary feeling of disgust for I beheld a skin approaching the hue of a negroes,". (91) In this statement, we get a sense of the inherent prejudice in his uncontrollable association. That skin color association is a barrier that Olivia already understands when she sets foot in England. Giving the reader the opportunity to look at the world through Olivia's eyes, is beneficial because it lets the reader see a norm that they might just accept, from the other side of the situation in order to show its complexity.
Olivia comes from an environment that suggests her having a very acute sense of race. She comes from Jamaica where she would have witnessed the brutal conditions of slavery and saw how the aristocracy was built on a sense of racial entitlement. She would have had experience dealing with a society that practiced real racism instead of being influence by it like English society. When talking to Mrs. Milbanke she is not shocked by the shocked by peoples perception of her but rather anticipated it. "They walked up in pairs hanging one on anthers arm, and with a stare of effrontery, eyed your Olivia, as if they had bee admitted purposely to see the untamed savage at a shilling a piece!" (85) Here we see her readily accepting it and planning to overcome it in every which way she could. She's tough and unflinchingly aware of the racial and gender inequality of the society in which she lives.
Olivia comes into the situation from the outside and the author chooses to convey Olivia's perception of English culture to her friend in an unflinching and unapologetic way. She talks about this curious racism judges people harshly for the values they hold dear and she makes it a point to step back and understand that she does not fully understand their way of life. In A Woman of Colour, we see Olivia, an outsider who is very consience of her surroundings and her status observe English society and people with a watchful eye. She has the opportunity to express to her pen pal Mrs. Milbanke the negative and positive of English life. When she talks about Lady Ingot and Sir Marmaduke she sees the way they position themselves in society as very problematic. "Ease and elegance, are in my opinion, are terms nearly synonymous; hence I have made a point of letting him lounge, and loll and curvet in every interesting and carless attitude." (119) Here we see her show upper elites laziness and willingness to excel being taught from mother to child. Through this situation the author does a good job of conveying a reality that sheds light on England's societal issues.
Olivia says that she is "studying" them. How much does her observation from the outside reflect English values? Does it add to the readers understanding of English culture?
Is the author making a political statement about prejudice and judging foreign culture?
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