Monday, September 7, 2009

Phyllis Wheatley

This writer has a constant double-tone in her work. There is an inherent sarcasm-- she is not happy to be looked down on, to be a slave. Yet she truly loves America, her family, and her religion.
Her writings, in large part, are about deaths in families. She has a comforting yet strong idea that people are better off when they leave earth. It is comforting because people like to think that others are in a better place. It is strong, however, because she accuses those who cry and wish them back as being selfish. This is also an example where you can see her opinion of the physical world-- not the best place to be, in her opinion.
The most notable thing I found about her book, however, was the opening letter "proving" that the work was her own. Even though it was supposed to be complimentary to Wheatley, even the note is offensive (as are many of her poems). They talk about rising above her beginnings, implying what her fate would have been. She talks about her savage land. Really, they all seem to agree that she is the outcast in "her kind;" at least it seems that way to me. The intelligent and gifted girl was not seen as a regular possibility out of a slave. Of course, a lot of this is found in Wheatley's sarcasm. It certainly makes me wish I could go back in time and talk to her in person to find out what she was really thinking.

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