Harriet Wilson’s autobiographical novel presents a different narrative than Jill Lepore’s biography. When comparing the novel’s, we see that race and class had a significant influence on women’s struggles. It can be argued that race and a person’s freedom were some of the most important legal and social distinctions for women in this century. Overall, a woman’s race, class, and geography are important when determining the fate that they were destined to. When analyzing the North as opposed to the South the biggest contrast between the two regions was that slavery was more dominant in the South. Race in the South determined a person’s movement therefore determining a person’s ability to have a role in society. Opportunities varied among those who were free and those who were not. Those who were held under a bond had different forms of labor and a different sense of freedom based on their gender. In Stephanie Camp’s novel Closer to Freedom, we examine a geography of containment that showed the subordination of women even more so.
Harriet Wilson’s autobiographical novel presents a different narrative than Jill Lepore’s biography. When comparing the novel’s, we see that race and class had a significant influence on women’s struggles. It can be argued that race and a person’s freedom were some of the most important legal and social distinctions for women in this century. Overall, a woman’s race, class, and geography are important when determining the fate that they were destined to. When analyzing the North as opposed to the South the biggest contrast between the two regions was that slavery was more dominant in the South. Race in the South determined a person’s movement therefore determining a person’s ability to have a role in society. Opportunities varied among those who were free and those who were not. Those who were held under a bond had different forms of labor and a different sense of freedom based on their gender. In Stephanie Camp’s novel Closer to Freedom, we examine a geography of containment that showed the subordination of women even more so.