Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano are two authors with a great deal in common. Wheatley, a poet, would often write about mundane matters, but it is her poems on slavery that are of special interest. Similarly, Olaudah Equiano wrote of slavery, but in an autobiographical form, detailing his personal journey from slavery to freedom. And yet, despite their shared circumstances, they had two very different purposes in mind when authoring their respective works, both of which shall be detailed later. Their works did, however, share a common audience: white Christians. The other difference between them is the style they used to spread their messages; Wheatley with poetry and Equiano with his autobiography. In this essay, these three elements
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Both works were published in a time when the body of readers was primarily constituted of white males, most of whom were Christian. In both author’s works, passages are directed specifically toward Christians. In Equiano’s work, where he declares, “O, ye nominal Christians! might not an African ask you…” In Wheatley’s work, where she asks them to, “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, / May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.” A small minority of their audience is also constituted of educated women (also Christian) and freed slaves, though given Wheatley’s purpose, it is more likely that she speaks directly to white Christians, while Equiano would speak to any and all willing to consider the issue of …show more content…
Equiano’s style is simple and direct, leaving nothing to the imagination. For example, the sensory language that he uses in the description of the slave ship allows the reader to fathom the horrid conditions he would have been subjected to. Moreover, his tone throughout the chapter leaves no doubt as to how much he despised slavery. Wheatley, however, takes a more indirect approach. She relies on figurative language and allegory to make her point. This can be seen in both “To The University of Cambridge, In New England” and “On Being Brought from Africa to America”; in the former, she refers to both the crucifixion of Christ and the serpent in the garden of Eden, and in the latter she refers primarily refers to the biblical story of Cain. She also makes extensive use of imagery, especially when making use of allegory. An example being her florid description of Christ’s crucifixion in “To the University of Cambridge, In New
Both works were published in a time when the body of readers was primarily constituted of white males, most of whom were Christian. In both author’s works, passages are directed specifically toward Christians. In Equiano’s work, where he declares, “O, ye nominal Christians! might not an African ask you…” In Wheatley’s work, where she asks them to, “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, / May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.” A small minority of their audience is also constituted of educated women (also Christian) and freed slaves, though given Wheatley’s purpose, it is more likely that she speaks directly to white Christians, while Equiano would speak to any and all willing to consider the issue of …show more content…
Equiano’s style is simple and direct, leaving nothing to the imagination. For example, the sensory language that he uses in the description of the slave ship allows the reader to fathom the horrid conditions he would have been subjected to. Moreover, his tone throughout the chapter leaves no doubt as to how much he despised slavery. Wheatley, however, takes a more indirect approach. She relies on figurative language and allegory to make her point. This can be seen in both “To The University of Cambridge, In New England” and “On Being Brought from Africa to America”; in the former, she refers to both the crucifixion of Christ and the serpent in the garden of Eden, and in the latter she refers primarily refers to the biblical story of Cain. She also makes extensive use of imagery, especially when making use of allegory. An example being her florid description of Christ’s crucifixion in “To the University of Cambridge, In New