Clotel Or The President's Daughter Analysis

William Wells Brown and The President’s Daughter It should be impossible during the nineteenth century for any man of color to become a renowned author, lecturer, or medical practitioner, but William Wells Brown broke the stocks of the societal norms in antebellum America to make his name part of its literary history. Born in Kentucky, he would adopt his name as homage to a Quaker who helped him reach his eventual freedom in Ohio. Brown became an active voice against slavery and a proponent for its abolition in the United States, writing on the same subjects he was most vocal about. Publishing multiple works, Clotel; or The President’s Daughter (1853) would become the novel that solidified his literary career. Originally published in London, England, it was so popular and controversial that it underwent three revisions, one of which for African Americans to read, omitting a chapter that satirically features a reverend using the Bible to justify slavery, a common practice of slave owners during the time. In Clotel, Brown vividly tells the story of the titular female protagonist who is sold from a life of luxury into …show more content…
(Kaplan)
This parallelism, in conjunction with Clotel’s anguish and her choices made based on her circumstances that ultimately lead to her death, further allows us to see how Brown communicates the lengths that women would selflessly go to in an attempt to liberate themselves or others from the oppressive system that they were unfortunate to inherit. In doing so, Brown effectively brings to light the plight that enslave women faced, oftentimes stoically and in silence, a testament to their patience, longsuffering, and mental