Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) is the first and most well-known written female fugitive slave narrative, and details the life-long struggles of an enslaved woman during the antebellum south. Written under the pseudonym Linda Brent, Jacobs illustrates a reoccurring concept of gender within the institution of slavery throughout the narrative, and vividly describes the way she and other female slaves experience degradation and hardships inapplicable to men of enslavement. Jacobs’ book is in part a plea at free women of the north to recognize the horrendous treatment of female slaves in the south and to shed light on the atrocities that were, at the time, swept under the carpet by the nation. Incidents in the

A male master, viewing his female slaves as his property, often did as he pleased with them—resulting in many biracial children running around the plantation, whose existence disintegrated a mistress’s trust in her husband. Additionally, these biracial offspring and their mothers were frequently the recipients of the utmost hatred and jealousy from their mistress. Jacobs writes that white women of the time had high hopes of joyful and flowery marriages, but in reality, most husbands disregarded the vows of marriage and pleasured themselves by their slaves—leading to bitter, broken wives (60). The prime example of the resulting jealousy in the narrative is Dr. Flint’s wife, Mrs. Flint, who is driven to emotional instability by her husband’s scandalous behavior towards Linda. The uncontrollable suspicion and antipathy from another woman causes Linda to fear for her life, as it is out of Linda’s hands to appease the situation—or Mrs. Flint’s growing resentment (Jacobs 58). Male slaves would never have been burdened with this terrifying condition; this scenario is one unique to a woman’s story. During this era, beauty was a virtue yearned after by white women, but for a black female slave like Linda, it was a curse that often caused one to be subject to not only the unwanted advances of her master but also the intense jealousy of her mistress (Jacobs 53). Harriet Jacobs’ illustration of the jealous mistress, something male slaves did not have to experience, is one aspect of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl that establishes the narrative as a woman’s