Harriet Jacobs Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl: Written By Herself

1341 Words6 Pages

Harriet Jacobs’ "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself" is a classic work of American literature due to its significance and conscious artistry. Its significance comes from its contribution of a female perspective to the slave narrative and its ability to make Americans remember their role in slavery. Harriet Jacobs then displayed conscious artistry by confronting the practice of sexual abuse by male slave owners and then directly addressing her female readers in order to gain their sympathy towards the female slave experience. This combination of significance and conscious artistry has made “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself" a continued hallmark of literature. By using the female point of view in her work "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself", Harriet Jacobs transformed the classic slave narrative. As Anne Bradford Warner points out in her essay, “Harriet Jacobs at Home in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, Harriet Jacobs is hard to categorize in terms of antebellum era writers because unlike most authors of slave narratives of the time, Jacobs is not male. In addition, she is southern …show more content…

This is because of its significant contribution to society due to it introducing a slave narrative from the view point of a female, and for its impact on American society. Jacobs’ conscious artistry is another reason her story has become an essential literary work. Jacobs purposely confronted the taboo subject of sexual misconduct by slave owners in order to make an impact on her readers. She then spoke to her female readers directly in order to gain their empathy for female slaves. This combination of literary significance and purposeful writing has made Harriet Jacobs a memorable literary figure whose work still resonates over a 150 years since it was originally