Popular Culture Review 32.1
women resist slavery for their children rather than for themselves , but are no less clever than the articulate hero as “ the outraged mother makes use of wit and intelligence to overwhelm and defeat a more powerful foe ” ( Braxton 385 ).
In keeping with the outraged mother archetype , Jacobs roots her text in both autobiography and sentimentalism . To adhere to the “ cult of true womanhood ,” she uses undertell to veil sexual abuse : “ Jacobs ’ s narrative is not only an honest one but also one that obscures the ugliest accuracies of her story , concerned that they would be found too horrific or ‘ titillating ’ by the narrative ’ s intended audience of white northern ladies ” ( O ’ Neill 59 ). Every outraged mother has a shadow-self , another archetype who lingers in the narrative ’ s gaps : the sexual deviant . In using “ wit and intelligence ,” slave women leverage what is often their only asset , their sexuality , to secure safety . The sexual deviant was denounced by the white female audience as that agency seemed seductive and offensive in their targeting of white men , but she emerges in these 19 th century narratives in moments of terror that remain implicit . As contemporary television series update the genre for a new , more liberal audience , they feature the sexual deviant more prominently , but in doing so , they separate her from the outraged mother to feature both archetypes in different characters and / or settings .
Part of the fictionalization resulting in these archetypes is a direct effect of obscurity in slaves ’ lives . In Douglass ’ s Narrative , he struggles to articulate the identifying facts of his life . He knows neither his birth date nor age and is unsure of his father ’ s identity , with the exception of his race ( white ). As his condition follows his mother ’ s , Douglass understands he is enslaved , but the liberality with which he is treated as
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