The Woman of Colour: A Tale

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1808

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Letters 1-17

Letters 18-30

Letters 31-39

Letters 40-48

Letter 49-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Background

Literary Context: The Epistolary Novel

An epistolary novel is a fictional text written as a series of letters by one or more characters. The term “epistolary” is derived from the Latin word epistle, meaning “letter.” While epistolary novels consist chiefly of letters, they also often include other types of documents, such as newspaper clippings, travel logs, or journal entries. Scholars have long debated the origin of epistolary novels, with some arguing that they began as novels with a few letters inserted in them and others maintaining that they arose from miscellanies of letters and poetry (a miscellany being a mixture or assortment of different types of texts). The first truly epistolary novel was written by a Spanish author in the late 15th century, and the genre became more popular throughout Europe over the next 200 years. In English, the most famous epistolary novels were Samuel Richardson’s Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1749). Although it gradually became less popular after the 18th century, the epistolary form still provided the framework for a number of well-known texts, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).

Epistolary novels can be divided into three main categories: monophonic (in which only one character’s letters are included), dialogic (in which letters between two characters appear), and polyphonic (in which letters by three or more characters are included). Using the epistolary form allows an author to create a greater sense of realism by giving each character their own unique voice and allowing the reader to have (seemingly) unmediated insights into characters’ thoughts and feelings. At the same time, however, it can also draw attention to a text’s structure in a way that foregrounds its inherently fictional nature. Epistolary novels can thus have a variety of effects on a reader’s experience of the narrative, highlighting either a text’s connection to forms of authentic expression or its status as a constructed object.

Historical Context: The Slave Trade Act of 1807

The Slave Trade Act of 1807 (also known as An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade) prohibited the British Empire’s participation in the slave trade. Although it did not outlaw the practice of slavery, it imposed severe punishments on British citizens who attempted to capture and enslave other persons. The slave trade had long been one of Britain’s most profitable economic enterprises, but in the two decades prior to the act’s passage, it consistently lost support among politicians and activists. In the famous Somerset v. Stewart case of 1772, the judge ruled that English common law prohibited enslavers from capturing—or recapturing—anyone and forcibly removing them from the country as part of a sale. While this ruling did not end slavery in England, it gave energy to the abolitionist movement, which was fighting to end slavery entirely. The Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded in 1787 by a group of evangelical Christians and Quakers; the group was supported by a number of members of Parliament, the most famous of whom was William Wilberforce. Anti-slavery politicians spent many years devising a plan to end the slave trade in such a way that it would not cause too much turmoil to West Indian merchants and landowners, many of whom relied on enslaved labor for their income. They also faced strong opposition from pro-slavery advocates, who believed that ending the slave trade would be economically devastating for the British Empire. When the act was finally passed in 1807, it received an overwhelming 283 votes in its favor (against 16 dissenting votes).

Scholars believe that by the time the act went into effect on May 1, 1807, The Woman of Colour was already being written and was perhaps even completed. The publishers were thus able to capitalize on the public’s interest in abolition and race politics. Scholars also point out that the novel is only tangentially connected to slavery and abolition; rather, it is focused on a specific racial group that would not have been enslaved. In the 18th century, the term “people of color” would have referred to free peoples from a number of places, including Haiti, Jamaica, and the North American colonies. However, free “people of color” were still denied legal access to privileges enjoyed by white people throughout the British Empire. People like Olivia Fairfield, while free and wealthy, were still subject to oppression and marginalization on the basis of their race, both before and after the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The novel thus speaks to the complicated social, economic, and cultural position occupied by mixed-race citizens of the British Empire in the early 19th century.