Although narratives contextualizing the experiences of enslaved Africans were prevalent during the 18thcentury, those focusing on enslaved women were scarce to be found. More often than naught, such narratives were written by, or in the voices of, enslaved African men. However, stories that do illustrate the experience of slavery for African women typically involves the exploitation of their sexuality. This is true in the case of the female subjects of Fores’ print, “The Abolition of the SLAVE TRADE” (1792) found in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, and Imoinda in Behn’s Oroonoko(1688). While the enslaved African females in Fores’ print are illustrated in shocking and explicit details, Behn’s representation of Imoinda are more nuanced and subtler. By delving into the juxtaposing portrayals of women in Oroonokoand “The Abolition of the SLAVE TRADE”, Behn and Fores sheds light onto the sexualization of enslaved African women and the injustices of the transatlantic slave trade. In highlighting the plights of the enslaved females, readers are given a glimpse into the toils of women during a time when only the voices of male slaves were exclusively heard.
The graphic scene aboard a slave ship in Fores’ print grabs the reader’s attention immediately. On the bottom of the page reads a caption: “The ABOLITION of the SLAVE TRADE or the Inhumanity of Dealers in human flesh exemplified in Capt. Kimber’s treatment of a Young Negro Girl of 15 for her Virjen [sic] Modesty”. Captain Kimber is standing on the left side with a whip in his hand and a sword resting on his hip. Plastered on his face is an evil smile or sneer while he is staring straight at the audience. He may also be considered laughing, for his hands are close to his chest. Right next to him is an African girl who is suspended in the air by her ankle. She has her hands covering her face as if she is weeping and is naked save for a small red-and-white striped article of clothing that is around her abdomen. To the right is another individual, a sailor who is holding the rope from which the girl is suspended.
Just below the African girl are various objects like whips which were intended as instruments of torture. Situated behind the captain and enslaved African girl are three female African slaves, who are also naked. Judging by the main caption and the explicit image, the print implies that the young girl is being punished for trying to cover up her nakedness. The three women in the back are not wearing any clothes and do not appear to be imprisoned. However, their arms are splayed across their bodies as if they wish to be clothed. If these captives could be punished for something so trivial as indecency, readers are subsequently forced to imagine what punishments for bigger crimes must look like.
While the graphic details of Fores’ print assault the readers’ first glance, Behn gives a subtler introduction to her character Imoinda. Imoinda is labeled as “the beautiful black Venus… of delicate virtues” (16). During this time period, Europeans were obsessed with the image of the ‘ideal’ woman, often emphasizing her sexual undertones. For instance, Behn describes Imoinda to be the “fair Queen of Night” (16), whose exotic beauty is so great that it captures the attention of every man and woman she encounters. Subsequently, the King sends Imoinda the “the royal veil.. a veil, with which she is covered and secured for the king’s use; and it is death to disobey” (19). Against her will, Imoinda is chosen as the King’s latest concubine. Although Imoinda is lusted after by so many, this herein lies the difference between the enslaved women in “The Abolition of the SLAVE TRADE”. While Imoinda is given a veil to cover herself as a form of modesty, the women in the print are flogged for it. Imoinda gets to shield her embarrassment under this veil whereas the women in Fores’ print are ripped away from any protection and forced to live in humiliation and embarrassment of their nakedness.
Although the severity depicted of these enslaved African women in the two works juxtapose one another, the significance lies in the fact that these works are still accounts recalling experiences of the enslaved African women. While regarded for their sexuality, these women were still subjected to the same conditions as African men: they worked in the same fields and maneuvered difficult jobs just as their counterparts did. The African women in “The Abolition of the SLAVE TRADE” (1792) experienced the same punishments, with the same torture devices, and in the same manners as African men. Despite the style in which Behn likens Imoinda as Oroonoko’s equal, she was still considered “the most charming… ever possessed” (18). She was a prized possession of the king, and after, even her beauty could not stop her from being sold into slavery. Purchased or not, these women were still regarded as property.
The works of Fores and Behn do much to highlight the ordeals of enslaved African females and the inhumane treatment endured within the slave trade. While Behn describes Imoinda’s eventual journey into slavery in a less severe tone, Fores exposes the abuses head on. From the imagery of the woman suspended as punishment for her modesty, to the naked women in the background – this illustration screams of injustice. Fores’ print also expresses the reckless abandonment in which these white merchants inflict punishment without remorse. Albeit these works deliver contrasting imageries and depictions, they nevertheless, present an account of the toils enslaved African women suffered. However, while the purpose in which Fores and Behn expose these injustices may highlight the necessity of its abolition during its timeframe, for 21stcentury readers, these works expose the singular way in which black women were represented by white authors. Today, readers perceive the works as still presented by the hands of white authority, thus illustrating the disparities between gender and race that still existed even in the midst of the call for change.
Works Cited
Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, edited by Janet Todd, Penguin, 2004.
Fores, S.W. 2005. The ABOLITION of the SLAVE TRADE or the
Inhumanity of Dealers in human flesh exemplified in Capt. Kimber’s treatment of a Young Negro Girl of 15 for her Virjen [sic] Modesty. 10 April 1792. 1113702. In Motion: The Transatlantic SlaveTrade. Migration Resources. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZC4-6204].
www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm?migration=1&topic=99&id=297474&type=i mage&metadata=show&page=7.
