Difference between revisions of "Week 5 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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This reading was very interesting. I felt that Eliza painted the British in a very harsh light (which I know was the point), but she just seemed like a bit of a hypocrite. One sentence really caught my eye: "The Americans are obliged to commit unavoidable acts of cruelty; the defense of their country requires it; you seek their lives and liberties, and they must either kill or be killed." So, its ok for the Americans can be mean and cruel, but if the English are then that’s ten times worse? Also in this reading, Eliza tells a bit of a story some man told her about someone, (I'm assuming the someone is an analogy for the British and his farm is an analogy for the Americans), encroaching on his farm taking more and more from him. And, at the end he asks, "is this not slavery?" Now that is pretty ridiculous because as a North Carolina planter, I'm sure he had slaves, or at the very least, neighbors who had slaves. So, as long as the Americans are not treated like slaves, then it is fine, but they can still have slaves of their own. | This reading was very interesting. I felt that Eliza painted the British in a very harsh light (which I know was the point), but she just seemed like a bit of a hypocrite. One sentence really caught my eye: "The Americans are obliged to commit unavoidable acts of cruelty; the defense of their country requires it; you seek their lives and liberties, and they must either kill or be killed." So, its ok for the Americans can be mean and cruel, but if the English are then that’s ten times worse? Also in this reading, Eliza tells a bit of a story some man told her about someone, (I'm assuming the someone is an analogy for the British and his farm is an analogy for the Americans), encroaching on his farm taking more and more from him. And, at the end he asks, "is this not slavery?" Now that is pretty ridiculous because as a North Carolina planter, I'm sure he had slaves, or at the very least, neighbors who had slaves. So, as long as the Americans are not treated like slaves, then it is fine, but they can still have slaves of their own. | ||
One more sentence in this reading really caught my eye, When Eliza is talking about Homer and she says, "what contemptible EARTH WORMS these authors make us!" She is expressing her displeasure over not even having the liberty to think, and she says that that is all she wants. She writes of how the men would not want women to be a part of political matters, and she does not care. She wishes only to think for herself. -Kristina.S. | One more sentence in this reading really caught my eye, When Eliza is talking about Homer and she says, "what contemptible EARTH WORMS these authors make us!" She is expressing her displeasure over not even having the liberty to think, and she says that that is all she wants. She writes of how the men would not want women to be a part of political matters, and she does not care. She wishes only to think for herself. -Kristina.S. | ||
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| + | The Revolution seems to mark a period where women can start voicing political opinions without being attacked for it. Eliza Wilkinson, at least in her letters, claimed the right to express her political sentiments and rages about how authors make women out to be weak and fit for nothing more than menial tasks, or in more visceral language, appearing as “contemptible ''earth worms'' (124).” Interestingly, she apparently had political discussions not just with her female friends, but with males as well. She talks about a conversation with a Patriot officer. Whether or not he took her opinions seriously, I don’t know, but the fact that he was willing to talk with her about politics suggests a change in attitude from earlier colonial times. Of course, Eliza is an elite with a fair amount of power, giving her the opportunity and station to speak up. -- Taylor Brann | ||
