Opening Up Space: A Lovely Technofeminist Opportunity

Themes from Phillis Wheatley's Poetry

Growing up in a white and westernized culture as a slave in the Wheatley residence, Phillis Wheatley had a very different experience from many other people who share some or all of her identities. When examining Wheatley's poetry, it is evident that she has been influenced by the education she was able to receive and the experience she has. Some of the most prominent themes that can be seen throughout her poems are slavery, religion, freedom and death.  Wheatley uses her poetry to raise questions and draw attention to things that she sees as issue. In her poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America", Wheatley emphasizes how African Americans need to be brought into the narrative surrounding religion, specifically Christianity. Additionally, she pushes themes of tensions between races, specifically the racism heavy present in this time period in the line, "Their colour is a diabolic die". Wheatley's quote emphasizes the hatred that many white men and women held for African Americans solely due to their race. Because of her background with the Wheatley family, Phillis was brought up in a Christian household and became a very religious person, which can be seen in many of her poems. In her well known poem, "On Virtue", Wheatley explores the relationship between Christianity and the ideals surrounding it like virtue that seem just out of reach for Wheatley herself and others. As Wheatley continues to grow and learn, her poems demonstrate the internal struggles she had with her intersection of identities and in the manner that she lived her life. Wheatley's powerful poems attracted the attention of many white men and women, leading her to be able to buy her own freedom, but also raise the question of if Phillis Wheatley wrote these poems to appeal and manipulate a certain audience or to express how she was truly feeling.

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