This 74page guide for clotel by william wells brown includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 29 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. In the story president thomas jefferson and his former mulatto mistress currer have. He published clotel in 1853 as the first novel written by a black american. He published clotel in london, where he stayed to evade recapture under the 1850 fugitive slave act. Born a slave and kept functionally illiterate until he escaped at age nineteen, william wells brown refashioned himself first as an agent of the underground railroad and then as an antislavery activist and selftaught orator and author, eventually becoming a foundational figure of african american literature. The book is considered the first novel published by an african american.
Born into slavery in montgomery county, kentucky, near the town of mount sterling, brown escaped to ohio in 1834 at the age of 19. Download pdf clotel or the president s daughter free. This modern library paperback classics edition reproduces the first, 1853, edition of clotel and includes, as did that edition, his autobiographical narrative. William wells brown 18141884 was a vocal abolitionist, a frequent antagonist of frederick douglass, and the author of clotel, the first known novel by an african american. Clotel was sixteen, and was admitted by all to be the most beautiful girl, coloured or white, in the city. William wells browns clotel wesscholar wesleyan university. This was the first of the four editions that comprise the first novel published by.
Born into slavery in the southern united states, brown escaped to the north in 1834, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. He was also an extensive plagiarist, copying at least 87,000 words from close to 300 texts. This was the first of the four editions that comprise the first novel published by an african american writer. The story was based upon the popular rumor that thomas jefferson fathered several children with. Librivox recording of clotel, or, the presidents daughter, by william wells brown. Unguarded expressions of the feelings of the negroes. Discussion of themes and motifs in william wells browns clotel. William wells brown citation search in wright american fiction, 18511875 clotel by william wells brown.
This modern library paperback classics edition reproduces the first, 1853, edition of clotel and includes, as did that edition, his autobiographical narrative, the life and escape of william wells brown, plus newly written notes. Clotel, or, the presidents daughter internet archive. William wells brown books free pdf books bookyards. William wells brown, though born into slavery, escaped to become one of the most prominent reformers of the nineteenth century and one of the earliest historians of the black experience.
This novel focuses on the difficult lives of mulattoes in america and the degraded and immoral condition of the relation of master and slave in the usa brown. He settled in boston, massachusetts, where he worked for abolitionist causes and became. Many people prefer to read offline or to print out text and read from the real printed page. In her earlier years, clotels mother, currer, was a servant of jefferson. William wells brown on jeanjacques dessalinesthe black man, his antecedents, his genius, and his achievements. This is the story of clotel and her sister, the fictional slave daughters of thomas jefferson, and their attempt to escape and find freedom. Clotel, or the presidents daughter by william wells brown free. An electronic scholarly edition edited by professor christopher mulvey the louverture project.
He is a founding editor of the journal book history. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. Based on facts and narratives that william wells brown collected on his own journey out of slavery, clotel unashamedly looks many facets of slavery in the eye and calls them out as the horrors they are. Brown, who escaped from slavery in 1834 at the age of 20, published the book in london. Clotel, or the presidents daughter by william wells brown. Drawing on what were, in the 19th century, rumors that thomas jefferson had children with his slave sally hemings, the novel follows the slave clotel and her family as they are sold to different masters. On november 6, 1884, william wells brown died in chelsea, massachusetts. William wells brown, a contemporary of frederick douglass, was well known, isbn 9781563248030 buy the clotel, or the presidents daughter ebook. He escaped, became an abolitionist and a writer in england, and was purchased by friends and freed in the middle of the 19th century. So attentive was the young man to the quadroon during the evening that it was noticed by all, and became a matter of general conversation. This library of america series edition is printed on acidfree paper and features smythsewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.
These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of clotel. Clotel, who is described by william wells brown as the daughter of thomas jefferson. Preface more than two hundred years have elapsed since the first cargo of slaves was landed on the banks of the james river, in the colony of virginia, from the west coast of africa. Jefferson, thomas, 17431826 relations with women fiction subject. A narrative of slave life in the united states, novel by william wells brown, first published in england in 1853. Browns ambivalent approach to thomas jefferson in his novel matches what could be seen in the 1850s as jeffersons. Cultural and historical background chronology of browns life and times a note on the text and annotations clotel or, the presidents daughter 1853 edition. Brown learned of the scandal while working in several antislavery activities following his escape from slavery in 1834. Abstract this essay situates william wells browns novel clotel. William wells brown divided and differently partitioned. Or, the presidents daughter by william wells brown.
Or, the presidents daughter by william wells brown free. By william wells brown, a fugitive slave, author of three years in europe. About the series about this volume list of illustrations part i. William wells brown and the jefferson and hemings scandal william wells brown wrote clotel or the presidents daughter, a fiction novel based on the rumors surrounding thomas jeffersons affair with sally hemings, his slave. Author william wells brown was an escaped slave from kentucky active on the antislavery circuit. Clotel, or the presidents daughter isbn 9781563248030 pdf. Clotel or, the presidents daughter by william wells brown. This acclaimed book by william wells brown is available at in several formats for your ereader. He was also the first to have a play and a travel book published brown was born to a black slave mother and a white slaveholding father. The rhetorical strategies of harriet beecher stowe and william wells brown. Others want to carry documents around with them on their mobile phones and read while they are on the move. Clotel, or, the presidents daughter by william wells. William wells brown november 6, 1814 november 6, 1884 was a prominent africanamerican abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian.
Clotel or the presidents daughter, by william wells brown. It is often considered the first africanamerican novel. The novel clotel, by william wells brown essay 1819. The novel tells the story of clotel and althesa, the fictional daughters of thomas jefferson and his. With a sketch of the authors life by william wells brown, 18151884. This novel explores slaverys destructive effects on africanamerican families, the difficult lives of american mulattoes or mixedrace people, and the degraded and immoral condition of the relation of master and slave in the united states of america. Interestingly, brown opens the novel with a shortened version of his narrative.
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