Questions and Answers About Woman of Colour

Why does the author experience such turmoil during her journey from the Caribbean to England? What are the reasons for her anxiety? What is she worried about? Explain in detail.

Olivia Fairfield experiences turmoil during her journey from Jamaica to London due to the anxiety of the travel reason and the rough experience of the long journey ahead of her by sea. She is anxious to meet her cousin Augustus Merton, who was her future husband. However, Olivia was worried of the reception she was going to get from other half of the family owing to her skin colour. The fear was anticipated by Mrs. Milbanke letters over the racialized treatment accorded to her in London due to blackness.

Based on the author's remarks and her account of her journey explain the misconceptions that were circulated in England about the people who lived in the Caribbean. What were those stereotypes? Do you think they were positive or negative stereotypes?

Olivia explains the limitations and prejudice faced by Caribbean natives due to misconceptions of poverty, illiteracy, ruthlessness, and sexism. These low opinions made colored people from the Caribbean to suffer discriminative prejudice and categorization to inferior humans. These stereotypes were proven negative after the encounter of Merton with his new bride.

Why did the heroine (author) travel all the way from her home country to England? Why did she take such a long, uncomfortable journey?

Olivia Fairfield traveled a long way from Jamaica to London to fulfill her father's dying wish to reunite her with his other family. She embarked on this journey to get her share of inheritance when she fulfilled her father's wish. She was to meet and get married to her cousin.

Examine the heroine's father. Based on the information the author provides us with was he a kind or unkind man? Did he treat the author's mother well? Was he just and fair towards her? Was he just with his daughter? Explain in detail.

Mr. Fairfield is characterized as a mean, ruthless and hostile slaveholder who was both unkind with cowardice personality when he fails to face social odds and stand for his love for Marcia a Guinean slave working in his plantation. Mr. Fairfield was not fair and just to his daughter Olivia because he forced her to fulfill a selfish wish to gain her rightful inheritance.

Examine the reception the heroine receives when she meets her cousins in England. Were they welcoming or did they merely "tolerate" her? Discuss those scenes in detail.

Upon arriving in London Olivia got hospitable reception from her cousins though they tolerated her presence to gain and fulfill their uncle's wish. They looked down on her with stereotyping perceptions on her personality.

What do we know about Augustus? How does the author describe him? Is he trustworthy or is he deceitful? Do you think he genuinely interested in the heroine or he interested in something else? Explain in detail.

Augustus is described as mean and arrogant. The sarcasms in the author's intention of giving him a second name that signified arrogance and a first name symbolizing humility characterizes Augustus as a person of double life lacking principles on his personality. Initially, Merton held sexism stereotypes on Olivia but after interacting with her after their marriage he gets very high esteem of her personality.

Compare the reaction and the "welcome" our heroine receives with the reception her maid receives. How do the cousins treat each woman? Compare the reaction of the adults with that of children? How does it reveal the bigotry of the British at the time regarding race? What do you make of the scene when the heroine is talking to the young boy? Why is that scene important? Discuss in detail.

When Olivia arrives in England in the company of her maid servant Dido her cousins discriminate Dido due to her blackness. They hold Olivia with remorse due to her parentage; she had a white father will Dido was fully black. This showed the prejudice held by whites against the black woman whom they perceived with misgiving perceptions.

Do Olivia's anxieties settle after she is married? Is she more at ease with how people perceive her? What are her new concerns and anxieties? What does she fear now?

After Olivia's and Augustus marriage, her anxiety does not settle due to the discriminations she had to face living with her white cousins and husband. She falls victim of sexism and faces heart-breaking disappointments as she struggles to voice the black characteristics to the ignorant Britons around her.

How does Olivia prove that she is morally more superior to the people who surround her? What are the tests she had to go through to prove her mettle and to prove she is better than some members among her in-laws? Explain in detail.

Olivia used only a few hours to convince August of the strong-willed personality that was not reflected in her skin color. According to Olivia, she felt she possessed superior morals in treating everyone around her justly and worked to the betterment of others. When her in-laws tried to prevent her from talking to children she made a theological approach to differentiate their physical differences but were spiritually equal.

Are Augustus and Olivia well-matched in education, temperament and demeanor? Discuss in detail based on the information we have in the text.

Augustus and Olivia were well matched in education because they had received formal education and were fluent in their communication. However, their personality and behavior did not match sine Olivia was kind, understanding, and religious while Augustus was the opposite. Their behavior did not lime in the way they handled others and responded to issues surrounding them.

Evaluate Olivia's last decisions. What are the circumstances that drove her to take them? Did she do the right thing? What other options did he have at the time? Examine the end of the account and evaluate her options at the time, then weigh in her decisions. Remember to support your analysis with textual data.

Olivia raises against the odds and the circumstances she faces and gives up on the marriage and discredits her father's will to fight the racial prejudice around her. She emerges a cultural and racial warrior who fights the bi-racial legal distinctions to gain intellectual voice in the journey towards liberation. Olivia liberates herself from oppression and subjectivity to stand up against social odds emanating from cultural and legal barriers to draw history to modern liberation.

References

Dominique, L.J. (2007). The Woman of Colour. Anonymous ed, paperback ISBN-10: 1551111764, p. 268.