Douglass' Women.Jewell Parker Rhodes' masterpiece of historical fiction, Douglass' Women, lifts the veil from the lives of two women--Anna Murray Douglass, Frederick Douglass, Frederick (dŭg`ləs), c.1817–1895, American abolitionist, b. near Easton, Md. The son of a black slave, Harriet Bailey, and an unknown white father, he took the name of Douglass (from Scott's hero in The Lady of the Lake Douglass' first wife of 44 years, and Ottilie Assing Ottilie Davida Assing (Feb 11, 1819-Aug 21, 1884) was a 19th Century German feminist, freethinker, and abolitionist. Born in Hamburg, she was the eldest daughter of a prominent Jewish physician, David Assur, who converted to Christianity upon marriage and changed his name to Assing. , his white mistress of some 30 years--both of whom are consumed by their love for the most famous black man of his time. In bringing the women front and center, Rhodes provides a forum for their stories. Splicing splicing /splic·ing/ (spli´sing) 1. the attachment of individual DNA molecules to each other, as in the production of chimeric genes. 2. RNA s. together historical details with her own imagination, Rhodes gives them specific characters, and, more important, a strong voice, drawing them out from the shadows of the legendary abolitionist. When 28-year-old Anna, illiterate and a free woman of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color , meets and falls in love with Douglass, he is a slave who bears the mantle of freedom. Eight years her junior, he is confident, strikingly handsome and well educated. She gives him her life savings so that he can escape to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Douglass fulfills his promise to send for her so that they can be married. Douglass meets Ottilie, a German heiress heiress n. feminine heir, often used to denote a woman who has received a large amount upon the death of a rich relative, as in the "department store heiress." HEIRESS. A female heir to a person having an estate of inheritance. , and finds in her a mind that matches his own and a physical attraction Noun 1. physical attraction - a desire for sexual intimacy concupiscence, sexual desire, eros desire - the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state that stirs his manhood. Of mixed religious heritage (Christian and Jewish) and having experienced prejudice herself, Ottilie considers herself qualified to join the abolitionist movement. Ottilie insinuates herself into Douglass' life by offering her services as a journalist. She works with him on numerous projects, and, for 12 summers, is even invited to live in his home, with his family. It is the pitting together of these two women--Anna, who endures years of hard work, raises five children and buries the fifth, takes care of the home, weathers her husband's flagrant infidelity, yet loves him still, and Ottilie, whose years of blind devotion to Frederick yields no commitment to her, but instead leaves her lonely and alone--that drives this emotionally charged story. In telling their stories, Rhodes accords each her own section: "Narrative of the Life of Anna Murray Douglass, A Free Woman of Color 1813-1882," and "Diary of Ottilie Assing Beloved of Frederick Douglass 1820-1884," which alternate as the story unfolds. The title of Anna's section echoes that of Douglass' famous autobiography, The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Written by Himself. This is no coincidence, since Anna emerges as the novel's heroine. The irony of Douglass' Women is that Frederick Douglass is able to escape to freedom with the help of a free woman of color who, in a sense, ends up a slave to the man he becomes. Rhodes' reimagining of the love triangle A love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people (known as a triad). While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. brings out the flaws of one of our greatest historical figures, making him human without robbing him of any of his stature. We are reminded that behind every great man there is a great woman--or two. --Denolyn Carroll is the assistant managing editor at Essence. |
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