Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral · Theme
Freedom and Enslavement
How Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral develops Freedom and Enslavement.
Wheatley subtly addresses themes of freedom and tyranny, drawing on her own experience of being enslaved and brought from Africa, while advocating for liberty and condemning oppression, notably in 'To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth.'
Where it surfaces
- Letter to the Publisher
The letter highlights Phillis's enslaved status while documenting her exceptional intellectual freedom through education.
- To the University of Cambridge, in New-England
Wheatley contrasts her physical journey from Africa ("Egyptian gloom") with spiritual freedom through Christ.
- To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1768
The closing line suggests that a monarch's smile can set his subjects free, touching on the concept of freedom granted by authority.
- To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North-America, etc.
The poem contrasts the hope of political freedom under Dartmouth with the personal experience of enslavement, emphasizing the universal desire for liberty.
- XI
The act of resigning New England's fields for Britannia may imply a choice or constraint related to freedom and allegiance.
- III
The chapter touches on violated laws and grievances, hinting at themes of oppression and the struggle for freedom.
- An Answer to the Rebus, by the Author of These Poems
The reference to Quebec being vanquished and forced to pay tribute to Britain touches on themes of conquest and subjugation.