# Patsey — Twelve Years a Slave character guide

> Patsey in Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** unfortunate Patsey, Poor Patsey, tortured Patsey

**First appearance:** 0011-viii

## Snapshot

A young enslaved woman of extraordinary skill and spirit, caught between Master Epps's predatory fixation and Mistress Epps's murderous envy.

## Who they are

Patsey picks more cotton than anyone on the Epps place and draws the master's attention in ways that make her mistress hate her. She walks miles to borrow a piece of soap from a neighbor, a small errand that Epps twists into a pretext for unspeakable punishment. Her dignity under the lash, and Solomon's forced complicity in it, form the moral center of the Louisiana chapters.

## Relationships

### [Master Epps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/characters/master_epps)

_psychological_

Epps obsessively exploits and brutalizes Patsey, subjecting her to relentless abuse and sexual coercion.

### [Master Epps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/characters/master_epps)

_psychological_

Epps obsessively exploits and brutalizes Patsey, subjecting her to relentless abuse and sexual coercion.

## In the story

### [Twelve Years a Slave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/twelve-years-a-slave)

Enslaved woman on Epps' plantation, subjected to horrific whippings and abuse.

### [Chapter XII: The Slave's Daily Life on Bayou Boeuf](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/xii)

Remarkable cotton picker known for picking five hundred pounds a day with both hands; held up as the standard of productivity, yet subject to severe punishment if she falls short of her exceptional task.

### [Chapter XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/xiii)

Described as a splendid field hand, queen of cotton picking, but suffers from Epps' lust and mistress's jealousy, bearing scars of a thousand stripes.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/xiv)

Suffers severe beatings from Epps, incited by Mistress Epps' jealousy; described as an object of pity.

### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/xv)

Forgets her sorrows amid the Christmas festivities; also mentioned riding behind Uncle Abram.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/xviii)

Suffers the most brutal whipping in the chapter, tied naked to stakes and lashed for visiting Harriet at Shaw's, despite her innocent explanation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/characters/patsey
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/characters