Olivia Fairfield is thrown into a new environment where she must balance all of the new dynamics thrown her way. One of the most prominent dynamics she struggles to balance is the power that individuals hold over her. This issue is especially seen when looking at her relationship with men in her life and how she speaks about them. Specifically, how she uses male pronouns and the line that she is unable to draw between man and God. The keywords he, him or his are used interchangeably throughout The Woman of Colour: A Tale in a methodical way to demonstrate more than just the use of a pronoun. There is a line that is very blurry between man and God which is primarily demonstrated when this pronoun is used. Olivia has a hard time looking at men as separate from God in specific instances that cause confusion when these pronouns are used by her. She gives power to these pronouns that are deeper than a way of referring to a certain person. Examining how Olivia uses these pronouns goes into her relationship with men and God, especially those in positions of power.
Religion is a huge aspect of Olivia’s journey and is something that grounds her when the world around her is confusing. However, throughout her journey this faith she holds becomes blurry when looking at certain relationships she has. One of the most prominent relationships she is in is between her and Augustus, where there is a clear power dynamic. Augustus is seen as a God to Olivia and she struggles to draw the line between God and man when looking at him. This confusion is seen when she states: ‘“You are good to embolden me, madam,” said I, “my trust is in Him who has promised to strengthen the weak-hearted. I hope the name of Fairfield shall never be disgraced by me”’ (Anonymous 59). Here, Olivia is speaking about Augustus and praises him while putting herself down in the process. It is unclear the ‘Him’ that she is referring to because of the use of capitalization, but it is most likely Augustus. That is why the relationship between God and man is interchangeable in Olivia’s journey. She is unable to decipher between the power that God holds and the power of the men in her life which is demonstrated through her confusing use of pronouns. Augustus is one of the first relationships we see this dynamic play out and comes up more throughout the story.
Another time Olivia is unable to distinguish Augustus from God is when she is speaking about how others feel about him. She speaks about how she and others feel about Augustus and his mannerisms when she says, “The likeness to him is very strong, and his voice has the very tones which used to bless my ear! Can I, then, fail to listen, when Augustus speaks? His manners are elegant, without being studied or coxcomical” (Anonymous 172). Here, Olivia is referring to Augustus in a way where she is praising him and his presence. She also uses the word “bless” when touching on how he speaks to her, which is where she is confusing the line between man and God again. When Olivia refers to Augustus in this context she is continuing to look up to him with a strange amount of praise that some would equate to God. Olivia’s use of pronouns continues to be confusing when she is speaking about the men in her life. The power dynamics she encounters along with the continuous presence of religion along her journey causes this confusion for her and the reader regarding male pronouns.
Olivia also confuses God with another man in her life when she is looking at Mr. Lumley. This confusion between man and God is much more understandable because Mr. Lumley is the preacher and holds a significant amount of power in society. The relationship between Mr. Lumley is one of a mentor like relationship. Olivia is being taught scripture by Mr. Lumley, which is helping her navigate her journey in England. Inherently, Olivia looks up to him and sees him as a God-like individual in her life. This view of him can be seen when she is speaking about him with Mrs. Milbanke through saying, “He is a true friend, Mrs. Milbanke – he feels for your Olivia; he pours his consolations, the consolations of religion, into her ear, and at the throne of mercy he prays that she may receiveth that support of which she stand so much in need!” (Anonymous 137). Through the use of italics that Olivia uses, she emphasizes the power that Lumley holds in relation to her and those around her. Also when doing this she shows how she struggles to draw the line between Lumley being a man and God. She once again confuses man with God and praises an individual in a way that some would worship God. The method in which Olivia looks up to the men in her life is unnerving because she does not see them as human some of the time. Her use of pronouns when referring to these men is the perfect example of how she struggles to see the difference between man and God.
In relation to the dynamic between Olivia and the men in her life, Daniel Yu analyzes Augustus and his role in the book. He looks specifically at the marriage between Augustus and Olivia and how Augustus views the relationship. Yu believes that Augustus only marries Olivia because he feels a sense of disgust or “pity” towards her situation (Yu 105). This idea of Olivia being pitied by those around her adds a new dimension to her use of pronouns towards men. If she is constantly praising men and they are looking down on her for her situation, the line between man and God will continue to be blurry. When Augustus is originally disgusted by Olivia and she glorifies him, the relationship between them becomes even more complicated as time goes on. Olivia puts her faith and trust in Augustus and creates a strange relationship between man and God in her male relationships, while the men in her life look down on her, which is seen in the way she uses pronouns.
Olivia Fairfield has a new environment that she needs to navigate when she gets to England, but one of the most challenging parts of her journey is her relationships. She is put in a situation where power is incredibly important to how individuals treat each other, and she is lacking that status. When she is seen as much weaker than those around her, she struggles with how to view those around her that have more power, specifically men. While in England, Olivia becomes very reliant on Christianity and faith becomes a prevailing theme on her journey. With this and the power dynamics she must navigate, the depiction between man and God becomes a problem for Olivia. In her use of male pronouns the reader can see how she struggles to draw the line between man and God in many of her male relationships.
Another novel to look at to examine the dynamic between men and women through the lens of religion is Stella by Émeric Bergeaud. In this story, the roles are reversed and women are praised by men and looked at as angel-like figures. Whenever men describe a woman in the novel, it is similar to how Olivia describes men in The Woman of Colour: A Tale. Women are worshiped in a God like sense, which is seen when motherhood is described. A passage that shows this is: “Oh, a mother! What fertile spring of devotion and love, what inexhaustible trove of heroic and sublime virtues! A mother is more than a woman, more than an angel” (Bergeaud). Women are seen as something beyond an angel or hero in this story when they experience motherhood. The stark difference in how women are praised in Bergeaud’s story in relation to Olivia’s is fascinating. It is interesting to look at how Christianity shapes the view of men and women in different novels during the time period when comparing these two novels.
Works Cited
Bergeaud, Emeric. Stella, A Novel of the Haitian Revolution. Ed. Lesley S. Curtis and Christen Mucher. New York University Press, 2015. Print
Dominique, Lyndon Janson, and Anonymous. The Woman of Colour: A Tale. Broadview Press, 2008.
Yu, Daniel. “August Disgust: Distinction, Disinterest, and Race in The Woman of Colour.” Eighteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 35 no. 1, 2023, p. 103-111. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/880272.