Conflict of the Self in Oroonoko:or the Royal Slave and The Mill on the Floss

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Conflict of the Self in Oroonoko:or the Royal Slave and The Mill on the Floss In this essay I will be interested in the conflict of the self of the protagonists of two novels - Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave and The Mill on the Floss. Even though the novels may seem at first glance incomparable, dealing with societies of different periods and cultures, both are works of almost startling sadness and of affecting stories of personal tragedies. Protagonists´ personalities, their inner selves, are in constant clashes with the societies that surrond them. They are in a way outsiders, whose attemts to conform can never be fulfilled, as they don´t fit into the value systems of their periods. The Mill on the Floss, as all Eliot´s novels, was written in Victorian England and the values of that society are reflected in the book. This was a male dominated society, (even though ruled by a woman Queen Victoria) where women were treated as second class citizens, expected to marry and remain at home, unless they chose a respectable profession such as teaching. The text makes it clear that Maggie is expected to fit the Victorian mold for womanhood, which includes being submissive and passive, leaving "education" to the males. Similarly, the white Surinam community expects Oroonoko to fit its opinions about blackness and savagery of a slave. Aphra Behn´s Oroonoko was written in 1688, at a period when to express the views on an african american slave openly and passionately, was unsuited for a person, let alone a woman, to do. Throughout the story Behn is also taking a stand for women's freedom of writing. Not only is she presenting facts ba... ... middle of paper ... ...rder. The plots of the novels are constructed so as to highlight the implications of the choice of social action. These implications of choice are essentially twofold. First, our choices and actions affect those around us and can rebound back upon us - our actions may indirectly determine our fate. But secondly, our choices also act directly, not just indirectly, upon us by forming or reforming our own character through each act of practical moral decision. Bibliography: 1) Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko and other writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. 2) Eliot, George. The Mill on the Floss. London: Penguin Books, 1994. 3) King, Jeannete. Tragedy in the Victorian Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. 4) Reader, William Joseph. Life in Victorian England. London: B.T. Batsford, 1964.

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