Sutton Grigg's Imperio Summary

In Sutton Griggs’s Imperium in Imperio, the author combats the exclusion of women by making education equal, where women have the option of developing a sense of self through school rather than being isolated in the household. Although the story is told through the view of a young male student, Belton, it is clear that his university journey was shaped by the help of women. Consider the fact that out of the three-hundred and sixty students from the South, there is a two to one ratio of Negro women at the university; as a teacher’s college, the end goal of graduation results in a position as a teacher which is a field of work known to be primarily staffed by females (Griggs 37). Men being outnumbered at scholarly institutions is rare as both Abelard and Woolf’s present males as the dominating gender. At

This negro college was founded by a female author, Harriet, which shows Nashville’s pride for women scholars. An article written in reaction to Woolf’s depiction of women by Lemaster points out that by excluding females from the large social environment of the university, not only will their self-consciousness plummet, but they will also lose motivation to seek agency, self-awareness and the power to express themselves (80). Ultimately, Sutton Griggs creates an academic atmosphere where minorities are encouraged to learn and seek justice within the institution, leading females to feel empowered and worthy of success. Griggs further explains that combination implies unity, which is shown when the female and male students come together as the Imperium, to stand up for injustice. Belton and his peers disagreed with how the only black professor was being treated in relation to the rest of the staff and in order for his plan to take action he needed the support of the female students as they are majority, “one of the young men had a sister among the young lady students, and, through her Belton’s rebellion was organized among the girls and their signatures secured”