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This work investigates the complexities of how slavery is represented in literature and society.

February 6, 2026

Alongside Slavery's Asides: Reverberations of Edward Young's The Revenge

Key Points

This work investigates the complexities of how slavery is represented in literature and society.
Analyzes William Wells Brown's lecture and writings on slavery.
Examines Edward Young's 'The Revenge' and its thematic connections.
Discusses the concept of whispering as a narrative technique.
Suggests that traditional representations fail to capture the essence of slavery.
Proposes that a whisper may allow for a more intimate understanding of the experience of enslaved individuals.
Highlights the limitations of conventional storytelling in addressing historical injustices.

Abstract

Abstract: In an 1847 lecture before the Female Anti-Slavery Society of Salem, William Wells Brown stated: “Were I about to tell you the evils of Slavery, to represent to you the Slave in his lowest degradation, I should wish to take you, one at a time, and whisper it to you. Slavery has never been represented; Slavery never can be represented.” In these oft-cited lines, Wells Brown makes a strong claim for the absolute impossibility of representing slavery. But I wish to pause and stay with his earlier suggestion that it might just be possible to tell about slavery in a whisper. Breaking through the fastidiousness of the audience, a whisper can bring the condition of slavery close.

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