ABSTRACT
The foremother figure portrayed in early black women's literature revises the stereotypical mammy figure. Many early white women writers inscribe and depict the superior-inferior hierarchy in narrative and character dialogue. Regardless of the degree to which the white female measures up to the myth of the ideal white lady (e.g., Marie St. Clair, Uncle Tom's Cabin), she is portrayed to be superior to the older black woman and stereotypical mammy, whose very existence is generally defined by loyalty, work, and responsibility in these texts.
