ABSTRACT
The discourses around slavery and abolition engaged the reading public during the Romantic era both as a literary trope and as a commentary on other social issues of the time. Given the success of the abolitionist and then emancipationist movements in influencing public opinion, many writers used the arguments against slavery as a part of literary convention even if they were not direct participants in activist efforts. Women played a significant role as both abolitionists and emancipationists in Great Britain and actively participated in the process of changing public opinion about using African enslaved people for British commercial gain. In this regard, these movements crossed several cultural and political boundaries by developing the first organized modern social movement, delineating the limits of consumption, and valuing British national identity as the pattern card for liberty. Thus, the intersection of women’s Romantic writings, the African slave institution, and the social movements to abolish the slave trade and then to emancipate the slaves provide fruitful areas of research for contemporary scholars. This article surveys the historical context of women and slavery in the Romantic era, reviews the scholarly trends of the past two and half decades, and suggests avenues for further research.
