Biography Essay

Phillis Wheatley's status as a slave has hampered a thorough consideration of her work. While many modern readers-accustomed to placing emphasis upon writers' personal reactions to their subjects—agree that there has been a revolution in poetic taste since the eighteenth century, these same readers are often quick to assume that Phillis Wheatley had little to offer her readers even in her own day. They cite her poetic restraint as evidence of her detachment from the issue of slavery and conclude she should have used her talent to protest prevailing racial attitudes. Critical judgments have ranged from dismissal of her work in the mistaken notion that nothing of artistic merit could emerge from the African mind to paternalistic ecstasy that lacks objectivity. Her race has been a major factor in evaluating her poetry. To regret the absence of protest in her poetry is to misunderstand...