Mariely Liriano
Christian Rhetoric in Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince
Woman are the division of humanity whose rights had been the longest stripped of them, and who had been abused the hardest and for the longest time. Even today, many people believe that women still do not have the equality that should to be given to them. Since women first started making steps to attain that ideal level of equality, they have used various means, including literature, to further their cause. Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince, use language of Christian rhetoric to portray herself as sinner and the redeemed and honest as well as portraying the journey of redemption between one and the other. The working can engage the reader who can relate …show more content…
Prince specifically tells the story of a sinner redeemed in order to do so. In the Catholic sect of the Christian faith, they believe in original sin, which is the idea that each person is born with a certain amount of sin already in them, even without having sinned, and they must be pardoned of that sin in a baptism, or rebirth into Christianity. It is with respect to this that Prince considers herself a sinner. She states, “I dearly loved to go to church, it was so solemn. I never knew rightly that I had much sin till I went there.” (Prince 25)She also points out, “…I wished to be good that I might go to heaven. After a while, I was admitted as a candidate for the holy Communion” (25). With this development of events, Prince basically discovers her sin and almost immediately attempts to be redeemed. This story would resonate significantly with the Christian audience of Prince’s age, and especially in this case where her emancipation so thoroughly parallels her redemption of sin, causes her readers to associate something they already consider good (the redemption from sin) with something that she tries to encourage them is good (the emancipation from slavery). In this way, Prince firmly establishes fellowship with the
Christian Rhetoric in Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince
Woman are the division of humanity whose rights had been the longest stripped of them, and who had been abused the hardest and for the longest time. Even today, many people believe that women still do not have the equality that should to be given to them. Since women first started making steps to attain that ideal level of equality, they have used various means, including literature, to further their cause. Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince, use language of Christian rhetoric to portray herself as sinner and the redeemed and honest as well as portraying the journey of redemption between one and the other. The working can engage the reader who can relate …show more content…
Prince specifically tells the story of a sinner redeemed in order to do so. In the Catholic sect of the Christian faith, they believe in original sin, which is the idea that each person is born with a certain amount of sin already in them, even without having sinned, and they must be pardoned of that sin in a baptism, or rebirth into Christianity. It is with respect to this that Prince considers herself a sinner. She states, “I dearly loved to go to church, it was so solemn. I never knew rightly that I had much sin till I went there.” (Prince 25)She also points out, “…I wished to be good that I might go to heaven. After a while, I was admitted as a candidate for the holy Communion” (25). With this development of events, Prince basically discovers her sin and almost immediately attempts to be redeemed. This story would resonate significantly with the Christian audience of Prince’s age, and especially in this case where her emancipation so thoroughly parallels her redemption of sin, causes her readers to associate something they already consider good (the redemption from sin) with something that she tries to encourage them is good (the emancipation from slavery). In this way, Prince firmly establishes fellowship with the