B.A. (Hons.

) English – Semester IV Core Course

Paper VIII : British Literature–18th Century Study Material

Unit-5 : Background Readings

Editors : Dr. Seema Suri; Nalini Prabhakar

Department of English

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi
Paper VIII – British Literature : 18th Century
Unit-5 : Background Readings

Editors:
Dr. Seema Suri
School of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007

Nalini Prabhakar
School of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 Paper VIII – British Literature : 18th Century
Unit 5 : Background Readings

Contents
Lesson Title Prepared Pg.
by No.
(c) Daniel Defoe ‘The Complete English Tradesman’ Diskhya 01
(Letter XXII), ‘The Great Law of Samantarai
Subordination Considered’ (Letter IV),
‘The Complete English Gentleman’
(d) William Hay From “Deformity: An Essay” (1754) Renu Koyu 12

(e) Olaudah Equiano ‘The Middle Passage’ Renu Koyu 19

 
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 Unit-5(c)

“The Complete English Tradesman” (Letter XXII)

“The Great Law of Subordination Considered” (Letter IV)
“The Complete English Gentleman”
Daniel Defoe
Dikshya Samantarai

1.1 Learning Objectives

After reading this unit you will be able to:
 Know in detail regarding the economic progress of 17th and 18th century England
 Understand the social hierarchies existing in England during Defoe’s time
 Identify Defoe’s views on English trading, its tradesmen, and the nobility
 Critically analyse Defoe’s’ views on servants and servitude
 Know in detail about the changing relationship between being a gentleman and
education
1.2 Short Introduction to Trade and Commerce in 17th and 18th Century England
England was prospering in several sectors during this time period. Britain was expanding
more and more and trading had become global in nature. It was the time of the “New World”
and British called themselves an “island race”. Mr Spectator describes the 1711 London as
the hub of global trade and commerce as a lot of produce from the world is available to the
British. There was Agricultural Maximisation that was rapidly advancing in 1700s, mining
industries were expanding and the cloth industry was a huge market. English businessmen
had started building large-scale enterprises and around half of the merchant fleet was based in
London. Wool, food, fish, lead, tin and other products were being exported while pepper was
being imported from the East, sugar from West Indies, calico (cheap cotton cloth from India),
and tobacco. All of these imports were also re-exported thereby increasing the wealth of
English merchants.
This kind of transformation in trading was well settles by 1680s and then it continued to
grow at a steady rate till the middle of the 18th century. Legislations like the Navigation Acts
made sure that England monopolised trade as there were particular goods that could be
exported to colonies only in English ships while other goods could only land in England
before getting re-exported elsewhere. And London occupied the central position here. All
shipbuilding and repairing happened there, and around three quarters of overseas trade had to
pass through London. Sugar was refined, tobacco was processed and many other important
processes linked to clothing trade also happened here.

1
1.3 The Author
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is a famous English novelist, journalist and pamphleteer who
wrote voraciously. Although he is widely known for his novel Robinson Crusoe, few have
given him credit for his economic and business writings. He was a tradesman, an
entrepreneur and a journalist as well. He lived at a time when commerce was rapidly evolving
and many literary figures were directly influenced by it. But Defoe is singular because he had
firsthand knowledge of commerce and trade having succeeded and failed at it multiple times.
He was the son of a staunch non-conformist (Puritan) who went by the name of James
Foe. He was a hard worker and was fairly prosperous candle-maker and maybe a butcher later
on. When he turned 30, Daniel called himself Defoe, trying to revive the original name his
father's family carried. Because his father was a non conformist, he sent him to excellent
academy, situated in Newington Green to be tutored under Reverend Charles Morton. Thus
Daniel received a broader and better education than what he would have received at any other
prominent English university of his day like Cambridge or Oxford. But they were anyway
barred for dissenters of that day. His father had sent him to an academy for dissenters so that
he would enter the Presbyterian ministry but Defoe decided to enter trade and became a
merchant. Although he did not enter the ministry, he wrote a great deal of pamphlets talking
about the ongoing relationship between Anglicans and non-conformists.
He did not follow is father’s footsteps, rather he was invested in stocking trade along
with two brothers: James and Samuel Stancliffe. Also lawsuits reveal that tried his hand in
other dealings like tobacco and wine. One of the most notable things about Defoe is that he
had first hand and extensive knowledge regarding trade and when he started writing about it
in his forties, it gave him an “air of authority”. He was always fascinated with trade. He
writes “Writing upon trade was the whore I really doted upon”. But he had a major
shortcoming as a businessman: he was interested in too many things which made him take
some unnecessary risks and hence was guilty of “over-trading'.
He was wound up with a significant number of unprofitable and experimental; ventures
like civet cats and diving engine. He also left his business to join the Monmouth Rebellion in
1685 and taken prisoner. He was thankfully pardoned. Another mishap put him in severe
debt: ships in which he had invested were captured in France when war broke out with the
French. As a result of these losses, Defoe went bankrupt and had a debt of 17000 pounds in
1692. Although he was a defaulter, he bounced back and paid his creditors by setting up a
brick and tile factory in Tilbury. Now, he has lessened his debt to around 5000 pounds albeit
another round of troubles hit him. As a staunch dissenter, Defoe wrote many controversial
pamphlets. In one such pamphlet published in 1702, called “The Shortest Way with The
Dissenters”, he mocked Anglicans and the way they used extreme language. He played one of
these high church Anglicans and seemingly endorsed violence against nonconformists. This
led to his arrest on charged of sedition. He remained in Newgate prison and again went
bankrupt. He could never entirely repay the outstanding amount to his creditors now.

2
 When he turned 43, he had to begin his life again. He was released by Robert Hartly who
was a speaker in the House of Commons and thought that Defoe had the capacity to prove
useful to the government. Because of his active involvement in trade for around twenty years,
Defoe took in everything that affected trading. Hence he had a lot of knowledge regarding
domestic and foreign policies and kept a track of them. He had an active imagination that
made him invested in distant countries and concocted some schemes for colonization.
Throughout his travels, he kept taking notes of how the local markets and manufacturers
functioned. In his fictional works, we see Defoe talking about merchants, shops, tradesmen,
bank bills, and stocks. He had a commercial bent of mind and his morality is also governed
by those principles.
After that, he began a newspaper called Review and kept it operational till 1713. Because
he owed his life to Harley, he started writing pro government articles and had also acted as a
spy. When Harley returned to power as Chancellor, South Sea Company was created to
manage public debt. A firm was handed over monopoly over British Trade in South Atlantic
and several creditors were asked to exchange bonds for stocks in this company. This firm saw
an expansive boom in the stock market but it collapsed and it is one of the most famous
market crashes in history and Defoe was an insider witness to these events.
2. ‘The Complete English Tradesman’
2.1 Introduction
After having written quite a few numbers of successful novels, Defoe chose to put his
knowledge about business into a book. The Complete English tradesman was published in
two volumes. This work instructs tradesman in numerous ways: about keeping one's emotions
in control, maintaining accurate record book and marrying wisely. The first volume was
supposed to help amateur merchants and the second was meant for amateurs and
professionals in the field. it was practical in approach and his teachings reveal significant
information on maintaining business relationships.
He kept his focus on domestic commerce in these books which he thought was being
completely neglected in other works that were written on trade during his time. Defoe says,
“What is the reason that there are so many bankrupts and broken tradesmen now among us,
more than ever were known before?” On a practical level, this book reveals a lot about
trading and business techniques and psychologically, it reveals to us information regarding
the “highs and lows of the trading life”. He is fully aware of the implications of choosing to
pursue a trade or business. As an entrepreneur, one is subjected to a certain degree of risk,
both material and emotional. Drawing heavily from his personal experiences and the loses he
had encountered; Defoe chose to write The Complete English Tradesman. Other than these
personal experiences, he had also been a trading theorist in the numerous pamphleteers he
had written till date.
The Review dealt extensively with the subject of trade and he gave some serious
recommendations about the contemporary legislations that existed on trade. he has written

3
about banking, insurances, trade law, pensions, stock trade and policies regarding free trade.
Through this book we get a detailed account of Britain's economic world in the later 17th and
early 18th century with “its street-life, shops and markets, its jargon of trades, its managing of
debt and credit and its sometimes bizarre bookkeeping.”
2.2. Letter XXII: Of the Dignity of Trade in England more than in other Countries
Although the tradesmen were people who became wealthy, the elite frowned on them. These
tradesmen were significant economic contributors to the growth of England but socially, they
were despised by the elite and this is the issue that Defoe chooses to highlight in this letter.
He explains how tradesmen are proponents of high moral and material values and deserve to
be respected for their contribution to the society.
This letter can be divided into three major parts:
I: England's Greatness as a trading country
II: The Attitude of the gentry towards tradesmen
III: The desire to become a gentleman and stand as tall as the nobility
I: He speaks of England and its trade very highly. He thinks that England is the “greatest”
county in the world when it comes to trading and the “Englishmen are one of the best kind of
men who exist in the world”. He goes on to justify these claims with reason and not to come
off as partial to his nation. But without any doubt, Defoe is speaking with nationalistic pride.
First,
agriculturally, Britain was advancing much more rapidly than any other country because
of certain interrelated factors like the land was being managed in a better way, the climate
was favourable and there was more crop yield and better quality livestock.
In the industrial sector, shipbuilding and trade took off. In the cottage industry, products
were handmade (clothes, buttons, shoes, nails, etc) and were being manufactured and traded
by merchants in both domestic and international markets. Simultaneously, the roads and
railways and canal routes were being developed and due to the absence of toll gates or any
kind of tariff collection, domestic trade increased significantly.
Also, England a huge reserve of coal and iron was manufactured in 1709. Technical
modifications were still far but there was a steady amount of growth and expansion when it
came to production and consumption. All these factors laid the groundwork for Industrial
Revolution.
Mercantilism: According to the Act of Union of 1707, Ireland and Scotland were included in
Britain. It also secured the right to import slaves in the Spanish colonies of America. The
Treaty of Utrecht let England capture many land and colonies in the Mediterranean and
Americas. The British also gained many military victories and its naval fleet kept expanding
which formulated the idea of the Englishman as being highly masculine, with a “stiff upper
lip and “stoutest men”.

4
 England also took advantage of the newly established colonial empires in West Indies,
India and America through the East India Company. It also passed a few mercantilist acts like
the Navigation act to monopolise trading routes. Thus the markets of the colonies were held
captive by the British. Overseas trade, including that of slavery was significant for the growth
of the economy of England.
II: After paying much attention to the commercial expansion of the British, Defoe moves
towards the core issue i.e., the protection of the mercantile class against societal prejudice.
Defoe tries to establish the relationship between the gentry and tradesmen in the society and
how tradesmen are looked down upon as “the meanest of our people”.
But there are many noble families that have a lineage that links them to tradesmen. They
were “rais’d by and derived from trade”, and were not always from the military in accordance
with the feudal tradition.
The younger children of these noble families tried their hands in trade many a times
because they were not entitled to inherit. He gives a lot of examples where the tradesmen
have been related to gentry across multiple generations.
The nobility used to have strict norms regarding marrying within their class to maintain
the purity of their class. But driven by financial need, they were now conducting interclass
marriages with richer but lower class groups to maintain their standards of living. Thus, these
alliances were proof of more ongoing interaction between the nobility and the tradesmen.
Although the nobility were proud of their heritage, tradesmen were the ones who
contributed largely to the economy of England. Defoe gives the instance of funding during
war with France and Spain. The tradesmen relieved the government of the debt it had
accumulated that led to the successful establishment of stock market in the city of London.
They also funded the procuring of equipment required by the navy and the army as well their
general investments in the form of loan, banks, taxes. The tradesmen and merchants had now
become “backbone of England”.
Defoe also talks about the kind of work ethic the tradesmen follow by not indulging
themselves in any kind of extravagance like the nobility. The gentry had now “fallen into
decay” due to their lavish lifestyle. They exhibited rakish behaviour that was quite popular as
well as infamous. They engaged in spending money carelessly, laxity in terms of morals and
gambling and prostitution.
The tradesmen on the other hand had high ethical values and were hard working, Defoe
even goes on to say that the tradesmen actually outdid the gentry. He proves his point through
an extended metaphor of how a country estate generates limited employability whereas trade
is an inexhaustible source of employability as there is continuous investment and
development.
III: Regardless of his attitude towards the gentry and their lifestyle, he exhibits a strong
desire to be a part of the high society. According to Defoe, all tradesmen deserve to be on

5
equal footing with the high class society. Acquiring the brand of a gentleman is something
that is extremely sought after. The idea of the perfect gentleman, chivalric and gentle
disposition has been always associated with the nobility who owed large tracts of land. The
aristocracy took extreme pride in their way of life like politeness, civility, etiquette and code
of conduct. All the other classes, especially the emerging middle class imitated their manners
and wanted to be included in aristocracy,
The nobility always looked at the business class as being money-minded and base. The
idea of aristocracy promoted the leisurely way of life, while merchants and traders worked
very hard to procure wealth. The elite shunned any and all kinds of outsiders. There was a
need to be accepted by the elite so that the rest of the society also follows. Nobility was
directly associated with birth but Defoe was pushing forth the idea of nobility due to virtue
and not due to birth. He wanted it be an inclusive term even if it was still associated with
money.
Then Defoe comments on the education received by aristocrats. They used to be trained
in Latin and Green in order to become a gentleman. The middle classes did not receive much
formal education nor the practical kind of education imparted in academies run by dissenters
(like Defoe had). The tradesmen are well versed in the knowledge of the world and that is the
best kind of education.
Through this letter we get an insider's view into the social dynamics of that time when
the middle class was constantly rising up the economic ladder. The merchant class and
traders were challenging the existing social order and the gentry's unthreatened dominance
was now under threat.
2.3. Self-Check Questions
a. What does Defoe think regarding the status of trade and commerce of England?
b. Why are the tradesmen not a part of the nobility in England?
c. Why does Defoe think that the tradesmen should be a part of aristocracy?
3. ‘The Great Law of Subordination Considered’
This is a work that Defoe wrote during his last years. By then, he had turned his mind
towards the abusive side of the society he inhabited. He realised how the world wasn't
actually turning any better but had actually deteriorated in comparison to the time of his
youth. He dealt with the subject of pride and insolence of servants and the labour class in The
Great Law of Subordination Considered. It is a work which contains over 300 pages and has
been written like “a series of letters from a Frenchman resident in England to his brother in
France”. Sutherland says that the title indicates an abstract discussion but in actuality, it is a
very particular work focussing on the servant issue. It holds an account of several stories
highlighting the insolent, sometimes outrageous attitude of servants’ narrated with a lot of
liveliness. He narrates the tricks that servants play on their employers, their collective
protests to increase wages, raking off tradesmen, their thievery etc.

6
3.1 Letter IV
Defoe starts with the practical observation he has made regarding the behaviour of servants
after their pay has been increased. One would expect them to be obligated and diligent, but
instead they think that they deserved this raise and their behaviour subsequently worsens. He
also states that gratitude is an attribute that is not found in “the labouring Poor of England.”
In the matter of the extant legislation about the wages Defoe observes that there is no
Government Sanctioned Legislature or Law that talks about increasing wages of servants.
Yet, it is commonly done: either because the servants protest or because it has become like a
passed down custom. Instead of making the servants more favourable, it ruins them further.
Defoe's tone if that of disappointment while talking about the servants. In his opinion,
the servants engage in merry making and drinking when their wages are increased, hence
their problematic behaviour. He cites the example of Woollen trade and the wage increase
associated with it. As the manufacturing of wool increased, so did the wage. Now, the
labourers had become lazy, drunk, wicked and instead of working happily, they spent
majority of their time in Alehouses. The manufactures are distressed because they do not
have diligent workers. They are forced to beg for hands but these labourers while away their
time with extra money in their pockets. Instead of bettering their lives, they engage in such
practices that damages them. They just work “hand to mouth” and spend their extra money
“in Riot and Luxury.” This kind of behaviour produces “bastards” who choose to waste away
their lives: be it in villages, cities or London.
Defoe then goes on to give an example of a case against a worker by his employer of not
having finished his work. Through the example, he points out the loopholes in the Justice
system when it comes to wages and servants as well as shows us the imprudent behaviour of
the worker who did not finish his work. While being questioned by the Justice of Peace, the
worker in question kept on giving all sorts of explanations but ultimately he could not be
forced to finish his work.
3.2 Self-Check Questions
1. What is the work the Great law of subordination considered about?
2. What does Defoe think about increasing the wages of workmen?
3. Through which example does Defoe try to prove that workmen need to be paid less? Do
you agree with Defoe?
4. ‘The Complete English Gentleman’
4.1 Introduction and Analysis
It was first published in the year 1890 is an unfinished treatise on education. He was trying to
push his educational theories in the evolving society of 18th century England through this
work. For Defoe, education held paramount importance as there was a direct relationship
between morality and meritocracy. He wanted to find a way for the emerging middle class to
be able to become a part of the nobility and he intended to do that by legitimizing education
7
rather than birthright. Defoe discuses here how many people belonging to the nobility and
gentry continued to live their lives in utter ignorance in terms of good education. He wants
the future generation to receive quality education.
In the second part of the book, which is left incomplete, Defoe talks about how
“gentlemen by breeding” are increasing in numbers by socially moving up the ladder from
being wealthy merchants. The distinction of being a gentleman was based on the ownership
of landed estates. Defoe wants the term to be more inclusive to include people who are truly
polite and educated and rich. It shouldn't be a birthright but should be dictated by virtue of the
person in concern. He talks about the worth of true learning and education. Not everyone who
has an education and wealth should be called a gentleman. He says that “the knowledge of
things.... And not words, make a scholar.”
The classical education in Greek and Latin isn't required to become an aristocrat as there
are many good English translations of educational be books one can learn from. So there can
be someone who doesn't know these languages but is learned and there can be a gentleman
who knows the languages but lacks true learning. He wants the tradition of teaching imparted
in Latin to go away as that was keeping the gentry ignorant. He also repeatedly mentions the
attitude that gentry and nobility held towards people involved in trade and commerce.
Defoe stresses on the fact that although there are many people who call themselves
gentlemen because of their good birth, they cannot become “compleat gentleman” without
receiving proper liberal education. Through this work, he keep his focus on book learning and
it's acquisition and he in a way forgets to talk about the moral elements that also govern the
determination of a real gentleman.
Defoe has talked about nature and instruction when it comes to any individual. He
acknowledges that nature does play an important role in making an individual but due to lack
of good instructional knowledge, the intellect remains underdeveloped in several cases. No
one pays enough attention to Intellectual hereditary as oppsed to the heredity of physical
attributes. Defoe tries to prove that education has an impact on both the bright ones and not
so bright ones. For him, education mattered even for the dullest ones. He thinks eveyone is in
need of instruction but he is more concerned about educating the brighter ones. According to
him, education can raise a fallen man from their depraved state. Education can be remedial.
The gentry of England needed to be enlightened. There are many bright individuals among
the gentry who continue to stay ignorant because of the lack of proper education.
In Defoe’s mind, a gentleman cannot be someone who is generous and an intellectual.
The factor of having immense wealth is important to him. A considerable amount of wealth
and quality education can combine to form a true gentleman who belongs to a lower
class/order by birth. He points out to the large scale ignorance ha had encountered in majority
of nobility and gentry. It is directly related to the way they received their education. Till the
reformation, the upper classes were taught at the houses of fellow noblemen, especially
manners and courtesy.Book learning was one area they did not focus on. Nor were they

8
taught to write properly. Home tutoring was also prefered as an effective method begire these
nobility in the making could go to the university. But many a times this kind of educational
was superficial and elementary in nature. The parents deemed this enough for their son to be
able to run the estate.
A better education was considered necessary only for the younger children who had to
ultimately go out into the world to fend for themselves and “the son who was to inherit the
title grew up in idleness along the groom's and gamekeepers; if he was taught to read and
write a little, it was thought enough of him.” Therefore the need for proper schooling and
university education was deemed unnecessary for most of the elder children of the nobility.
The tutors were not capable enough and their morals were lose. Defoe blames them for
corrupting the morals of children and ruining their heads. Individuals involved in tutoring
them received a liberal amount of salary and did not actually care much about the education
of the cold. There have been instances where tutors have told their children that they will
readily inherit the estate and there is no requirement on the part of the child to mind the book.
The elder children were rarely sent to the universities. Mostly the younger ones attended.
Hence the elder ones grew up in a dull environment of the estate. And another prominent
feature of being a gentleman was travelling. While the younger ones travelled, the elder ones
did not as they did not need to.
The curriculum of both schools and universities was deemed imperfect. Many writers
had called to reform the curriculum by choosing to move beyond the study of dead languages.
And the gentry disapproved of the existing system of education, thus staying far from book
learning. All these factors contributed to the decline of aristocracy. They did not care about
educating their children properly, and the eldest ones turned out to be the most ignoble. They
shunned public schools, and even if they were debt ridden, they did not stop squandering
away their lives. Defoe wanted to unveil the reasons behind this rising ignorance and thereby
change the definition of who a gentleman is. The nobility considered knowledge as
superfluous, could barely write their name, had no connections with books and library was a
place they never visited. Defoe blames the aristocrats for possessing a kind of destructive self
love trait in them. Their entire lives were spent in gambling, idling around and hunting
without ever utilising their brains. For Defoe, this “hereditary stream of folly” needed to stop
before they became a burden on the society. He called upon the nobility to move along with
time, to stress on education, stop looking down on scholars and books and merchants and
tradesmen. Their sense of superiority needed to be broken now and Defoe was trying to do
just that. Virtue did not come with the inherited titled and cannot automatically make anyone
a gentleman. It needs to be acquired through liberal learning and education which should be
the primary investment. It will also help in redistribution of wealth and thus make the social
order more flexible.
He says that the nobility needs to step up and act like proper gentlemen. They are being
manipulated by politicians and engage in corrupt practices for money while there are others
with decent education acting like gentlemen through their merit. These emerging individuals

9
have no family lineage but made their fortunes themselves. Defoe was trying to put forth a
remedy for recovering the declining aristocracy and also making it more inclusive as a class
in terms of defining who a gentleman is. He did not distinguish between the social and the
economic, so for him, virtue should follow the title. Basically “Defoe was asking the nobility
to become the educated bourgeois in the reform process he was mapping out “. He was
pointing out the qualities of an accomplished tradesman. So in a way he was saying that
although commerce can survive without nobility, the nobility cannot live without trade and
commerce.
While the nobility was serving no significant purpose to the state other than boasting of
their class and estate, the merchants and tradesmen were continuously contributing to the
welfare of the nation. The society considered them inferior while they were actually much
more than self serving money minded individuals working for both the society and
themselves. These individuals were morally well behaved, questioned the existing social
hierarchies and were in tandem with the modern civilization.
In this work, Defoe recognises the differences that exist between individuals. He knows
that there were many worthy people in the nobility who helped the country to progress but
there are also many who are “grovelling in the dirt of ignorance, and learning nothing but to
glut themselves in plenty...” He was trying to establish a new class of individuals who were
qualified enough to inherit the title of being a gentleman. Where there is a lack in either
education, virtue, manners or learning, the individual doesn't qualify for becoming a
gentleman. Defoe respected education too much. He said “the want of learning, the
deficiency of education is a disease.” But he did think that this disease was curable. His
recommendation of studying books written in the vernacular offer a doable approach towards
gaining knowledge and wisdom.
Defoe tried to be futuristic in this book. He was serving the modern world which was
constantly emerging by making himself the spokesperson for “the compleat gentleman” who
talks about credit and capital in the morning and goes about as a gentleman in the evening. In
his view, the thoroughly educated man will be the next generation of modern nobleman. He
wanted to see a business aristocratic setup which should be a combination of merit, talent and
tenacity.
4.2 Self-Check Questions:
1. How is Defoe trying to change the definition of being a gentleman?
2. What is the importance of education when it comes to becoming a true gentleman?
3. Is Defoe futuristic in his approach? Why?
Further readings
Defoe, Daniel, et al. Religious and Didactic Writings of Daniel Defoe: General Ed.: W.R.
Owens and P.N. Furbank. Pickering & Chatto, 2007.

10
The Great Law of Subordination Consider'd: or, the Insolence and Unsufferable Behaviour
of Servants in England Duly Enquir'd into. ... In Ten Familiar Letters. ... As Also a
Proposal, Containing Such Heads or Constitutions, as Wou'd Effectually Answer This
Great End, and Bring Servants of Every Class to a Just ... Regulation.,
quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004843571.0001.000/1:6?rgn=div1%3Bview.
“Gentleman vs. Tradesman According to Daniel Defoe ( The Complete English Tradesman,
1726).” BUZZ... Littéraire : Critiques Livres, Romans Et Analyse, 15 June 2020,
www.buzz-litteraire.com/gentleman-vs-tradesman-according-to-daniel-defoe-the-
complete-english-tradesman-
analysis/#:~:text=In%20his%20letter%20XXII%20in,social%20%C3%A9lite%20who
%20despised%20them.
LEINSTER-MACKAY, DONALD. “The Compleat English Gentleman: Perspectives on
Defoe’s Major Unfinished Work.” The Journal of Educational Thought (JET) / Revue De La
Pensée Éducative, vol. 49, no. 3, 2016, pp. 233–252. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26372376.
Accessed 2 Apr. 2021.
Pire, Luciana. The Future on Credit: The Compleat English Gentleman by ... American
International Journal of Social Science, Dec. 2015,
www.aijssnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_6_December_2015/11.pdf.

11
 Unit-5(d)

William Hay, Deformity: An Essay (pp.1-11 & pp.44-51)

Renu Koyu

1. Introduction
Deformity: An Essay was written by William Hay in 1754. Written in the quintessential
eighteenth-century fashion, it attempts to “teach and delight” readers at the same time-
teaching the readers to be sensitive towards people with deformities, by giving them a first-
hand account of what living with deformity feels like; while delighting them with an almost
dark humour. It is surprisingly original and is an influential work that has become a mainstay
of disability studies. Pages 1-11 and 44-51 are prescribed in your course. You will find a pdf
copy of the essay on many websites.
Learning Objectives
After reading this study material, you will;
– have a better understanding of how disability has been perceived through the ages; and
– appreciate the originality of Hay’s attempt to change the way people with disability are
seen and treated.
2. About the Author: William Hay
William Hay was born at Glyndebourne, Sussex in 1695, a hunchback dwarf from birth. Both
of his parents died before he was five years old and he was raised by his relatives.
Throughout his life, he suffered from severe scoliosis- a condition in which the spine
becomes curved- and at full height he was scarcely five feet tall. In addition to his physical
deformity, an attack of small pox during his twenties left him scarred and severely injured his
eyesight. However, he didn’t let these physical inconveniences hinder him from travelling
across Britain and Scotland in 1718; followed by a tour of France, Germany, and Holland in
1720. He married Elizabeth Pelham in 1731; with whom he had three sons and two
daughters. He eventually became a member of parliament and represented the Whigs in the
House of Commons from 1734 till his death in 1755. Throughout his career, he passionately
advocated for poor law reform and prison reform and defended the interests of the poor but
without much success. Along with his Parliamentary duties he wrote and published a few
poems and essays on a wide range of subjects. However, he is best remembered for
Deformity: An Essay, which he wrote in 1754. It was well received at publication for its
pioneering thought and remains an influential work in the study of disability in the eighteenth
century.
3. Summary
pp. 1-11
Hay starts his autobiographical essay by alluding to Montaigne’s1 Essai and its
autobiographical style. He spells out his intention in writing this essay; to deal with the
12
subject in a ‘philosophical [l]ight’; stating famously that bodily deformity is visible to
everyone but only a few know about its effects, known intimately only by those who
experience it; who are anyways not comfortable discussing it. Since he himself knows the
subject closely through experience, he will discuss this “uncommon subject” and view it in a
philosophical light. He hopes it will be instructive for people with deformities, whilst also
entertaining others. He admits he is not as ingenious as Montaigne but claims that “it is in my
power to be ingenious” (1). He wants to lay bare his mental and physical form for the readers
and be judged as a person with an untainted heart and with honest and sincere intentions.
Since there is no frontispiece on the cover of his book, he describes his physical features for
the readers’ benefit; telling them that he is “scarcely five feet tall,” with a back bent in his
mother’s womb. He compares himself to a number of famous historical personalities, both
real and fictional- like Esop2, Pope3, Luxemburg4, Lord Treasurer Salisbury5, Thersites6, and
Richard the Third7. He claims that he doesn’t consider the last two as members of society as
one is a fictional character and the second one is falsely represented by historians, who
wanted to “draw a devil in a bad shape” (5). So, he refuses to believe the historians and even
Shakespeare in their description of Richard the Third and believes only his biographer who
describes him as handsome. Hay is thankful that he was born in Britain and not in Sparta,
where he would have been thrown into a cavern by Mount Taygetus8, immediately after birth,
for his bodily deformity. He condemns this barbarity on one’s own species and asks if the
body-which he calls a “carcass”-is the best part of a man and be valued by weight, like cattle
in the market.
He recalls that instead of this “Lacedemonian” (Spartan) severity his caretakers took
another extreme path- trying, in vain, to correct the “errors of nature” (6). When his relatives
could not mend his crooked back, they tried to hide it and taught the young Hay to be
ashamed of his body, instead of strengthening his confidence and acceptance of himself, so
that he could despise any ridicule or contempt for his deformity. He admits that this caused a
lot of problems for him as a young man and it took a lot of time for him to overcome them.
The relatives’ “ill management” of his deformity gave Hay an insufferable shyness and made
him acutely conscious of the image he produced in court. He admits that such self-
consciousness limits a man’s advancement in the world but at the same time helps to keep a
check on worldly ambitions. He tells the readers that unkind remarks about a person’s
physique hurt more than other forms of verbal attack. Pope had reportedly admitted that he
felt the attack on his deformity more than any other; ranking it among the “most atrocious
injuries” (8). Hay is grateful that he has never been targeted like this by any gentlemen of his
acquaintance. However, he says the situation changes when he walks in to a crowd “where
insolence grows in proportion as the man sinks in Condition.” and there is rarely a time when
he doesn’t hear an insult. But he says such vulgarity doesn’t affect him as much as it used to
when he was young.
Observing the difference in the way the educated people treat him versus how the
uneducated treat him, taught him the value of education and to “set a right value upon it.” He
declares that education is a stamp on a man’s character; it separates a good man from the
vulgar and is a “barrier between the Mob and the Civilised part of Mankind.” Education has

13
also helped him move from the company and conversation of the vulgar to that of his
“superiors,” with whom he is the most at ease.
pp. 44-51
Hay states that descriptions of cities and its people ravaged and destroyed by wars and natural
calamities do not move him as they are the “usual storms” to which humankind is exposed; a
result of God’s just judgement or the mistaken and false principles of rulers. His compassion
is great for the sufferers of persecutions, tortures, murders, massacres but his tears are
stopped by resentment and indignation against the contrivers and perpetrators of such crimes.
However, he is brought to tears, against his will, when he reads of the virtue and innocence of
people in distress, or the story of a good man, helpless and forsaken, or someone who stands
courageous in the face of oppression or in the face of death. Searching for a reason for his
emotional responses to such narratives, he supposes that maybe he weeps because these
stories remind him that vice triumphs whereas virtue goes unrewarded in life. He presumes
that few “sincere” Christians would be able to read about the sufferings of Jesus or
Englishmen read the accounts of their national heroes like Crammer, Ridley, or Latimer9
without weeping. His friends and family know that his voice changes and he tears up when he
reads about generosity and profound sayings, action, or character; especially when they are of
people whose example and command have influenced mankind. He believes that his reaction
comes from a concern that such people are too rare or maybe because he isn’t in a situation to
do something like them. He says he is entertained but not moved when he reads Voltaire’s10
History of Charles XII but he is reduced to tears when he reads Hanway’s11 depiction of the
character of Peter the Great. He also compares Henry IV12 of France to his grandson Lewis13
(King Louis XIV), who differed as rulers; exclaiming “How little is Lewis compared to
Henry the Great!” (50). He empathises with the animals suffering from cruelty and claims
that God did not create the world for men to rule over them like tyrants but to live in harmony
with all His creations. He feels uneasy witnessing cruelty among men; like witnessing a man
bruised in a boxing match or cut to pieces to win some prize. He makes it clear that violence
exerted in passion and wantonness is brutality and can be termed bravery only when it is
facilitated by necessity and justice. For Hay, the popularity of such cruel sports is not choice
but pretension; in the same way people who don’t like music still go to the opera houses to
gain the reputation of being connoisseurs.
4. Analysis
Hay’s Deformity: An Essay was written in 1754; a year before his death. It was a result of his
experiences and reflections as a deformed man, living in eighteenth century England. The
essay is strongly influenced by Montaigne’s Essai, and his autobiographical style. He
considers himself fit to philosophically discuss this “uncommon subject” as, being deformed
himself, he can articulate its effects on the psyche; in hopes that it will help other deformed
people, and enlighten readers about the awkwardness and public humiliation faced by the
deformed.
Thus, Hay reclaims the narrative spun around deformity in western civilisation, from
antiquity to his own time. Historically, disability has been perceived as a monstrosity in
popular imagination. Writers and philosophers claimed to know the characteristics and lack
of spirituality in such people and wrote scathingly about them. In 1612, Francis Bacon14
14
wrote and published Of Deformity, which set forth the thesis that deformed people are
naturally scornful and devoid of affection. Such unfair stereotypical narratives put people
with disability at the receiving end of ridicule and discrimination in society. The eighteenth
century was no different; with Samuel Johnson’s15 iconic dictionary equating deformity with
ugliness. More than a hundred years after the publication of Bacon’s essay, the persistence of
his influence and bias against deformity led Hay to write Deformity: An Essay; in reply to
Bacon’s callous presumptions. Hay asserts his right to discuss his disability, based on his
personal experience and rejects dominant perceptions that associated outward deformity with
inward emotional and spiritual poverty.
Hay’s autobiographical address directly connects him to his readers; enabling him to talk
on an intimate level. Exposing his mental and physical form to his readers; he appeals to
them to judge him accordingly, and recognise that his heart is untainted by evil and his
intentions are sincere and honest. Such an appeal is a sad reflection of the age; where it was
almost inconceivable that a physically deformed person could have a good heart and soul.
The essay becomes Hay’s attempt to reconcile people to the idea that deformity does not
warrant a deformed mind or an evil soul. He tells his readers that he is scarcely five feet tall,
with a back bent in his mother’s womb. This was another pseudo-scientific belief quite
prevalent in the eighteenth century; that deformity developed in the womb during pregnancy.
He associates himself with other deformed people, both real and fictional, in Western history;
Lord Salisbury, Pope, Luxemberg, Thersites, Richard the Third, and others; people who
contributed significantly to their society and live on in popular imagination. He refuses to call
Thersites and Richard the Third part of society as the former is fictional and the latter has
been wrongfully represented by historians and writers (like Shakespeare) who wanted to
show him as a devil with a bent back. By mentioning these names, he disputes the
presumptions that a deformed person is incapable of contributing anything positive to society.
He also does not hold back from pointing out how deformity has been unfairly depicted as a
physical manifestation of evil in people, and how such claims were used to damage a
person’s reputation and discredit any good quality possessed by them.
Such perceptions about the physical form made people go to extreme measures in order
to “cure” physical deformity. Hay’s relatives had also tried, unsuccessfully, to cure his
hunched back in his childhood, failing which he was taught to be ashamed of his body and
advised to conceal it at all times. Hay reproaches them for not helping him accept his
different physique, and despise those who made fun of it or attacked him for such a
superficial shortcoming. He tells us that such an upbringing made him shy and bashful in his
youth and held him back from progressing socially or in his career as a politician. Hay is
clear that it is not deformity but the historical, psychological, and cultural burdens associated
with deformity that hold back a deformed person from getting ahead in life. Hay is firm in his
belief that social ridicule and contempt affects a deformed person’s chance to live a normal
and fulfilling life, with a healthy amount of ambition.
It was common practise in the eighteenth century to joke about physical deformity. It
was also seen as an acceptable and effective way to attack political and literary rivals
publicly, by making fun of their deformity (in case they had any) in poems and essays.
Alexander Pope, the most famous hunchback of the eighteenth century, was no exception.

15
His literary rivals regularly attacked his disfigured back in their caricatures of him; to
embarrass and humiliate him. Hay tells his readers that Pope had reportedly admitted that
being attacked thus was one of the most humiliating experiences of his life. Physical
deformity was viewed as an aberration of nature: unnatural, ugly, and monstrous. Thus,
pointing out deformity became a way to attack a person’s character and explain their actions
as those of a deformed personality; naturally scornful and jealous of everyone around them.
Hay is thankful that he is spared such insults by the people he knows but amidst crowds, he is
not so easily spared. He reflects that such public humiliation helped him develop a thick skin,
an insightful sensitivity, and the ability to empathise with others facing unfair accusations and
tyranny. And he learnt to reflect wisely on such social ridicule from a position of educated
detachment. He states that these experiences helped him appreciate the role of education in
determining a person’s moral position with respect to others, and in separating the refined
from the vulgar. Thus, he is hardly affected by the vulgar comments of people in crowds-
whom he calls “mobs”- who show a lack of morality and education. The emergence of the
middle class in the eighteenth century made education an important determinant of a person’s
social class and moral character. Both Hay and his readers belonged to the educated upper
class and with the emerging class consciousness among the educated readers, Hay used this
opportunity to speak against the popularity of ribald and insensitive jokes about deformed
people and suggested that the educated class should not participate in such vulgarity.
Education, he states, can help people be less insensitive towards people with physical
deformities and, at the same time, arm deformed individuals with knowledge and a quick wit
to deflect insults.
Since most literature of the age supported the belief that God’s design presupposed
proportion and beauty, a person with any physical deformity was automatically seen as a
freak of nature, having no redeeming qualities or character. The eighteenth-century
sensibility exalted the idea that since beauty is truth and goodness, deformity implies
wickedness and falsehood. The deformed body was a literal manifestation of a deformed
mind and soul, according to this argument. Hay refutes such presumptions and argues that he
deserves to be treated as a human; if not a beautiful creation of God, then as a rational
creature with a sensitive soul. He shares his rich emotional capacity with his readers by
showing how virtuous and self-sacrificing acts by people forsaken by family, friends, and
society move him more than the description of cities and people ravaged by wars and natural
calamities; which he states are “usual storms” that men must inevitably face. He repeatedly
declares that, above everything else, he prioritises morality, integrity, and goodness in a
person. By giving the example of two rulers (King Henry V, of France and his grandson,
King Louis XIV) who differed greatly in their style of governance and personality, he shows
that he admires and exalts virtue and selfless service to humanity as the highest aspiration for
man. Hay believes that deformed people have more capacity for sympathy and kindness
because of their own personal battles against societal injustice and cruelty meted out to them,
all the time. Taking a dig at the pretentions in society, he attacks the popularity of boxing
clubs where people pay to see men hurt and kill each other for a prize. Hay ridicules able
bodied people who take pleasure in watching violence and who condone such activities as
entertainment. Hay suggests that their prejudices and ideas of entertainment are much more
crooked than the visual presence of a physical deformity.
16
 Hay’s sense of self negates the popular belief that a deformed person cannot have a
beautiful soul or a beautiful character with a rich inner life. Helen Deutsch acknowledges
Hay as “the first writer in the history of English literature to conceptualise and articulate
physical disability as a personal identity.” Hay’s positioning of his identity brings human
dignity to the lived experiences and subjectivity of a deformed person. Hay’s first and
foremost intention is to educate his readers about the historical burden that the deformed
carry within themselves, by simply existing. The idea that the deformed are incapable of
contributing anything palpable or positive to society still persisted in Hay’s time. Hay proved
such prejudices wrong by living a full and successful life himself. His essay also lists many
historically relevant personalities who were hunchbacked but, in spite of the challenges, they
did not let it stop them from contributing to their society. Admittedly, physical deformity
makes it inconvenient for people to engage in physically demanding activities, but it does not
stop the deformed from contributing intellectually to society. Rationality, wit, and
intelligence were increasingly seen as important attributes of a person’s character. Thus,
education became an important determinant of one’s social class, morality, and intellectual
character. Hay echoes similar ideas in his essay by claiming that education- that develops a
man’s personality and intellect- is a more important quality to consider in measuring people’s
worth than the beauty of their physical form. Most importantly, Hay believes that a person
with deformity, given the right education and treated with the dignity due to all men, is as
likely as any other person, to be a sensible and sensitive human being, with the potential to
serve humanity.
Notes
1. Montaigne, or Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a significant French philosopher
of the French Renaissance. He popularised the essay as a literary genre and wrote in an
autobiographical style. His anthology Essai contains some of the most important essays
ever written.
2. Esop, or Aesop was a Greek storyteller who is credited as the man behind Aesop’s
fables.
3. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is considered to be one of the greatest English poets and
the foremost poet of the eighteenth-century.
4. Luxemberg, or Luxembourg (1628-1695) was a celebrated French general who led
many military conquests against France’s enemies. He was also called “The Upholster
of Notre-Dame” because of his hunched back. He is remembered as one of France’s
greatest generals.
5. Lord Treasurer Salisbury, or Robert Cecil (1591-1668), first Earl of Salisbury was a
noted English statesman. He suffered from scoliosis and was a hunch back.
6. Thersites was a soldier in the Trojan war of Greek mythology.
7. Richard the Third (1452-1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1483
until his death in 1485. Shakespeare’s famous play Richard III describes him as a
tyrant.

17
8. Mount Taygetus is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece.
9. Crammer, Ridley, and Latimer are known as the Martyrs of Oxford. They were burnt at
the stake in 1555 for believing and promoting Protestantism.
10. Voltaire was the pen name of Francois Marie Arouet (1694-1778). He was a French
Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher who wrote on socio-political issues;
from criticism of Christianity to advocacy of freedom of speech. He is known for his
wit and versatility as a writer of different forms of literature.
11. Hanway, or Jonas Hanway (1712-1786), was an English philanthropist and traveller.
12. Henry IV, King of France (1553-1610), also known as ‘Henry, the Great,’ was King of
France from 1589-1610. He ended the Wars of Religion and brought prosperity to his
country, allowing churches of different denominations to exist in the country.
13. Lewis, or King Louis XIV of France (1638-1715): grandson of King Henry IV of
France and also known as Louis the Great. He was King from 1643-1715; longest
serving monarch in Europe. Unlike his grandfather, he did not believe in religious
tolerance and used military might to establish French supremacy.
14. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher and statesman. His works are
credited for developing the scientific method. He is called the Father of Empiricism.
15. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is one of the most popular figures in the history of
English literature. He was a poet, a playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic,
biographer, and lexicographer.
Bibliography
https://enlightanddis.wordpress.com/spectacles-of-deviance/physical-deformity/william-hay-
deformity-an-essay/
http://writersinspire.org/content/world-writing-18th-century/
https://the-rambling.com/2019/02/14/valentines-lau/
https://pastxxxcaring.wordpress.com/2018/09/05/dishist-in-80-objects-3-deformity-an-essay-
by-william-hay-esq/
Frye, Northrop. Varieties of Eighteenth-Century Sensibility. Eighteenth Century Studies,
Winter, 1990-1991, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 157-172.
Hay, William. Deformity: An Essay. Second Edition. London. 1754.
Lund, Roger. Laughing at Cripples: Ridicule, Deformity and the Argument from Design.
Eighteenth Century Studies, Fall, 2005, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Fall, 2005). pp. 91-114.
Questions
i) “Bodily deformity is visible to every eye; but the effects of it are known to very few;
intimately known to none but those, that feel them.” Discuss.
ii) What are the arguments that Hay makes to prove that a deformed person does not
necessarily suggest a deformed mind and soul?

18
 Unit-5(e)

Olaudah Equiano, “The Middle Passage” (Ch. 2, pp. 54-58)

Renu Koyu

1. Introduction
“The Middle Passage” is an excerpt from the second chapter of Olaudah Equiano’s
autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or Gustavas Vassa,
the African, Written by Himself, published in 1789. It recounts his first contact with
Europeans, in the form of white slavers and the subsequent horrors he witnessed and
experienced under them during the voyage from Africa to the Caribbean, through what is
popularly known as the Middle Passage.
Learning Objectives
After reading this study material, you will;
– learn about the horrendous voyages of slave ships through the Middle Passage that
transformed captured Africans from people into commodities; and
– learn about the paradox of eighteenth-century Enlightenment thinking that endorsed the
slave trade but also provided the rhetoric for its abolition.
2. Olaudah Equiano: About the Author
Olaudah Equiano was the Igbo name of the former slave and abolitionist who officially went
by the name of Gustavus Vassa; the third name given to him by a white slave master. Born in
Nigeria, he was kidnapped when just eleven years old and sold three times before he finally
purchased his freedom for 40 pounds in 1766. He worked as a slave in the Caribbean and in
Virginia before purchasing his freedom for 40 pounds in 1766. He made his way to London
and lived there as a free man. In London, he became a member of the Sons of Africa, an
abolitionist group composed of Africans living in Britain. He was also an active leader of the
anti-slavery movement in the 1780s. He wrote and self-published his autobiography, The
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or Gustavas Vassa, the African,
Written by Himself in 1789. It gives an eyewitness account of the horrors of slavery and the
slave trade.
His book is the earliest known example of literary publication by an African writer to be
hugely successful. In fact, it is considered the earliest example of a slave narrative; of what
eventually became a large and influential literary genre. The book had a huge impact on the
conscience of its target white readers and helped gain support for the abolitionist movement.
The book went through eight editions in his lifetime and was translated into several
languages. He married an English woman named Susannah Cullen in 1792 and they had two
daughters. He died in 1797 in Westminster. His passionate activism and powerful
autobiography helped gain passage of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the
slave trade in Britain and its colonies.

19
3. Summary
After the eleven-year-old Olaudah Equiano (hereafter “Equiano”) is sold to white slavers and
brought aboard a slave ship, he is horrified to see a large furnace burning and the expressions
of dejection and sorrow in the faces of “a multitude of black people of every description
chained together” and consequently faints. He fears that the horrible looking white men with
red faces and loose hair will eat him but is reassured by African slave traders that they won’t.
Equaino soon loses all hope of ever returning to his native country and the horror of his
present situation is heightened by the uncertainty of what lay ahead. Soon after, he is taken
under the deck. Its horrible stench and his continuous crying make him so sick that he loses
his appetite and wishes for death to relieve him of his miseries. When he refuses to eat, he is
held down and flogged mercilessly by two white men. Later, Equiano discovers that some of
the captives are from his country. When asked, they tell him that they are being taken to the
white men’s country to work for them. This revives Equiano’s spirits as working for them
doesn’t sound too bad a prospect. However, he still fears for his life and is appalled by the
savagery of the white men, whose brutality is not exclusive to the chained Africans but to the
whites as well. Once, he witnesses a white man being flogged to death and thrown into the
sea. Equiano is amazed by how the ship sails- his untrained mind thinks it is done using
magic or some spell- and is convinced that their captors are spirits.
After the ship is loaded with cargo, the captives are put under deck so they can’t see how
the vessel is operated. During the loading on port, some of them had been allowed on deck
because of the loathsome stench in the hold. But now, herded together in a closed space, after
all the cargo is loaded, it becomes insufferable- “absolutely pestilineal.” Perspiration among
the captives makes the air unfit for breathing. The air becomes so noxious that many fall ill
and die. The inconceivable horror of the situation is intensified by the shrieks of the women
and the moans of the dying. These conditions put Equiano in such low spirits that he is almost
always brought on deck to breathe the fresh air of the sea; unchained, as he poses minimal
risk. On deck, he sees dying captives brought up from the hold. He envies the dead their
freedom and often wishes to change places with them.
He recounts some episodes of white brutality and savagery on the voyage. Once, the
white crew members had caught some fish. After taking what they needed, instead of giving
the remaining fish to the starving captives on deck, they threw it back into sea. Some of the
captives who tried to steal some of the fish were flogged mercilessly for doing so. Once, three
captives on deck somehow manage to jump into the sea. Many more would have followed
their example if preventive measures were not taken by the alarmed crew members. A boat is
lowered to bring back the slaves. Two drown but the crew succeed in bringing back one; who
is flogged mercilessly for his transgression. Many more captives die due to the suffocating
stench and the unhygienic conditions in these slave ships. Equiano observes that “hardships .
. . [are] inseparable from this accursed trade.”
When the ship finally reaches the island of Barbados, the crew exclaims in joy, to the
perplexity of the captives. In the evening, merchants and planters come to the ship to inspect
the captives, who are put in separate parcels to be inspected thoroughly and also made to
jump. The bewildered slaves think that they will be eaten by these “ugly” men and, once

20
under the deck, the captive Africans cry and lament their collective doom the whole night.
Eventually, some old slaves from land are brought to pacify them. These slaves reassure the
captives that they will not be eaten but rather made to work for the white men. After a few
days in captivity, the Africans are sold. Equiano describes the “usual manner” of selling the
slaves- once a sound is made, buyers rush to the yard where the slaves are confined and
choose the “parcel” they like best. Equiano recalls witnessing heart wrenching partings
between relations and friends separated from each other, sometimes never to meet again. This
is done without much scruple and a lot of excitement and eagerness by the whites. Here, he
directly addresses his white readers and asks them if this is what they have learned from their
God. He asks if it’s not enough that the Africans are snatched from their communities and
countries to toil “for [the whites’] luxury and lust of gain” and why “must every tender
feeling be likewise sacrificed to your avarice?” He calls this is a “new refinement in cruelty
which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh
horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery.”
4. Analysis
Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative (1789) recounts the sufferings and tragedies of
a former slave who was abducted from his village at the tender age of eleven and sold to
white slavers. Renamed thrice by three different white masters, Equiano went by the third
name given to him- Gustavus Vassa- for all intents and purposes. He reclaimed his Igbo (an
ethnic group in Nigeria, Africa) name Olaudah Equiano in his autobiography. After years of
living as a slave under different slave owners, he finally bought his freedom for forty pounds
in 1766. As a free man, he somehow made his way to England and became a powerful voice
for the abolitionist movement there. He wrote and self-published his autobiography in 1789,
in his forties; to give a true account of the horror and oppression faced by Africans under
slavery. The impact of his autobiography was far reaching. It brought the reality of the
sufferings of the slaves at sea and in the colonies to the gentile classes of the mother country,
to read and agonise over. The narrative transcends genres and represents a variety of styles;
such as slave narrative, contact narrative, travel narrative, and spiritual narrative; among
others. Moreover, the structure and rhetorical strategies of the book influenced the creation of
a model for subsequent slave narratives.
His autobiography was the first to offer an eyewitness account of the Middle Passage;
the phase of the voyage, where Africans were densely packed like cattle into ships on the
African ports and transported across the Atlantic; from the coasts of Africa to the Caribbean.
Millions of Africans died during voyages through the Middle Passage. Historians consider
the middle passage as a time of “inbetweenness” for those being traded from Africa to
America- a transition of Africans from people to commodities. The sufferings of these
millions conveniently got overlooked or omitted in the European narratives of high adventure
and colonial conquests; catering to European readers back home. It was apparent that people
living in Europe and not involved with the slave trade knew little of its cruel practises.
Equiano’s intention was, through his autobiography, to let the experiences he had as a slave
speak for him and the abolitionist movement. His powerful and evocative narrative counters
the claims of animality and barbarity of the African race. In fact, it shows how they were
dehumanised and animalised under the savagery of the white slave traders and slave holders.

21
 European travel narratives established the stereotype of indigenous groups as being
primitive and, in most cases, described them as cannibals-without evidences to support it.
These stereotypes became established truth for readers in Europe and helped colonial
missions conquer more lands and cultures- on the pretext of civilising these “uncivilised
heathens” and bringing them under the fold of Christianity. In his autobiography, Equiano
subverts the narrative in eighteenth-century European writings, that describe cultures
different from their own as animalistic, uncivilised, and cannibalistic. He does this by
showing how the fear of the ‘other’ also exists among the African captives- and with good
reason. He recounts how the moment he came in contact with the white slave traders, the idea
of being eaten by them immediately came to his mind and he fainted with fear. We are
provided with an alternate perspective here- that of the slave, who fears the cannibalistic
nature of his masters.
Throughout the voyage, Equiano fears that he will be eaten by these strange white men
who are uncommonly violent- to the Africans and their own kind. Cannibalism, in a different
form, is easy to associate with the European slavers. Every new circumstance makes his state
more painful than the last, heightens his apprehension, and makes him wonder afresh at the
cruelty of the whites. Europeans consumed the culture, identity, and history of the people
they enslaved and colonised. As the African captives remain huddled together in the ship’s
belly under the most agonising and atrocious conditions- shackled in chains and breathing in
the hot, putrid air mixed with sweat and human waste, it eats away at their will to live and
death becomes a tempting option. Even Equiano, a mere child of eleven, desires death to
escape his tormenting captivity. But he is denied the sweet release of death as he is force fed
to be kept alive. Historians and researchers have noted that such practises of force feeding
made the captives believe that they were being fattened to be the white men’s food. This fear
is revived again on the evening they reach the shore of Barbados. Merchants and traders flock
the ship to inspect each captive separately. They examine their agility and intelligence by
making them jump up and down and point to the land, to indicate that they will have to work
there. The transition is complete. The Africans have been successfully dehumanised and are
treated like commodities; judged only by their usefulness as slaves. Here again, the metaphor
of cannibalism is used with full force. Equiano blatantly suggests that the European slavers
have consumed the humanity of the Africans in their insatiable greed and quest for power.
Equiano and other abolitionist Black writers of the eighteenth century used the trope of
cannibalism as a critical and strategic one. Alan Rice observes that, “Equiano uses the white
fear of cannibalism . . . not to indict a savage other race to which he of course belongs, but to
point out the savagery of the Europeans’ own everyday practices.”
The scientific advancements of western civilisation in the eighteenth century- lauded as
freeing men from the limitations imposed by nature- and the promotion of rational thinking
are weapons in their colonising mission. Pseudo-scientific writings during the eighteenth
century created a hierarchy of races- with the European race as the highest and the African as
the lowest in the paradigm. In fact, popular opinion at the time claimed Africans were no less
than animals. Equiano recalls how the captives were taken under the deck when the ship
starts to sail; so that they cannot learn how the ship is operated. Here, the ship is a symbol of
the scientific advancement of the Europeans; used not to empower humanity but to enslave

22
and rule over them. The slave ships evolved over decades to be better able to accommodate
human cargo, without losing too many of them to disease, starvation, and suicide; iron fetters
limited movements and netting on the sides of the ship foiled suicide attempts. A cold and
cruel rationality propelled such innovations. Scientific advancements seemed to serve
European savagery and animal cruelty.
Force feeding the captives so that they do not die of starvation; throwing away the extra
fish instead of offering them to the dying captives on deck, and flogging people to death are
some of the cruel actions Equiano witnesses aboard the ship. However, it is as if he can no
longer contain his repulsion at their greed and an absolute lack of conscience when he
recounts the selling of the slaves and the heart wrenching parting of friends and relations. He
questions their lack of compassion and the absence of Christian values in their conduct
towards fellow humans; asking if this is what their God teaches them. Gallego states that
Equiano invokes true Christian beliefs to condemn the sort of practices followed by white
slave-owners.
Paradoxically, if the Enlightenment witnessed the institutionalisation of slavery and the
slave trade, it also provided the rhetoric for its abolition. The Enlightenment led to a radical
change in the philosophy of morality and politics during the eighteenth century. Most
importantly, philosophers of the age propounded and advocated the Lockean belief that
natural rights of individuals precede legal rights. This caused many people to question the
legitimacy of the slave trade and begin the discussion on its merits and demerits. Ultimately,
Enlightenment values gave fodder to the growth of anti-slavery sentiment among the English.
Equiano tapped into the opportunity that this critical debate offered and presented a first-hand
account of the horrific experiences of Africans in the slave trade and the practises of slavery.
Before long, former slaves started writing their own experiences and directly appealed to the
white reader for empathy and action. That is, slave narratives took into account the white
readership to which these narratives are mainly addressed to and written for; to educate and
bring attention to the immoral and cruel practises associated with the accursed trade. It
brought a new perspective to the discussion on race and colonialist agendas; from the point of
view of aggrieved victims of colonial conquest.
Equiano’s careful and detailed description of the horrors inflicted by the white slavers on
the helpless Black captives begs the question of who really is the savage here. In fact, he asks
this question repeatedly, as he recalls his bewilderment as each horror surpasses the other.
His autobiography initiated a dialogue that did not exist before. He forcefully took part in a
conversation that the European colonisers were having among themselves about colonising
and subjugating millions of peoples and cultures on the basis of flimsy arguments like the
hierarchy of races, converting heathens into pious Christians and civilising the primitive
savages. Equaino’s evocative description of the horrors aboard a slave ship on a voyage
through the Middle Passage forces his white readers to reconsider their arguments and asks
for a justification for such savagery and bestiality on the parts of the Europeans who claimed
racial and moral superiority. The power of the narrative doesn’t merely come from an
admirable penmanship. It comes from depicting the lived experiences of a man through
unspeakable horrors under an institution that had support from monarchies and governments.
It comes from peeling away the layers of the supposedly civilised European countries and

23
forcing the people to confront the darkness on which their society’s very foundation is built
on. The raw truth is sometimes enough to bring down empires. Equiano’s activism and
autobiography contributed to bring down the empire of the slave trade.
Bibliography
Davidson, Cathy N. Olaudah Equiano, Written by Himself. NOVEL: A Forum of Fiction,
Fall, 2006 – Spring 2007. Vol 40. The Early American Novel. pp 18-51. Duke University
Press.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, OR Gustavas
Vassa, The African. Written bu Himself. 1789. The Project Gutenberg. March 17, 2005.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, OR Gustavas
Vassa, The African. Written bu Himself. ed Robert J Allison (Boston, 1995). pp 54-58
Gallego, Maria Del Mar. Rewriting History. The Slave’s Point of View in the Life of Olaudah
Equiano. Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos. 2000. pp 141-151.
Hayden, Robert E. Middle Passage. Phylon (1940-1956), 3rd Qtr., 1945, Vol 6, No. 3, pp
247-253.
Klein, Herbert S; Engerman, Stanley L.; Shlomowitz, Robin Haines Ralph. “Transoceanic
Mortality: The Slave Trade in Comparative Perspective.” The William and Mary
Quaterly, Jan 2001. Vol 58 No 1. pp. 93-118
Rice, Alan. “Who’s Eating Whom”: The Discourse of Cannibalism in the Literature of the
Black Atlantic from Equiano’s “Travels” to Toni Morrison’s “Beloved”. Research in
African Literatures, Winter 1998, Vol 29, No 4, pp 106-121.
Simmons, Caitlin. “The Sea as Respite: Challenging Dispossession and Re-constructing
Identity in the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.” Iowa Journal of
Cultural Studies. Vol 18, Issue I. 2018
Questions
i) Critically analyse the suggestion of cannibalism in Equiano’s description of the Middle
Passage.
ii) The Middle Passage was a place of transition, from human to sub-human, for the Black
slaves being transported from Africa to America. Explain.

24