Prologue: reading captivity -- Cultures of captivity -- Captivating farce: Aphra Ben's The emperor of the moon -- Domesticating captivity: Richard Steele's The conscious lovers -- Barbary captivity: Penelope Aubin in The noble slaves -- "Indentured slaves": British captivity in Colonial America -- Afterword: domesticating captivity.
Summary:
"This book considers fictional texts by British authors from the Restoration and first half of the eighteenth century in which captivity centrally informs identity, actions, or human relationships for white British subjects. The exercise of institutional and personal power could create conditions in which those least empowered, particularly women, perceived themselves to be captive subjects. This "domestic captivity" is intimately connected to England's substantial involvement in the systematic enslavement of kidnapped Africans, even as early fictional narratives ignore the experience of enslaved people. The book looks at canonical authors such as Aphra Behn, Richard Steele, and Eliza Haywood, as well as popular writers such as Penelope Aubin and Edward Kimber"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.