A Study of Race and Gender in Dessa Rose

Abstract

This chapter presents Sherley Anne Williams’ Dessa Rose as a neo-slave narrative that not only concentrates on the exploitation faced by black women in slavery, but also portrays a white woman in the novel who is not the victim of slavery but of sexism. At the same period in twentieth century when other major writers present predominately the plight of black women in slavery, Williams has shown how a black and a white woman can fight together for racial and gender equality despite having different racial experiences.