Beloved (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Chloe Anthony Wofford
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Historical realism
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: Kentucky and Ohio
- Principal Characters: Sethe, Beloved, Denver, Paul D, Baby Suggs
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Ghost story
- Subjects: African Americans, Family or family life, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Memory, Mothers, Parents and children, Racism, Blacks, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, Gender roles, Supernatural, Escapes, Nineteenth century, Slavery or slaves, Abandoned children, Exorcism, Ghosts or apparitions, Guilt, Middle Passage, Midwest, Ohio, Underground railroad, Yards or backyards
- Locales: Kentucky, Ohio
Form and Content
Beloved portrays the life of a former slave after the Civil War who is haunted by the horrors of her past. The stories told by the characters in the novel describe the dehumanization that results from slavery and eventually reveal Sethe’s dark secret: her murder of her baby daughter eighteen years ago, when Sethe was caught following an escape attempt. Sethe killed her baby so that the child would not have to live as a slave, without dignity and in a world where her body would be used for a master’s pleasure and for the reproduction of his...
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- Beloved (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
- Beloved (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
- Beloved (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
- Beloved (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
See Also:
Toni Morrison (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Toni Morrison (Long Fiction)Toni Morrison (Dictionary of World Biography)Toni Morrison (Identities and Issues)
See Also:
- - For teachers, the Beloved Lesson Plan.
- - Beloved summary and study guide in the eNotes.
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