Sapphira and the Slave Girl

E95158

Sapphira and the Slave Girl is a 1940 historical novel by Willa Cather that explores slavery, power, and moral conflict in antebellum Virginia through the story of a white mistress and the enslaved young woman she seeks to control.


Statements (44)
Predicate Object
instanceOf historical novel
novel
author Willa Cather NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: "United States"
depicts domestic slavery in the United States
master–slave relationships
explores female agency under slavery
relationships between white slaveholders and enslaved people
religious and moral hypocrisy
firstPublishedInForm book
genre Southern fiction
historical fiction
hasCharacter Jeff
Martin Colbert
Till
hasEnslavedCharacter Nancy NERFINISHED
hasForm print
hasHistoricalContext slavery in the United States before the Civil War
hasMoralFocus conscience and complicity in slavery
hasSubject escape from slavery
family conflict
plantation life in Virginia
hasTitleCharacter Sapphira Dodderidge Colbert NERFINISHED
language English
literaryPeriod 20th-century American literature
mainCharacter Henry Colbert
Nancy NERFINISHED
Rachel Colbert NERFINISHED
Sapphira Dodderidge Colbert
mainTheme moral conflict
power dynamics
race relations in the United States
slavery
narrativePerspective first-person
narrator Rachel Colbert NERFINISHED
notableFor being Willa Cather’s last novel
partOf Willa Cather
surface form: "Willa Cather bibliography"
placeOfPublication New York City
publicationYear 1940
publisher Alfred A. Knopf NERFINISHED
settingLocation Virginia NERFINISHED
settingPeriod antebellum period
structure divided into five parts
timeOfAction 1850s

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Willa Cather notableWork Sapphira and the Slave Girl

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