Colonies

Women in Britain in the nineteenth century were expected to fulfill the traditional roles of wife and mother as determined by British society. Over the course of the nineteenth century, these ideals evolved, but the core functions of wife and mother remained at the center. Woman's participation outside the household was limited. British women travelers during the nineteenth century found themselves in many different environments. By examining samples of women's travel narratives from various locations in the Empire, this study analyzes the daily lives of British women in the Empire and determines that, while maintaining their roles within the private sphere as wives and mothers, women's activities in the colonies were less restricted than they would have been in Britain.

When analyzing literatures that expose the effects of colonialism one can identify similarities between the lives of the oppressed. Although colonization occurs in different times and locations the consequences upon the subjugated become comparable throughout history. One prominent pairing of mirrored colonial episodes can be identified in the literature of Irish author James Joyce and St. Lucian poet Derek Walcott. Both authors endured British colonialism and produced literatures which revealed similar themes and narratives. Yet simply because both authors lived through colonization does not equate their experiences as parallel. This thesis argues that Joyce and Walcott created comparable literatures because they experienced subjugation on islands. A comparison of Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Walcott's Omeros (1990) reveals the similar colonial experiences which were produced by island landscapes. Overall, this thesis will argue that the colonial turmoil which Joyce highlighted in Ulysses becomes mirrored in the postcolonial plot of Omeros.