Domestic melodrama is a fictional work emphasizing emotionally unexpected changes and tragic occurrences, traditionally presented in a dramatic manner. The plot usually concerns victimized or suffering leading characters, and a mixture of difficulties among lovers, family, friends, or the community. The story typically incorporates both familiar and romantic themes. Narratives concentrating on a single family unit are described as Domestic Melodramas and portray relations between parents, offspring, siblings, and in-laws, relating how the family endures or dissolves through such emotions as love, jealousy, rivalry, and hatred.
Melodrama was the most pervasive dramatic genre of the 19th century. Melodramas were typically …show more content…
In Harriet Jacobs "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", domestic melodrama occurs when Linda Brent struggles to protect herself from her master and is torn between her desire to run away from him and her need to protect her children. Dr. Flint refuses to sell Linda to Mr. Sands; Dr. Flint banishes Linda to his plantation; Aunt Martha tries to talk her out of running away; Linda discovers that her children will soon be broken in as field hands. Linda runs away from the plantation and goes into hiding, leaving her previous life behind and taking the first step away from …show more content…
Douglass starts educating his fellow slaves and planning his escape. His plan to escape is then discovered. He is put in jail and then sent back to Baltimore with the Aulds to learn a trade. Douglass becomes a caulker and is eventually allowed to hire out his own time. Douglass saves money and escapes to New York City, where he marries. The themes in this story are ignorance as a tool of slavery and knowledge as the path to freedom... The victimization of female slaves is described in great detail in the story, further encompassing the theme of domestic