Douglass’ Women (40 page)

A: I do not think Anna and Ottilie could have been friends. Ottilie seemed to value self-expression over family and community and she lacked a firm belief in God. Anna, as I imagined her, was deeply spiritual and praised the connections between herself and her family and community. Both women, however, had
passion
—a full, loving heart. Both women had enormous loyalty and courage; both women (but in different ways) supported Douglass’ quest for civil rights. It would not be wrong to say that both women sacrificed pieces of themselves to help make the world more free.

Q: Do you think the story of
Douglass’ Women
is a tragedy?

A:
Douglass’ Women
is not a tragedy—it has elements of tragedy, but also elements of glory, of love, of redemption. The story is an affirmation of the human spirit, which can endure and triumph despite life’s hardships. The book celebrates two strong, complex and loving women who have been reclaimed from history. Ottilie and Anna are no longer lost, historical figures. They are no longer silent. No longer invisible. I want readers always to remember that Ottilie and Anna had their
own
voices. They, too, shouted, “I AM,” to the world and lived full, passionate, and enriching lives.

Q: How does
Douglass’ Women
affirm the power of true love?

A: “Love unlocks a woman’s heart.” It unlocks a man’s heart, too. The key is to allow it—to open yourself to loving and being loved in return. Despite the potential for heartache, I have always believed it is better to live a life loving, rather than not loving at all. But, most important,
Douglass’ Women
affirms that the
truest
love is loving and valuing oneself—that’s why Anna is the heroine. Loving Douglass causes Anna pain, but she loves and values herself enough to know that she is, in and of her own self, a wondrous woman. Douglass missed the full glory of Anna, who, true to herself, affirming an imperfect love, took responsibility for her life’s choice and empowered and loved herself as a woman. As she says, “I survived by being me. Anna.” Now isn’t that a good thing?

1. When Anna first sees Frederick in the shipyard, she finds herself drawn to him even though they do not speak during this initial encounter. What is it about Frederick that attracts Anna to him?

2. How would you describe Anna’s relationship with Frederick from their days in Baltimore through their decades-long marriage? Why do you think Anna remained with Frederick in spite of his flagrant unfaithfulness?

3. How would you describe Frederick’s relationship with Ottilie? Why do you think Ottilie chose to remain with Frederick especially since she, unlike Anna, had the financial means to care for herself?

4. In the author’s note at the end of the book, Jewell Parker Rhodes describes Anna and Ottilie as “two brave women.” Why do you think she chose to describe them as brave? Do you agree with this assessment? Did you empathize with one woman more than the other?

5. The time period in which the novel takes place was marked by political unrest and social change—the fight against slavery, the coming of the Civil War, and the burgeoning women’s movement. To what
extent do these political and social circumstances contribute to the individual fates and fortunes of the three main characters—Frederick, Anna, and Ottilie?

6. From the time she first meets Frederick, Anna worries that she “might not be what he wanted” (page 27). She believes that he finds her unattractive, uneducated, too old when they marry, and her skin not light enough. Are her fears grounded in reality? How does this belief in part define her relationship with Frederick?

7. In the Conversation section of this guide, Jewell Parker Rhodes says that she believes Anna “never learned to read because she was trying to prove to Douglass that book learning without religious morality and common sense was deficient … [and] that Anna was trying to win recognition that ‘women’s work,’ nurturing a family and sustaining a household, was just as significant as reading Aristotle and writing an essay.” Do you agree with this statement? Why do you think Anna never learned to read? How much value do you think Douglass placed on the work that Anna did in their home?

8. Jewell Parker Rhodes also says, “In order to be unfaithful, I believe Douglass must have resented Anna. He might have loved her, but, nonetheless, he had to have resented her.” Do you think Douglass resented Anna? If so, why? Does this justify in any way his unfaithfulness?

9. The story is constructed in alternating chapters told from Anna’s and Ottilie’s perspectives. How does this narrative structure enhance the story? Each woman is looking back on the past and telling her story. Does the vantage point of age influence the telling of each one’s tale?

10. Frederick invited Ottilie to spend the summers at his and Anna’s home in Rochester. Why do you think Ottilie chose to accept this invitation, knowing that she would be sharing a house not only with Frederick but with Anna and their children? What did it cost Anna to have Ottilie in her home for so many years? How was Frederick able to justify inviting his mistress to share his family’s home?

11. In one instance Ottilie says, “I desired a child. Rosetta was my experiment… . Rosetta, with her father’s charm and bright mind—how could I not rescue her? Be the mother I suspected Douglass wanted me to be.” Why does Ottilie take such an interest in Rosetta? From what or whom does she believe she is “rescuing” Rosetta? Do you believe, as Ottilie does, that Douglass wanted them to have a child together?

12. When she first journeys to America, Ottilie encounters a slave, Oluwand, who commits suicide by jumping over the ship’s railing. Throughout her life Ottilie is haunted by visions of Oluwand, in one instance saying that “she’d appear in my bedroom, on the edge of my bed. Her black eyes blinking like an owl’s”
(page 281). What does Oluwand represent to her, and why can’t she forget her?

13. Why do you think Frederick married Helen Pitts and not Ottilie after Anna’s death? Why do you think that, in spite of his having forsaken her, Ottilie left her estate to Frederick?

14. One of Ottilie’s diary excerpts refers to Anna by saying, “I shouldn’t have hated her. She loved him, just like me.” Anna, referring to Ottilie, says the following: “Miss Assing wasn’t a Delilah. I see that now.” In the end, do you think Anna and Ottilie come to understand each other to some degree?

15. History has remembered Frederick Douglass as a great man and abolitionist. Did reading this novel alter your opinion of Frederick Douglass?