Acts of Bravery in Leonora Sansay's Secret History or The Horrors of St.Domingo

The aim of my thesis is to highlight the courage of women in Leonora Sansay's novel Secret History; or, The Horrors of St. Domingo(1809). Traditionally underestimated and strictly confined to the private sphere, women were rarely seen as courageous beings in the 18th century. Their astonishing ability to reinvent themselves, to adapt and to survive in the colonial counterinsurgency is just one aspect of these extraordinary ladies. I will analyze Sansay's work with a more attentive look at every act of bravery made by women regardless of their race or status. Not all the women we encounter in the novel can be defined and put in this remarkable category, many of them just conform to the social and religious norms, but those who do not conform certainly deserve our study. I've always been fascinated by powerful and brilliant women, who rebel against their societies; the admiration that I have for them dictated my choice to put them at the core of my dissertation. Leonora Sansay's letters, written in 1808, made me relate to these women with their stories of hope, survival, hardship and bravery. Stories that are still current today, where gender equality is still elusive in many parts of the world. Moreover, I will concentrate on the historical period between the 18th and 19th centuries; in particular on the Haitian revolution.