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Sab (novel)
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Wikipedia article
'Sab' is a novel written by Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda in 1841 and published in Madrid. In the story, Sab, a mulato slavewho is in love with Carlota, the white daughter of his masteris the main character. The pain and struggle of his secret passion for Carlota leads Sab to his own death, which occurs in the same hour as Carlota's wedding with Enrique Otway. The novel was first published in Cuba in 1914.
'Sab' is regarded by some scholars as an antislavery novel, and some have also suggested that it criticizes the institution of marriage. The novel was written a decade before Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. The publishing of 'Sab', in effect, was a turning point in being a precursor to the antislavery movements. Thus, the novel was not freely published in Cuba until 1914.
According to the Spanish literature professor Catherine Davies, 'Sab' is "the only feminist-abolitionist novel published by a woman in nineteenth-century Spain or its slaveholding colony Cuba."
Plot
The novel is set on a sugar plantation located halfway between the city of Santa Mara de Puerto Prncipe (modern-day Camagey) and the village of Cubitas. While most of the novel takes places of the plantation, some of it takes place in Puerto Prncipe, some in the Cubitas Mountains, and some in the northern port of Guanaja.
Enrique Otway, an English tradesman, seeks to marry Carlota because he thinks that this arrangement will bring him money. As the story develops, Sab learns of Enrique's dishonorable conduct and tries to secretly aid Carlota.
Background
Although 'Sab' was initially published in Madrid in December 1841, Avellaneda began writing the book in Cuba and continued working on it during the two-month journey to Europe in 1836.
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