Plot Summary:Plot Summary:

What is What is Enlightenment?Enlightenment?

Philosophers Who Helped Prove My TheoryPhilosophers Who Helped Prove My Theory

Colonization of the IndiansColonization of the Indians

Jenna Kulasiewicz & Dr. Jack Bushnell English Department University of Wisconsin-Eau ClaireJenna Kulasiewicz & Dr. Jack Bushnell English Department University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Plot by Laura M. Stevens:

“Orphaned by her mother when she is a baby, Winkfield spends her first seven years in Virginia with her father. She then travels to England to live with her father’s brother, an Anglican clergyman. While sailing back to Virginia after her father’s death, Winkfield [at age eighteen] is abandoned on a remote island because she refuses to marry the ship captain’s son…Living for several months on the island, she Christianizes the natives from a neighboring island and then is discovered by a search party dispatched by her uncle and his son.”

Enlightenment is a term that was coined during the Age of Enlightenment (1700’s- late 1800’s) and could be associated with a person leaving behind most of what they know and feel comfortable with to follow a dream or act on a burning desire. Enlightenment is not:StagnationBased on Rules or RegulationsAbout Stability or Consistency

Baruch Spinoza René Descartes Thomas Hobbes

Unca discovers natives that visit the island and due to her bi-racial identity she finds a way to insert herself into their tribe as a leader that will teach them the ways of Christianity.

Enlightenment & Religious Deception In:The Female American Unca Eliza Winkfield Edited by Michelle Burnham

Enlightenment & Religious Deception In:The Female American Unca Eliza Winkfield Edited by Michelle Burnham

ThesisThesis

I argue that after a near brush with death, Unca, is enlightened, but that this enlightenment clearly becomes a catalyst for religious deception.

““He made her clean by washing her with He made her clean by washing her with water and the word” Ephesians 5:26water and the word” Ephesians 5:26

A scene in the text has Unca lost in a swoon when a wave of sea water washes over her and “awakens” Unca. From here she begins to utilize principles Baruch Spinoza deemed true. Unca takes on a Providential attitude as she begins to explore the island.

The Big Secret: Mockery of PietyThe Big Secret: Mockery of Piety

In order for Unca to become part of the tribe of Indians she plants herself in one of the idols tombs and speaks to the tribe when they come to worship. Unca tells them that their spiritual beliefs are wrong and that they need to take part in Christianity if they want to survive. Once Unca has them sold on accepting her as their new teacher of religion she steals jewels from the tombs and gives them to the Indians as gifts.

The Conference on St. Simon’s Island, GAThe Conference on St. Simon’s Island, GA

I was invited to share my findings with members of The South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. I presented my paper in a group titled, “Religion in the Age of Enlightenment” which is being considered for publication with AMS Press, Inc.

Thank You!Thank You!

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs English Department UW – Eau Claire Differential Tuition

The King & Prince Resort Hotel

St. Simon’s Island, Georgia

“Dreaming and Becoming” Conference

“Religion in the Age of Enlightenment”

Picture of the Text from Biblio.com

The Female

American Unca Eliza Winkfield

Edited byMichelle Burnham