Mrs. Matilda Betham-edwards’s A Winter With The Swallows (1867)

Abstract

This research work intended to undertake a study on the representation of the natives in colonial Algeria through the work of Mrs. Matilda Betham-Edwards’s A Winter with the Swallows (1867). Her account about Algeria is considered as a unique work that should not be overlooked. The uniqueness of her work stems from the fact that it departs from the travel genre which praised colonialism and painted a conceited view of the colonized people. Mrs. Betham-Edwards gave an empathetic view of the natives, without ignoring what her fellow travelers had already claimed. It is true that her account on Algeria is bred with the colonial ideology, prevalent in her society, but her sympathy towards the natives marked her work as a specific one. Moreover, she fetched a sympathetic view of the native women and considered their liberation as a white women’s burden. Her sympathy revealed the inferior position of the Victorian women at home.