Well, this woman deserves our attention for sure. She is intelligent, loyal, but also she leads herself as a queen sometimes. In the text, she is St. Clare's northern cousin. She is here to help him run the plantation affairs and a lot of other things. St. Clare buys Ophelia a slave so she can have a “missionary project” of her own. At first, Ophelia dislikes Topsy – one of the slaves, but her feelings of racial superiority are eventually broken by the friendship she forms with the needy and naughty little girl.
Miss Ophelia in the Essays
Author: Erica Morris