Primary Blog 2
Lydia Maria Child was a large advocate for women’s rights and the rights of Native Americans and slaves. She portrayed these views mainly through her fifty-five year writing career (180). She is largely known for her antislavery works and her fiction works. One of which is “The Quadroons.” This is a story about a mother and daughter who are known as “quadroons,” or “mulattos.” This short story illustrates what happens to women of mixed race in the early nineteenth century. Much of what happens to them is for political reasons or what society, at the time, believed what was right. The mother and daughter, Rosalie and Xarifa, are portrayed as a general example to the reader. Not every person of mixed race had the same experience as these two, but I believe that Child is trying to get the attention of her readers with a general example of how wrong these laws are at the time. Much of the story points out how detrimental society can be on the lives of those who are of mixed race. Child also points out the value of a legal marriage, and that given the chance, people who are not legally bound in matrimony can easily stray.
In the story, Rosalie lives comfortably away from people before her marriage, when she was a young lady. And when she marries Edward, a white man, they live happily for ten years. Their marriage has no legality, but it is recognized by Heaven, in Rosalie’s mind (184). But the year her daughter, Xarifa, turns nine, Edward feels he needs to become more politically advanced. So he leaves Rosalie and Xarifa to marry the daughter of a rich and politically successful man. Edward claimed he still loved Rosalie and even suggested that she become his mistress, but she “was too pure to form a selfish league with crime” (186). She then died a year after Edward wed Charlotte, seemingly from heartbreak. Xarifa grew up in a cottage removed from society where she was educated by tutors sent from Edward, who doted on her. She fell in love with her harp teacher at fifteen, and planned to be moved to France in order to avoid the brutal racial system in America. But these plans were for naught; Edward died on the way to visit her one day, and she never went to France. But then it seems that Rosalie’s parents’ did not have any papers of manumission recorded (189). So Xarifa was sold to a rich middle-aged man who treats her kindly and lavishes her with gifts, but she eventually went mad and dies after her master kills her harp teacher. Child wants the reader to understand that though this story may be fiction, it is very much based on actual events, and that this type of situation happened all the time in the South (190). At first it seems that Child devalues the situation, but I conceive she is trying to make a point that people did not really care about those of mixed race. So she takes the tone of those who do not care to emphasise her point that others should be concerned, and wants her readers to know what happens to “mulattos” and “quadroons.” It seems to be a more “oh, well” type of statement, but the underlying message is there saying “now that I have shown you, how will you respond?” Child also wants people to read this story thinking that this type of situation could have gone differently. She leaves places in the writing that hint there could have been different choices made, for a better outcome. For example, had people of mixed race been legally able to marry, Edward may not have left Rosalie, and the harp teacher would have been able to take care of Xarifa, instead of her being sold in slavery.
This reading seems to fit very well with others I have read this week. One I find is similar in the author’s interest is a peom called “The Slave Singing at Midnight” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The speaker in the poem at first does not want to hear the slave’s song, but he cannot help but listen (599). I find this similar to “The Quadroon” because Child wants the readers who do not want to see what is happening to understand and that it should be changed, and Longfellow wants people to realize that slaves do not belong where they do and that they will break free. Both authors take on the idea that this is not where people of African descent belong and that they should have the same rights as white people
Works Cited
Child, Maria
Lydia. “The Quadroons.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. pp 180-190
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “The Slave Singing at Midnight.”The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. pp 599-600
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Korina, I enjoyed reading your main blog, you did a great job. You clearly explained the story and made sure to include all the important details from the story. You could elaborate more on Edwards’s life after he left and married Charlotte; such as how Edward missed Rosalie and would talk about her in his sleep. Along with more explanation of Charlotte and how she wanted to live at Sand-Hills but Edward would reject this idea because he had lived there with Rosalie and Xarifa. As well as, how Charlotte found out about Rosalie and Xarifa through gossip and an encounter, resulting in Charlotte becoming distant from Edward. I also really liked how you included the hyperlinks of the definitions of “quadroons” and “mulattos”, they were easy to follow and were helpful to better understand the text.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared “The Quadroons” by Lydia Maria Child to the poem “The Slave Singing at Midnight” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. However, along with that, you could also compare “The Quadroons” to “The Coquette” by Hannah Webster Foster. In “The Coquette” Peter Sanford loved Eliza Wharton but he married someone else because her father was rich so his political power would increase just like Edward. Also, both societies’ expectations were strict which didn’t allow these women to be with these men which caused personal anguish. In Eliza’s society, women were expected to marry within their station and political class and in Rosalie’s society; slaves weren’t allowed to marry outside their race. Because they were not upholding the expectations that society had placed on them, they were judged for their actions, which lead to tragic endings in both cases.