The House Behind the Cedars

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Synopsis:

The story occurs in the southern American states of North and South Carolina a few years following the American Civil War. Rena Walden, a young woman of mixed white and black ancestry, leaves home to join her brother, who has migrated to a new city, where he lives as a white man.

Following her brother's lead, Rena begins living as a white woman. The secret of her identity leads to conflict when she falls in love with a white aristocrat who learns the truth of her heredity. The ensuing drama emphasizes themes of interracial relations and depicted the intricacies of racial identity in the American south.

More Detailed Description

The House Behind the Cedars is the story of a brother and sister, John and Rena, who share the misfortune of being one-eighth African American. Their mother is a "quadroon" who was kept by a wealthy white man, but when he died, his will was flawed, so she and the children got no money.

John's white skin and thirst for knowledge led him to become a highly intelligent young man, and when he was old enough to leave, he set out to make a new life for himself as a lawyer. He acquired a white wife who passed away after bearing a son, who needed a woman from the family to care for him.

John returned home to introduce his newly matured sister into society, partially to help care for his son, but also to bring Rena away from the shame of her heritage. She enjoys the attention she receives and is courted by a handsome and desirable white man.

Disaster strikes when their mother falls ill and Rena returns home to care for her. Twists and tangles in the plot bring the family secret dangerously close to being discovered and all the work of breaking into society tumbling down upon them.

An early masterwork among American literary treatments of miscegenation, the Victorian era was littered with melodramatic plots such as this where secrets and tangled plots came together in a fast-paced and exciting novel

Facts and Trivia

Chesnutt's autobiography informed the novel's themes. Being of predominantly European ancestry, Chesnutt was light-skinned enough to pass as a white man, although he openly identified with his African-American roots. Additionally, his portrayal of interracial romantic relations in The House Behind the Cedars was controversial. Although the novel was critically well received, its controversy contributed to poor financial performance.

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About the Author:

Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 - November 15, 1932) was an African-American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South. Many families of free people of color were formed in the colonial and early Federal period; some attained education and property; in addition there were many mixed-race slaves, who as freedmen after the war were part of the complex society of the South. Two of his books were adapted as silent films in 1926 and 1927 by the African-American director and producer Oscar Micheaux. Following the Civil Rights Movement during the 20th century, interest in the works of Chesnutt were revived. Several of his books were published in new editions, and he received formal recognition. A commemorative stamp was printed in 2008.

During the early 20th century in Cleveland, Chesnutt established what became a highly successful court reporting business, which provided his main income. He became active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, writing articles supporting education as well as legal challenges to discriminatory laws.

In 1878 at the age of 20, Chesnutt married Susan Perry. They moved to New York City.[1] He wanted to escape the prejudice and poverty of the South, as well as to pursue a literary career. After six months, the Chesnutts moved to Cleveland.

Overall, Chesnutt's writing style is formal and subtle, demonstrating little emotive power. A typical sentence from his fiction is a passage from The House Behind the Cedars: "When the first great shock of his discovery wore off, the fact of Rena's origin lost to Tryon some of its initial repugnance-indeed, the repugnance was not to the woman at all, as their past relations were evidence, but merely to the thought of her as a wife."

The House Behind the Cedars was Chesnutt's first novel, his attempt to improve on what he believed were inadequate depictions of the complexity of race and the South's social relations. He wanted to express a more realistic portrait of his region and community drawn from personal experience.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Andrew Chesnutt and Ann Maria (née Sampson) Chesnutt, both "free persons of color" from Fayetteville, North Carolina.