5.6 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publication date 1891 (First Edition) Originally published 1891 Page count 150 Publisher Harper | 2.8/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 150 Genre Literary realism | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Original title An Imperative Duty: A Novel Similar William Dean Howells books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An Imperative Duty is a short realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1891. The novel explores the idea of "passing" through the racially mixed character of Rhoda Aldgate, a young woman whose aunt informs her that she is one-sixteenth African American. Rhoda lived her whole life "passing" as a white person.
Contents
List of Characters
Plot summary
The book is about Rhoda Aldgate, a young woman who discovers she is one-sixteenth African American, after living her whole life as a white person. Rhoda's father was Mrs. Meredith's brother, a white man, and Rhoda's mother was a southern woman of one-eighth black ancestry. In the nineteenth century, Rhoda's mother would have been referred to as an "octoroon."
Composition and publication history
The book is about a "Tragic Mulatta" character, a stereotype used by 19th-century American authors to explore racial miscegenation.