Why Is The Tragic Mulatto Myth Important In Literature?
Desiree’s Baby
A mulatto is an outdated term used to describe someone with one black parent and one white parent. The tragic mulatto myth dates back to the 19th century American literature. The myth almost exclusively focuses on biracial individuals light enough to pass for white. In literature, such mulattoes were often unaware of their black heritage. Upon discovering their African ancestry, tragedy ensues because such characters find themselves barred from white society and, thus, the privileges available to whites. Distraught at their fate as people of color, tragic mulattoes in literature often turned into suicide. In other instances, these characters pass for white, cutting off their black family members to do so. In addition, such …show more content…
Overall, the tragic mulatto myth perpetuates the idea that the mixing of races is unnatural and harmful to offspring. Rather than blame racism for the challenges biracial people face, the tragic mulatto myth holds race-mixing responsible. There are three types of tragic mulatto. The first one is a woman that is fair enough to pass for white, usually fall in love and married to a white man; the next one is the woman who appear white that hides her mix race status thinking she is not black, she thinks she is Spanish with high standing in the community; the last one is women that has passed completely and accepted in the middle and upper classes, however, she’s forced back to being a slave and she is also sexually dominated by the plantation owner. One scholar states, “Since Armand figured that he knew his past and who he actually was and he assumed that Desiree was the reason why their baby is mixed. Also, because of the fact that Desiree was adopted and did not know what her ethnicity was Armand felt like her race, which he assumed was black, changes everything” (TeenInk). Desiree is defined as racial stereotype because her family heritage is unknown. Everybody thinks just because Armand family is known and Desiree’s isn’t, it’s Desiree who is the
A mulatto is an outdated term used to describe someone with one black parent and one white parent. The tragic mulatto myth dates back to the 19th century American literature. The myth almost exclusively focuses on biracial individuals light enough to pass for white. In literature, such mulattoes were often unaware of their black heritage. Upon discovering their African ancestry, tragedy ensues because such characters find themselves barred from white society and, thus, the privileges available to whites. Distraught at their fate as people of color, tragic mulattoes in literature often turned into suicide. In other instances, these characters pass for white, cutting off their black family members to do so. In addition, such …show more content…
Overall, the tragic mulatto myth perpetuates the idea that the mixing of races is unnatural and harmful to offspring. Rather than blame racism for the challenges biracial people face, the tragic mulatto myth holds race-mixing responsible. There are three types of tragic mulatto. The first one is a woman that is fair enough to pass for white, usually fall in love and married to a white man; the next one is the woman who appear white that hides her mix race status thinking she is not black, she thinks she is Spanish with high standing in the community; the last one is women that has passed completely and accepted in the middle and upper classes, however, she’s forced back to being a slave and she is also sexually dominated by the plantation owner. One scholar states, “Since Armand figured that he knew his past and who he actually was and he assumed that Desiree was the reason why their baby is mixed. Also, because of the fact that Desiree was adopted and did not know what her ethnicity was Armand felt like her race, which he assumed was black, changes everything” (TeenInk). Desiree is defined as racial stereotype because her family heritage is unknown. Everybody thinks just because Armand family is known and Desiree’s isn’t, it’s Desiree who is the