Madame John’s Dilemma
George Washington Cable was one of the most notable novelists of America in the late 19th century, his works chiefly comprised of literature based on the topic of racism and the treatment of the coloured people and the mixed races during that period of time. He wrote several articles criticizing the bias that existed in the society based solely on the colour of a person’s skin. The story “TitePoulette” in the most realistic manner portrays the racial discrimination that existed in the society(“George Washington Cable’S “‘TitePoulette” And Race”). Cable said that he got the idea of the story after seeing the plight of the quadroon and octoroon women in New Orleans they had very little rights and were often unmarried aslaw banned inter-caste marriage(“How Madame John’S Got Its Name”). In this story, Madame John is described as a “ apalish handsome woman” she was a quadroon, he was one quarter black, a part of mixed race which was common in New Orleans. One day she had a Spanish man and a woman at her house and they fell sick of flu and they died leaving their only child. Madame John raised her as her own daughter and gave her a pet name TitePoulette.
Right from the beginning everyone had doubts about the fact that whether Poulette was actually her daughter or not as Madame John was “ You would hardly have thought of her being “colored.” Though fading, she was still of very attractive countenance, fine, rather severe features, nearly straight hair carefully kept, and that vivid black eye so peculiar to her kind” (“TitePoulette – Full Online Book”). Her daughter Poulette on the other hand was “So beautiful, beautiful, and beautiful! White?–white like a water lily! White–like a magnolia!”(“TitePoulette – Full Online Book”). The men would praise her beauty and were mesmerized by her beauty, yet no one would dare to ask for her hand from Madame Poulette as she was the daughter of a quadroon or a one quarter black individual (Nagel). There was a fine line between the various races that existed at that time in the society, even there was laws forbidding inter caste or race marriages. Maybe this was one of the reason why Madame Poulette was not married, she was one of the several misfortunes who were shunned by the society because of her mixed racial origins, maybe she was unable to find someone from her caste to marry, and this could be one of the reasons why Madame John kept Poulette hidden from the world and always emphasized on the fact that she was “her” daughter, Poulette was her only way of enjoying motherhood (Padgett). She was her treasure which she wanted to keep safe and hidden from the world.
Madame John’s Protectiveness
Her plight draws sympathy from the readers as on one hand she is not ready to let her precious one out into the cruel world, on the other hand she requests her to marry any white man who would ask for her hand in marriage” If any gentleman should ever love you and ask you to marry,–not knowing, you know,–promise me you will not tell him you are not white.”, the pain in her dilemma is evident (Tallant). The cruelty of the law of that time is also stressed upon in the following lines by Cable
And break the law?” asked ‘TitePoulette, impatiently.
“But the law is unjust,” said the mother.
“But it is the law!”(“TitePoulette – Full Online Book”)
The law of the land forbade the white people to marry a coloured woman and vice versa, and due to this reason the prospect of Poulette getting married was very less being the “white” daughter of a coloured woman (“A Genius In His Way”). She is so devoted to her daughter that she says that she would do anything if a respectable man comes asking for her daughter’s hand in marriage “Oh, my child, my child, to see that I would give my life–I would give my soul! Only you should take me along to be your servant”, she just desires to be with her and nothing more. Madame John comforts her daughter when she is sad that no respectable man would ever want her hand in marriage, saying that other gentlemen talks highly of her “! ‘May God defend her,’ he said, _cherie_; he said, ‘May God defend her, for I see no help for her.” (“TitePoulette – Full Online Book”).
The love and devotion that Madame John has for her daughter is again proved when she proves the assumptions of the young Dutchman, Kristian Koppig wrong, when he believed that “some damage was being planned against ‘TitePoulette” (“TitePoulette – Full Online Book”). Koppig at first thought that Madame John was going to send TitePoulette to dance in “Salle de Conde” but instead as the gentleman observed, Madame John was the one who took the pain upon herself to become the breadwinner for both of them, and thus proved that her daughter was too precious for her to bring in front of the world. Although she was not biologically related to her but the level of dedication she has shown to TitePoulette, it can be said without doubt that her love for Poulette is selfless.
Kristian Koppig and the Doctor
Madame John is always afraid to lose her precious daughter, the fear in her words and voice can reverberate in the ears of the readers as Monsieur the manager of “Salle de Conde” asks her repeatedly that whether Poulette was actually her daughter or not, he is suspicious. She tries to defend her honour and virtue in every way possible. Her utter desperation to earn for herself and her daughter and the need to protect her daughter portrays a pathetic social picture of that era when such women were in danger of falling prey to men like Mr. Monsieur, and no one was able to help them out only because they were outcasts (Sartika). While men like Mr. Monsieur was ready to exploit the weaknesses of the helpless women like Madame Poulette and her daughter on the other hand it will be a mistake not to talk about the character of Kristian Koppig, a Dutch gentleman who tried his best to protect the mother and daughter and ended up in a life threatening situation.
Finally Madame John revealed her secret in front of Koppig and the doctor who was treating him, her fears all were coming true she realized that she will not be able to protect her precious daughter anymore and thus with a heavy heart she almost forces her daughter to get married with Koppig “Take her! She is thine. I have robbed God long enough. Here are the sworn papers–here! Take her; she is as white as snow–so! Take her, kiss her; Mary be praised! I never had a child–she is the Spaniard’s daughter!”(“TitePoulette – Full Online Book”). These line are heartbreaking and finally proves the fact that Madame John had kept the secret because she love TitePoullete selflessly and believed that she can protect her forever from the cruel world, but ultimately the” colour of skin” won again, and she had to reveal the truth that Poulette was not her daughter in order to secure a better future for her, one that she could have never been able to provide her with.
Reference List:
A Genius In His Way. Google Books. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Feb. 2018.https://books.google.co.in/books?id=gf8lhmN6OhkC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=A+Genius+in+His+Way:+The+Art+of+Cable+Old+Creole+Days&source=bl&ots=p5-tsJaekK&sig=QLQ6oL-kwDUtc1r5rm4PHtEmZ2g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjizcKYupbZAhVFMY8KHcqPDEMQ6AEIQjAG#v=onepage&q=A%20Genius%20in%20His%20Way%3A%20The%20Art%20of%20Cable%20Old%20Creole%20Days&f=false
George Washington Cable’S “‘TitePoulette” And Race. Interminable Rambling. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Feb. 2018. https://interminablerambling.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/3059/
How Madame John’SGot Its Name. Crt.state.la.us. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Feb. 2018. https://www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-museum/online-exhibits/madame-johns-legacy/how-madame-johns-got-its-name/index
Nagel, James. American short story handbook. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Padgett, Ieva. George W. Cable’s Gardens: Planting the Creole South and Uprooting the Nation. The Southern Literary Journal 47.2 (2015): 55-72.
Sartika, Yustin. Region Complex Distinctions of Class, Gender and Race in TitePoulitte by George Washington Cable and The Convent Girl by Grace King. CULTURE 2.1 (2015).
Tallant, Robert. Creating the Creole City in the Twentieth Century. Imagining the Creole City: The Rise of Literary Culture in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans (2014): 118.
TitePoulette – Full Online Book.Fullonlinebook.com. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Feb. 2018.https://fullonlinebook.com/essays/tite-poulette/ibgb
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