Clotel: Or, the President's Daughter, A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States: Analysis of Major Characters
"Clotel: Or, the President's Daughter, A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States" is a novel that explores the complex lives of mixed-race women during the antebellum period in America. The story primarily revolves around Clotel, a quadroon who is sold into concubinage, giving birth to a daughter named Mary. The novel also features Currer, Clotel's mother, who is a former housekeeper of Thomas Jefferson and faces heartbreaking separations from her daughters. Althesa, Clotel's younger sister, navigates her own challenges after being sold and marrying Henry Morton while raising two children.
The narrative highlights the intersection of race, gender, and power, showcasing the struggles of individuals within a system of slavery. Characters like Horatio Green and Reverend John Peck illustrate the varying dynamics between enslaved individuals and their owners, revealing both exploitation and, in some cases, complex relationships of dependency. The story culminates in themes of love, loss, and the quest for freedom, ultimately reflecting the harsh realities faced by those enslaved in America. This poignant exploration invites readers to consider the personal histories and emotions intertwined with the broader historical context of slavery.
Clotel: Or, the President's Daughter, A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: William Wells Brown
First published: 1853
Genre: Novel
Locale: Richmond, Virginia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi; and Dunkirk, France
Plot: Historical
Time: 1817–1842
Clotel, an attractive quadroon, sixteen years of age at the opening of the novel. She is Currer's older daughter. She is purchased by Horatio Green, becomes his concubine, and gives birth to Mary. Clotel later is sold. She commits suicide after she escapes from her new owners and is captured by slave catchers in Washington, D.C.
Currer, a forty-year-old mulatto woman. Currer is the former housekeeper of Thomas Jefferson, who, according to the novel, fathered her two daughters. Currer and her daughters are sold in Richmond, Virginia. Separated from her daughters, Currer later dies of yellow fever in Natchez, Mississippi.
Althesa, the younger of Currer's daughters, fourteen years old when the novel opens. Sold in the slave market of New Orleans, she marries Henry Morton and has two children, Ellen and Jane.
Horatio Green, the white Virginian who purchases Clotel as his concubine.
The Reverend John Peck, the Methodist parson of Natchez who purchases Currer.
Georgiana Peck, the Reverend Peck's daughter. She believes in abolition and manumits her servants before her death.
Mary, Clotel's daughter and a servant of Horatio Green and his wife. She eventually marries George Green.
George Green, a mulatto servant of Horatio Green who passes as white. He becomes romantically attached to Mary. After a separation, they reunite and marry in France.