The Kaywana Trilogy: Analysis of Major Characters
The Kaywana Trilogy presents a complex tapestry of characters, rooted in a rich historical context that explores themes of identity, power, and morality. Central to the narrative is Kaywana, a woman of mixed heritage who challenges local authority and faces tragic consequences for her actions. Her lineage continues through her descendants, such as Hendrickje van Groenwegel, who grapples with her own moral failings, including the abuse of slaves and tumultuous family dynamics.
Hubertus van Groenwegel, a sugar planter, embodies the conflicting desires of personal ambition and familial duty, navigating affairs while attempting to reconcile his Christian values. His wife, Rosalind, displays a blend of resilience and forgiveness amidst marital strife, while Faustina, his cousin, complicates relationships further with her own romantic entanglements.
The narrative also features Luise and Edward van Groenwegel, who challenge societal norms through their unconventional romance and artistic pursuits, while Dirk van Groenwegel provides a poignant conclusion as he faces the decline of the family plantation amid changing socio-economic landscapes. Collectively, the characters reflect a broader commentary on the legacies of colonialism and the intricacies of human relationships in a shifting world.
The Kaywana Trilogy: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Edgar Mittelholzer
First published: Children of Kaywana, 1952 (U.S. edition, 1952); The Harrowing of Hubertus, 1954 (Hubertus, 1955); Kaywana Blood, 1958 (The Old Blood, 1958)
Genre: Novel
Locale: British Guiana
Plot: Historical
Time: 1611–1953
Kaywana (ki-WAH-nah), the daughter of a West Indian woman and an English sailor, the mistress of both Adrian van Groenwegel and August Vyfius and the mother of children by both men. She defies the local shaman, because she believes he is poisoning her daughter. Although her daughter recovers, she kills the shaman's own daughter. She dies in a battle between the Dutch and the natives.
Hendrickje van Groenwegel (hehn-DRIHK-yeh fon GREHN-vay-gehl), the great-granddaughter of Kaywana on both her father's and mother's sides, and granddaughter of an African slave. She abuses her slaves as well as those of her children whom she considers weaklings. She expresses atheistic views and has an incestuous passion for her son Adrian. Slaves hack her to death in the uprising of 1763.
Hubertus van Groenwegel, a sugar planter and slave owner born in 1727, a descendant of Kaywana, son of Adrian, husband of Rosalind Maybury, and father of several children, both legitimate and illegitimate. Although he tries to be a pious Christian, Hubertus is sorely tempted to break his marriage vows when he meets Woglinde Clackson. She is the wife of fellow planter Cranley Clackson, but they had an affair while teenagers. Now, twenty years later, she explicitly asks Hubertus to have a love affair with her. She dies of illness before completing her conquest. Hubertus then invites his widowed cousin Faustina and her sons to live at his plantation. Hubertus and Faustina have an affair just before she leaves to become Clackson's second wife; the resulting child is brought up as Graeme Clackson. Hubertus informs Rosa-lind of the affair, because he considers keeping it a secret to be immoral. After resigning various public offices, he becomes a serious student of philosophy and theology and reconciles his Christian beliefs and his fleshly desires. After both Rosalind and Faustina die, he takes up with an African slave and fathers a son by her.
Rosalind Maybury van Groenwegel, the English wife of Hubertus and daughter of a sugar planter. When she learns that Cranley Clackson is ill, she goes to nurse him, although she knows of Woglinde's desire for her husband. Later, she nurses Woglinde herself and takes their daughter Clara to live at Hubertus' plantation. She forgives Hubertus for his affairs, but she suspends sexual relations with him.
Faustina van Groenwegel Clackson (fow-STEE-nah), a first cousin of Hubertus, married first to Jacques van Groenwegel and then to Cranley Clackson. After her first husband is killed in the 1763 slave revolt, she takes her family to live on Hubertus' plantation. After deciding to marry Clackson, she seduces Hubertus. They continue their love affair until she dies.
Luise van Groenwegel (lew-WEE-zeh), the third daughter of Hubertus and Rosalind, born in 1753, later the wife of Edward van Groenwegel. Although almost ten years older than her cousin Edward, she falls in love with him and pursues him. When he is only ten years old, she asks him to kiss her and place his hand on her breast. Spurning conventional suitors, she continues her advances until they finally marry, when she is twenty-nine and he is nineteen. During the Spanish-incited slave uprising of 1774, she takes a musket and helps defend her family's house while dressed in only a petticoat.
Edward van Groenwegel, an architect and painter, born in 1763 to Faustina and Jacques van Groenwegel, and husband of his cousin Luise. As a child, he is content to draw and study ants, rather than play with his brothers. As a teenager, he designs and supervises the building of a bridge on his family's plantation. After his marriage to Luise, he pursues a dual career of building and painting. While he is painting his married stepsister, Clara Clackson Hartfield, they have an affair.
Dirk van Groenwegel, another descendant of Kaywana, born in 1795, the last of the traditional van Groenwegels. He consolidates the plantation and concentrates on sugar production. His way of life is threatened by two events. First, the price of sugar falls. Second, the British government emancipates the slaves. He keeps up the family spirit by reading old family letters. He dies in 1883, having foreseen the collapse of the sugar market.