An Imperative Duty

An Imperative Duty

Author	William Dean Howells
Original title	An Imperative Duty: A Novel
Language	English
Genre	Literary realism
Publisher	Harper & Brothers
Publication date	1891 (First Edition)
Publication place	United States
Pages	150

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.

List of Characters

• Rhoda Aldgate, a woman of one-sixteenth black ancestry
• Rev. Mr. Bloomingdale, Rhoda's first suitor, a white man
• Dr. Olney, Mrs. Meredith's physician and Rhoda's eventual suitor, a white man
• Mrs. Meredith, Rhoda's aunt, a white woman

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."

Themes

The book is about a "Tragic Mulatta" character, a stereotype used by 19th-century American authors to explore racial miscegenation. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

References

1. Drabelle, Dennis. Book Review of Broadview Press Edition of An Imperative Duty. "Book World: W.D. Howells's 1892 race-themed novella 'An Imperative Duty.'" The Washington Post, 10 December 2010: no pagination.
2. Rosenthal, Debra J. "The White Blackbird: Miscegenation, Genre, and the Tragic Mulatta in Howells, Harper, and the 'Babes of Romance.'" Nineteenth-Century Literature 56.4 (March 2002): 495-517.
3. Daugherty, Sarah B. "'An Imperative Duty': Howells and White Male Anxiety." American Literary Realism, 1870-1910 30.3 (Spring, 1998): 53-64.

External links

• An Imperative Duty Full text HTML version scanned from 1893 edition published by Harper & Brothers. Scanned and proofread by D. Campbell.
• An Imperative Duty 1893 edition, Harper and Bros. / Franklin Square, from Google Books