“The Wife of His Youth”

• Genre: Fiction; short story
• Originally Published: 1898
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: Approx. 16 pages
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Mr. Ryder, a biracial man born free before the Civil War, is head of the “Blue Vein Society” in his Northern town. He courts Molly Dixon, a light-skinned woman of Black and white ancestry, until Liza Jane shows up looking for her husband, whom she has not seen in 25 years.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism; slavery; colorism      

Charles W. Chesnutt, Author

• Bio: 1858-1932; Black American author, essayist, lawyer, and political activist; addressed the complexities of racial and social identity after the Civil War in both novels and short stories; born in Cleveland, Ohio, to parents who were both free persons of color; paternal grandfather was a white enslaver; could pass as white but never chose to; studied law and passed the bar; learned stenography and established a lucrative court reporting business
• Other Works: The Conjure Woman (1899); The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line (1899); The House Behind the Cedars (1900); The Marrow of Tradition (1901)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Post-Reconstruction in the American North
• Slavery
• Colorism

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will: