''The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life'' is a novel by

George Washington Cable George Washington Cable (October 12, 1844 – January 31, 1925) was an American novelist notable for the realism of his portrayals of Creole life in his native New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been called "the most important southern artist wor ...

, published as a book in 1880 by

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan R ...

after appearing as a serial in ''

Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

''.Richardson TJ, ed. (1981). ''The Grandissimes: Centennial essays.'' University Press of Mississippi, Lauter P, ed. (2002). ''The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume C: Late Nineteenth Century: 1865-1910, Volume 3.'' p. 379 ''ff.''Cengage Learning,, The

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century. Varieties Viking These books feature Vikings during the Dar ...

depicts race and class relations in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

at the start of the 19th century, immediately following the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

in 1803.Pizer D, Harbert EN, eds. (1982). ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: American Realists and Naturalists.'' Gale Research Company, The book examines the lives and loves of the extended Grandissime family, which includes members from different races and classes in Creole society.Rubin LD (1966). ''Writers of the Modern South: The Faraway Country.'' University of Washington Press, ASIN B00128IG4G The novel juxtaposes a romanticized version of the French Creole culture with the atrocities committed under the European-American system of

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...

.Magill FN, Mazzeno LW, eds. (1996). "The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life," in ''Masterplots: 1,801 plot stories and critical evaluations of the world's finest literature, Volume 5'', pp. 2624 ''ff.'' Salem Press,

Key characters

*Honoré Grandissime, the head of the French/white part of the prominent Grandissime family of New Orleans *Honoré Grandissime, the mulatto half-brother of the white Honoré Grandissime *Joseph Frowenfeld, a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

native and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

*Agricola Fusilier, Honoré Grandissime's uncle, who seeks to preserve

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, the foundation of the European Grandissime family's way of life *Aurora Nancanou, a destitute widow whose husband was murdered by Fusilier in a gambling dispute *Palmyre, Aurora Nancanou's slave maid *Bras Coupé, an enslaved African prince on a Spanish Creole plantation, also Palmyre's

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

Plot

Honoré Grandissime, head of the French Creole family, takes in Joseph Frowenfeld, whose family has died of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

. He describes the New Orleans caste system, which had three racial groups, to Frowenfeld, an abolitionist. His desire to end

would destroy the labor base of the plantations, which revenues supported city life. Frowenfeld and Grandissime's uncle Agricola Fusilier, soon get into a dispute. Fusilier seeks to preserve the Grandissime way of life, which means continuing slavery. Grandissime and his

quadroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/ Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''o ...

half brother, also named Honoré Grandissime, want to go into business together. Grandissime also wants to help Aurora Nancanou, widowed since Fusilier killed her husband. Grandissime is secretly in love with her.Cleman J (1996). ''George Washington Cable Revisited,'' pp. 1-19. Twayne Publishers, Grandissime later tries to help Bras Coupé, a slave engaged to Palmyre, Aurora's maid. After Coupé attacks his white overseer, a mob of Creole aristocrats, including Fusilier, captures the slave as he tries to escape through swamps outside the city. Grandissime tries to intervene, but the mob brutally lynches Coupé, in an act demonstrating the darkness at the heart of their society.Andrews WL, Gwin M, Harris T, Hobson F, Eds (1997). ''The Literature of the American South: A Norton Anthology,'' pp. 275-276. W. W. Norton & Company

Adaptations

The book is known for its descriptions of local dialects and the practice of

plaçage Plaçage was a recognized extralegal system in French and Spanish slave colonies of North America (including the Caribbean) by which ethnic European men entered into civil unions with non-Europeans of African, Native American and mixed-race descen ...

, a recognized extralegal system in which ethnic European men entered into the equivalent of

common-law marriage Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil ...

s with African and

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

women (primarily of African and European descent). Generally the young woman's mother negotiated a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

, freedom for the woman and her children if she were a slave, and possibly education for her (future) children. Typically young men would have a plaçage arrangement before getting formally married to a wife of European descent; others kept their mixed-race mistresses after marriage. The mixed-race children of such arrangements became the

Creoles of color The Creoles of color are a historic ethnic group of Creole people that developed in the former French and Spanish colonies of Louisiana (especially in the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwestern Florida i.e. Pensacola, Flor ...

, free people of color who spoke a French-based Creole language, practiced Catholicism, and established a social class or caste between those of the ethnic Europeans and the predominantly-African slaves. Many became artisans and property owners. The book features an adaptation of the story of Bras-Coupé, the fictitious name of a fugitive slave named Squire who was lynched in 1837.Wagner B (2005). "Disarmed and Dangerous: The Strange Career of Bras-Coupé", ''Caliber'', University of California Press, Volume 92, The novel was adapted for the opera '' Koanga'', with music by

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including '' O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and '' My Ántonia''. In 192 ...

's short story " The Dance at Chevalier's" was influenced by Cable's work; it has been described as "a cross between George Washington Cable's ''The Grandissimes'' (1880) and

Anthony Hope Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: '' T ...

's ''

Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in orde ...

'' (1894)".Catherine M. Downs, ''Becoming Modern: Willa Cather's Journalism'', Susquehanna University Press, 2000, page 83

References

External links

George Washington Cable, ''The Grandissimes''
via

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

"Bio of Cable and Summary of novel: The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life"
''Documenting the American South'',

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life 1880 American novels Novels first published in serial form Charles Scribner's Sons books Louisiana Creole culture 1880 debut novels