"The Wife of His Youth" by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

Quotes of Interracial Racism

Racism has been an issue in society ever since the founding of our country. Racism itself has not dissolved or dissipated, only evolved to include more complex reasons for it. In "The Wife of His Youth," Charles Chesnutt uses examples of poetic forms of literary quotes to convey that racism existed within the same race. The elite club of the Blue Veins was an African-American society that only let people in if their skin was light enough for the veins to be seen. Chesnutt himself was very light skinned and could have easily "passed" as being white. It should be noted that although he could have, he never did.

Mr. Ryders favorite poet is Lord Alfred Tennyson. Tennyson was an english author who wrote during the Victorian age in poetry. He wrote with the social issues of his time, much like Chesnutt, which made him susceptible to later criticism.

Image taken from page 10 of '[Alfred Lord Tennyson...

Ryder Playing

English: Alfred Tennyson, British poet

After his death, he became a target for English poets who thought of him narrow-minded and criticized his writings based on this fact. When Chesnutt refers to Tennyson he is paralleling the criticism that Tennyson received with the criticism Mr. Ryder feels he will recieve if the truth is brought foward. Like Tennyson, Mr. Ryder thinks he will become a "target" of racism for his own race. Mr. Ryder is also narrow-minded in the fact that he struggles with the mask that his fame had brought him. Tennyson was also a victim of a form of racism. When he and his fiancée were to be married, her father stopped the wedding because he thought that Tennyson was too poor to marry. Tennyson eventually marries Emily but in complete secrecy. Mr. Ryder is faced with a similar situation, but instead of monetary values, it involves skin...