Nella Larsen

My presentation on Nella Larsen was very informative in helping me to understand the time period. It gave me a first hand perspective of how black women felt during the Harlem Renaissance. Since the Harlem Renaissance impacted urban culture throughout the United States including literature, drama, music, visual art, and dance, it gave blacks a new way to explore “Black America.” Nella Larsen was a “mulatto” woman, and she used this physical aspect of her life throughout her literature. In her two books Quicksand and Passing, she told tales of the mulatto woman, and their struggle to lead fulfilling lives despite the stereotype of the “tragic mulatto.” The mulatto woman also inspired paintings such as “The Octoroon Girl” by Archibald Motley, which featured a light-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed woman. Art and literature featuring the mulatto woman gave her a new “role” in society. The mulatto woman was now the new representative of the “New Negro Woman.” She was seen as a heroine, and emphasized roles of “self-sacrifice,” taking jobs such as teachers, nurses, and librarians. These popular images of the “New Negro Woman” enforced a standard of behavior, appearance, and vocation for all black women at the time. Overall, Larsen and Motley were icon’s throughout the Harlem Renaissance because they made the “New Negro Woman” more modern, independent, and extreme. They defined the “mulatto” as a public icon, and gave the “New Negro Woman” a new outlook and defined her expectations.