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1910–1940
- Setting (time) 1910–1940. Though The Color Purple is a historical novel, it never refers to any factual events. There are no dates, little sense of the passage of time, and very few mentions of characters’ ages.
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A list of important facts about Alice Walker's The Color Purple, including setting, climax, protagonists, and antagonists.
- Motifs
The unspecific time and place broaden the novel’s scope,...
- Full Book Summary
Celie, the protagonist and narrator of The Color Purple, is...
- Character List
The protagonist and narrator of The Color Purple. Celie is a...
- Context
In 1982, Walker published her most famous novel, The Color...
- Motifs
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. [1] [a]
- Alice Walker
- 1982
Jan 17, 2024 · ‘The Color Purple’ is mainly set in Georgia. The film and its source novel depict how African Americans lived in the Southern United States under Jim Crow laws. Walker must have chosen Georgia as the particular setting because she was born and raised in the same state.
- Overview
- Plot summary and characters
- Legacy
The Color Purple, novel by Alice Walker, published in 1982. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1983, making Walker the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer for fiction. A feminist work about an abused and uneducated African American woman’s struggle for empowerment, The Color Purple was praised for the depth of its female characters and for its eloquent use of Black English Vernacular.
An epistolary novel composed of letters written by two sisters, The Color Purple took form as Walker was living in a small town in northern California, trying to find the right voice for the novel’s story. In 1983 she told The New York Times that the letter form worked best because “It was…a way of solving a technical problem of having characters in Georgia and Africa. They never actually get the letters, but that’s beside the point. By writing, they drew closer.”
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Spanning from 1909 to 1947, The Color Purple documents the traumas and gradual triumph of Celie, introduced at the novel’s start as an African American teenager raised in rural isolation in Georgia, as she comes to resist the paralyzing self-concept forced on her by others. Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God. These are prompted when her abusive father, Alphonso, warns her, “You better not never tell nobody but God” after he rapes her and she becomes pregnant for a second time at the age of 14. After she gives birth, Alphonso takes the child away, as he had done with her first baby, which Celie believes he killed in the woods while Celie was sleeping. Then Celie’s mother dies. In her letter to God after her second baby’s birth, Celie writes of the worsening situation this creates for her and her younger sister, Nettie: “He took my other little baby, a boy this time. But I don’t think he kilt it. I think he sold it to a man an his wife over Monticello.…I keep hoping he fine somebody to marry. I see him looking at my little sister. She scared. But I say I’ll take care of you.”
When the widowed Mr.__ (also called Albert) proposes marriage to Nettie, Alphonso pushes him to take Celie instead, forcing her into an abusive marriage. Soon thereafter, Nettie flees Alphonso—who has married a girl Celie’s age—and briefly lives with Celie. However, Albert’s continued interest in Nettie results in her leaving.
Celie subsequently begins to build relationships with other Black women, especially those engaging forcefully with oppression. Of note is the defiant Sofia, who marries Albert’s son Harpo after becoming pregnant. Unable to control her, Harpo seeks advice, and Celie suggests that he beat Sofia. However, when Harpo strikes her, Sofia fights back. Upon learning that Celie encouraged Harpo’s abuse, she confronts a guilty Celie, who admits to being jealous of Sofia’s refusal to back down, and the two women become friends.More significant, however, is Celie’s relationship with Shug Avery, a glamorous and independent singer who is also Albert’s sometime mistress. When Celie sees a picture of Shug for the first time, she is struck by Shug’s captivating style and beauty. Celie writes in a letter: “I see her there in furs. Her face rouge. Her hair like somethin tail. She grinning with her foot up on somebody motocar. Her eyes serious tho. Sad some.”
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Celie tends to an ailing Shug, and the two women grow close, eventually becoming lovers.
In terms of the quality of its storytelling, The Color Purple movingly depicts the growing up and self-realization of Celie, who overcomes oppression and abuse to find fulfillment and independence. The novel also had an impact because of its feminist themes and the frank way it addresses gender equality and sexuality. Walker’s best-known work, The Color Purple received widespread critical acclaim, though it was not without critics, many of whom objected to its explicit language and sexual content. The novel was also criticized for its portrayals of Black men, with some reviewers complaining that her male characters—particularly Albert—were highly negative. Walker’s response to these critics was to say that they clearly did not read the book.
In 1985 Steven Spielberg directed an acclaimed film adaptation of the book, featuring Whoopi Goldberg (Celie), Danny Glover (Albert), Oprah Winfrey (Sofia), and Margaret Avery (Shug). The Color Purple was also adapted as a musical for the theater, and the first Broadway production premiered in 2005. In 2023 a film version of the musical was released, directed by Blitz Bazawule and starring Fantasia Barrino (Celie), Colman Domingo (Mister), Danielle Brooks (Sofia), and Taraji P. Henson (Shug). Whereas previous stage and film versions received criticism for downplaying the lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug, Bazawule’s was praised, including by Walker, for including a more-honest portrayal of the two characters’ romance.
- Alice Walker
- 1982
In 1982, Walker published her most famous novel, The Color Purple. For the novel, which chronicles the struggle of several Black women in rural Georgia in the first half of the twentieth century, Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award.
Dec 15, 2023 · The Color Purple has a lengthy history. There have been multiple iterations, from Alice Walker’s original novel to the Oscar-nominated film and spectacular Broadway productions. And now, in 2023, the newest one is coming—the movie adaptation of the Broadway show will be released on December 25.
Sep 27, 2024 · Walker moved to California, where she wrote her most popular novel, The Color Purple (1982). An epistolary novel, it depicts the growing up and self-realization of an African American woman between 1909 and 1947 in a town in rural Georgia.
