Dark Princess (Banner Books) (Paperback)

by W. E. B. Du Bois (Author), Claudia Tate (Introduction) "MATTHEW TOWNS was in a cold white fury..." (more)
Key Phrases: darker world, darker peoples, municipal ownership, Matthew Towns, New York, Royal Highness (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
This classic novel first appeared in 1928, portraying 1920s America as a racist nation. The protagonist, a medical student, is here barred from medical training because of his race: he leads a politically and socially charged life in this strong account. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Description
The problem of "the color line," W.E.B. Du Bois's ever-present polemical theme, is at the core of this novel of sensual love, radical politics, and the quest for racial justice. Originally published by Harcourt Brace and Co. in 1928, Dark Princess was one of two novels written by Du Bois. Toward the end of his life he ranked it as his favorite of all his works.

For the fantastical storyline, heavy with propagandist overtones, Du Bois depicts 1920s America as a racist nation primed for radical protest and terrorism. Matthew Townes, the protagonist, is a medical student expelled because his race bars him from the required course in obstetrics in a white hospital. Self-exiled in Berlin after his political idealism is corrupted, Townes falls in love with Princess Kautilya, daughter of a maharajah, and joins the international team she heads in which people of color unite against white imperialism. Du Bois recounts their quest for liberation in a whites-only world that overwhelms their passionate love and separates them. Du Bois concludes the novel with the birth of their son--proclaimed as the Maharajah of Bwodpur and "Messenger and Messiah to all the Darker Worlds."

The reviewer for the New York Herald Tribune found "amidst much pure romance and preciosity of style there are rich deposits of straight sociology [as well as] interesting and revealing reading [for] the white reader who has yet few ways of looking into the many closed chambers of Negro life or of seeing into the dilemmas of the intellectual Negro mind and heart."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087805765X
• ISBN-13: 978-0878057658
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #614,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My great pleasure is seeing t romantic side of W.E.B. Dubois, May 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dark Princess (Banner Books) (Hardcover)

I loved it. I love Dubois' fatherly spirit, his international wisdom, and the strength he has in showing this side of himself, inspite of threats that this kind of writing could end his writing career . I have read many of DuBois books, however, this is the very first time that I have even heard (1997) about a romance book. And told that it's the only one. Still, from Dubois-WOW!! And to hear him say that he really likes this kind of writing, that it's his favorite book, but others discouraged him, both Black and White. I feel very special and priviledged (though its public) to know this romantic side of Dubios, compared to his other more well-known writings. I'm glad this side of him didn't get lost.

His words of encouragement still speaks volumes to me today. Its been awhile since I read the book, and I know this posting is old. Anyway, I happen to have a book here with me that has a quote from Dubios that I believe is from Dark Princess. "I have known the women of many lands and nations, I have known, seen, and lived beside them, but none have I known more sweetly feminine, more unansweringly loyal, more desperately earnest, and more instinctively pure in body and soul than the daughters of my African-American mothers. This then-a little thing-to their memory and inspiration."

How insightful and sensitive to write such encouraging words for all the world to read. Still, I'd like to know more on what Dubois did to combat sexism in his time. I've read only small pieces of Dubios' feelings on how African American females were being slighted, I think. Did he ever speak directly to the sexism within the African-American community?