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''The House Behind the Cedars'' is the first novel by American author Charles W. Chesnutt. It was published in 1900 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The story occurs in the southern American states of North and South Carolina a few years following the American Civil War. Rena Walden, a young woman of mixed white and black ancestry, leaves home to join her brother, who has migrated to a new city, where he lives as a white man. Following her brother's lead, Rena begins living as a white woman. The secret of her identity leads to conflict when she falls in love with a white aristocrat who learns the truth of her heredity. The ensuing drama emphasizes themes of interracial relations and depicted the intricacies of racial identity in the American south. Chesnutt's autobiography informed the novel's themes. Being of predominantly European ancestry, Chesnutt was light skinned enough to pass as a white man, although he openly identified with his African-American roots.〔"Charles W. Chesnutt," Black Literature Criticism, ed. James Draper, vol. 1 (Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992) 374.〕 Additionally, his portrayal of interracial romantic relations in ''The House Behind the Cedars'' was controversial. Although the novel was critically well received, its controversy contributed to poor financial performance.〔"Charles W. Chesnutt," 375.〕 ==Plot summary== The novel opens “a few years after the Civil War”〔Charles W. Chesnutt, ''The House Behind the Cedars'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Co., 1900) 1.〕 with John Warwick, from Clarence, South Carolina, leaving a hotel in Patesville, North Carolina. He walks around the town in which he used to live, and tries to visit Judge Archibald Straight, but he is not in his office. Warwick’s attention is captured by a striking young woman, who he does not recognize as Rena, and follows her to the house behind the cedars. Warwick cautiously approaches the house, worried about being seen, and is invited in by Molly Walden. He says that he has a message for Walden from her son, but she then realizes that Warwick is her son who she has not seen in years. Warwick joyfully reunites with his mother and his sister Rena, and tells them what his life has been like since leaving home. He reveals that he has become a successful lawyer, and that he was married, but his wife died and left him with a baby boy. Warwick asks Rena if she would come live with him and help take care of his son Albert. Molly is reluctant to send off her only daughter and Rena does not want to leave her mother alone, but John ultimately convinces his mother that Rena will have a better life with him. The next morning, Warwick visits Judge Straight, his mentor for whom he used to work as an office-boy under the name John Walden. Straight warns him not to stay in town for too long or else people may start to question his presence. He then contemplates that it would have been better for John to move further away from home than South Carolina “even though the laws were with him.”〔Chesnutt, ''The House Behind the Cedars'' 23.〕 Rena says goodbye to her mother and Frank Fowler, one of their workmen who is a close friend of the family and is deeply in love with Rena. She and her brother make the journey back to South Carolina, and John explains that Rena will take his last name. Upon their arrival to Clarence, John and Rena attend a tournament where men dressed as knights participate in a jousting competition. The Warwicks are seated among the most prominent white guests when Rena drops her handkerchief into the ring and one of the knights catches it and uses it as a token of good luck. The knight, George Tryon, wins the tournament and names Rena his Queen of Love and Beauty. As the winner, Tyron invites Rena to accompany him to the annual tournament ball. As Rena becomes accustomed to a more extravagant lifestyle than what she was accustomed to in her mother’s home, John begins to think about their family secret and how he has taken all precautions to ensure that his social position is not endangered. Tryon, who is already close friends with Warwick as his client, begins to court Rena, despite the fact that his mother is arranging for him to marry Blanche Leary at his home in North Carolina. He claims that Rena has changed his outlook on marriage and he professes his love for her. She agrees to marry him, but becomes hesitant when she remembers her family secret. Rena discusses her fears of the secret being discovered with her brother, who insists that George will love her unconditionally regardless of her ancestry. Nonetheless, Warwick has a conversation with Tryon telling him that they are of a humble background. In response, Tryon says that he does not care about their family history, only of Rena. This causes Rena to believe her secret is best buried in the past. When Warwick and Tryon leave Clarence for Tryon’s legal case, Rena is haunted by three dreams that her mother is sick and dying. She then receives a letter from her mother revealing that she is indeed very ill, so Rena immediately boards a train to Patesville. In Rena’s absence, George returns to Clarence with Warwick and receives a letter from his mother asking him to take care of some business in Patesville and to visit her cousin Dr. Green. Only after he leaves does Warwick find a note from Rena explaining that she has gone to Patesville as well. He fears that they will run into each other while they are there. Tryon arrives in Patesville and visits Dr. Green’s office. While waiting for the doctor to return from seeing a patient, his reverie is interrupted by the voice of a colored woman who entered looking for Dr. Green to attend to her sick mother. Dr. Green takes Tryon to visit Judge Straight, where they talk about the girl and how beautiful she is, mentioning that it is a shame she must live the life of a black woman when she could easily pass for being white. After George leaves, Judge Straight finds Rena’s letter to George saying that she is visiting the sickbed of a friend. Seeing her name signed Rowena Warwick leads him to understand the connections between her, John, their mother, and Dr. Green. Straight believes he is being haunted for committing an immoral act to help a friend long ago. He knows he must prevent Rena and Tryon from seeing each other, so he writes a note to Molly Walden telling her to keep Rena at home. Frank is familiar with Rena’s relationship with Tryon because he had followed her to South Carolina and watched the tournament in which Tryon chose Rena to be his Queen. He sees Tryon in town with Dr. Green and immediately knows that he must keep him from running into Rena. He rushes off before he can read Judge Straight’s letter to Molly, who is illiterate and needs Frank to read to her. Meanwhile, George is having lunch with Dr. Green and his family when the doctor is called to the drugstore. Tryon accompanies and Dr. Green points out the colored girl who had come into his office earlier. Tryon spots Rena and when she sees him, she faints. Tryon, who is devastated by the fact that Rena has deceived him about her identity, is unable to reconcile that she is not white. He cannot allow their relationship to continue and he writes a letter to Warwick stating that he will not marry Rena, but will keep their family secret. In a flashback of John as a child, he visits Judge Straight and declares he wants to become a lawyer. Straight realizes that John Walden is the son of his late friend, for whom he had promised to help provide. He allows John to work as an office boy and read all of his books. The two decide it would be best for John to leave home and become a lawyer somewhere that he could pass for being white. In present time, Rena is grieving over the loss of her love. Warwick comes and tries to convince her to move away with him to start a new life, but Rena does not want to leave her mother again. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The House Behind the Cedars (book)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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