Charles W. Chesnutt is the author of The Wife of His Youth; it was published in July 1898.
"The Wife of His Youth" presents a light-skinned mulatto man, a respected member of the “Blue Veins Society” in a Midwestern city. He is preparing to marry another light-skinned mulatto woman when a much darker woman comes to him seeking her husband. The woman has not seen her husband in 25 years. The story has become Chesnutt's most anthologized work.
The story has been presented as an analysis of race relations, not necessarily between black and white but within the black community itself, discovering its own color and class prejudices. The main character longs of belonging to the white society, but ultimately seems to accept being black.
"The Wife of His Youth" tells the story of Mr. Ryder, a bi-racial man who was born and raised free before the Civil War. He heads the "Blue Veins Society", a social organization for colored people in a northern town; the membership consists of people with a high proportion of European ancestry, who look more white than black. The organization's name comes out from the joke to be a member one would have to be so white that veins could be seen through the skin.
Mr. Ryder is desired by the town's women but begins courting a very light mixed-race woman from Washington, DC named Molly Dixon. He plans to propose to her at the next Blue Vein ball, where he is giving a speech. Before the talk, he meets an older, plain-looking black woman. Her name is 'Liza Jane, and she is searching for her husband Sam Taylor. She says she was married to Sam before the Civil War, when she was a slave and he was a hired apprentice to the family of her master. In spite of Taylor's being a free black, the family tried to sell him into slavery. She helped Sam to scape, and he promised to return and free her, but she was sold to a different master. Ryder says that Taylor could have died, may have grown too big for her, or could have remarried. However, she persists in saying that her husband has remained faithful, and refuses to stop looking. Ryder advises her that slave marriages did not count after the war; marriages had to be officially made legal. She shows him an old picture of Sam and leaves.
At the ball Ryder addresses the members and tells them 'Liza Jane's story. At the conclusion, he asks the attendees whether or not they think the man should recognize his wife. Everyone urges yes. He brings out 'Liza and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the woman, and I am the man, whose story I have just told you. Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my youth."
The statements that can be considered as true according to the story are:
B. At the conclusion of the story, Charles Waddell Chesnutt wants readers to see the redeeming qualities in Mr. Ryder.
C. The wife of Mr. Ryder's youth could never be a member of his exclusive society.
