April 05, 2024

The Color Purple (2023): A Musical Exploration

47 minutes

It’s time for Americana for the month of April! We’re kicking things off with the 2023 adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (as well as the stage musical of the same name). We are introduced to the story in 1909 Georgia, following two teenage sisters, Celie and Nettie Harris. Celie has been repeatedly impregnated and abused by their father, who takes away her children. The sisters dream of escaping their traumatic home life.

Nettie is allowed to attend school with hopes she can become a teacher, while Celie is forced to work at their family’s store. An older man named Albert, referred to as “Mister,” takes an interest in marrying Nettie, but their father marries him off to Celie instead, as he considers her the “ugly” sister.

We see the heartbreaking image of Celie following Mister on foot as he rides on a horse to take her to his home. Mister is an alcoholic widower with children he neglects. Celie is expected to be a wife, mother, and maid all at once to Mister and his kids from a very young age.

The Color Purple

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Author:
Alice Walker

Published:
04/04/1982

Genre:
American Literature

Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Number of pages:
300

ISBN:
9780156028356

Show Details

When Nettie shows up after being kicked out by their father for rebuffing his advances, Mister initially allows her to stay and help Celie. However, after Nettie denies Mister’s sexual approaches towards her, he casts her out, severing ties between the sisters, though they vow to write to each other.

A Young Life Stolen

Years pass, and we see Celie still enduring abuse from Mister in 1917. Mister’s son Harpo gets married to the bold, free-spirited Sofia—their dynamic highlights how unusual Sofia’s lack of subservience is for the period. When Harpo comes to Celie asking how to “control” his wife, Celie naively suggests hitting her based on her own experiences with Mister’s abuse, as well as that suffered at the hands of her father.

This leads to Sofia leaving Harpo for a while after she beats him up for attempting to hit her. We see her admirable strength as she explains to Celie that her naïve advice came from jealousy over Sofia’s refusal to be oppressed.

The famous blues singer Shug Avery, who had a previous relationship with Mister, arrives in town to perform at the juke joint Harpo opened after his split from Sofia. Shug strikes up an unexpected friendship with Celie.

We learn Shug does not truly care for Mister beyond a physical relationship, understanding his true misogynistic nature that Celie has been so trag...