51 pages • 1 hour read
Djanet SearsHarlem Duet
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Act I, Prologue
Act I, Scene 1
Act I, Scene 2
Act I, Scene 3
Act I, Scene 4
Act I, Scene 5
Act I, Scene 6
Act I, Scene 7
Act I, Scene 8
Act I, Scene 9
Act I, Scene 10
Act II, Scene 1
Act II, Scene 2
Act II, Scene 3
Act II, Scene 4
Act II, Scene 5
Act II, Scene 6
Act II, Scene 7
Act II, Scene 8
Act II, Scene 9
Act II, Scene 10
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Act II, Scene 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Act II, Scene 3 Summary
In Harlem 1862, delta blues play under a male voice reciting the Emancipation Proclamation. Her is holding Him in a pose reminiscent of Michelangelo’s The Pieta. Him’s body is lifeless, and there is a rope around his neck. As Her caresses his form, she tells a tale of a man who wanted to find a magic spell to be white. A psychic advised him that the only way to become white is to enter the Whiteness. Her then makes a cloaked reference to Him’s relationship with Miss Dessy, saying that after the man found his “ice queen, his alabaster goddess” (91), he made love to her and died. At that moment, he became “Her and her whiteness” (91).
Act II, Scene 3 Analysis
Him has been lynched, likely for his relationship with Miss Dessy. As Her holds his body, she tells the story of the man who wished for Whiteness to underline how dangerous racial assimilation can be, not to mention the betrayal of one’s lover.
