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ALICE WALKER BIOGRAPHY
CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS
Alice Walker was born on 9th February 1944 in segregated Eatonton, Georgia, USA, the last of eight children and daughter of a share-cropper. After losing an eye in an accident at the age of eight, she immersed herself in her studies and took full advantage of educational opportunities, although she and her mother had to fight for her to stay in school. In 1964 she left Georgia having won a scholarship; first to Spelman, a leading Black college, then to Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She became a political activist and returned to the southern states in the late 1960s to campaign for civil rights, as well as teaching and writing poetry and short stories. In 1968 she married Melvyn Leventhal, a human rights lawyer, and they had a daughter, Rebecca. It was the first interracial marriage in Mississippi but the couple divorced in the early 1970s. Her first novel, published in 1970, was The Third Life of Grange Copeland. In 1982, Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple was published. Walker published several more novels, as well as a sequel to The Color Purple called Possessing the Secret of Joy. Walker has also published several short story collections and poetry and released new novels as recently as 2013. Walker’s writing focusses heavily on themes of sexism and racism and specifically on the lives of Black women in America. In her own words: “I would like to call myself revolutionary, for I am always changing and growing, it is hoped for the good of more black people... the truest and most enduring impulse I have is simply to write... Our people are waiting.”
Trigger warnings: This section touches on themes such as sexual abuse, physical assault and racial violence. Protagonist or ensemble, each character in The Color Purple is vital in the retelling of its story. In this section, we’ll be breaking down characters’ arcs and hearing from the actors who illuminate the personality, motivations, and obstacles of each character.
CHARACTERS IN THE MUSICAL CELIE NETTIE PA MISTER HARPO SOFIA SHUG AVERY CHURCH LADIES ENSEMBLE
A woman from Georgia whose story begins when she is fourteen years old Celie’s younger sister Celie and Nettie’s father A local farm owner who becomes Celie’s husband Mister’s son from his first marriage Harpo’s wife Mister’s long-time love, a singer who lives in Memphis Jarene, Doris, Darlene The Preacher, the Field Hands, the Church Soloist, Adam, Olivia, Squeak and Grady, Ol’ Mister and others in the community
Photograph: Manuel Harlan
