Historical Context
Racism and Racial Intolerance
In 1966, Alice Childress highlighted the restricted freedoms experienced by black Americans. In an essay for Freedomways, Childress observed that immigrants arriving in the United States often enjoyed more freedoms than African Americans: "We know that most alien visitors are guaranteed rights and courtesies not extended to at least one-fifth of American citizens." She contended that Hollywood and the mainstream media had neglected to tell the story of black women. This omission inspired Childress's writing endeavors. During the 1960s, black individuals faced inequality in education and voting rights. Segregation was prevalent in neighborhoods, towns, and cities, and black Americans who wished to marry white Americans had to either pass as white or endure the penalties of laws prohibiting interracial marriages. Childress pointed out that children of mixed-race couples had to be registered as such at birth, making their mere existence a tool to imprison their parents. She reminded her readers that black lives were still governed by a legal system dominated by white society. This was the backdrop against which Childress wrote Wedding Band in the early 1960s.
Though Wedding Band is set in 1918, the issue of interracial marriage remained so contentious in 1966 that producing Childress's play was challenging. The play was not performed in New York until 1973. Even then, the controversial themes of Wedding Band led several ABC affiliates to decline broadcasting the production. In a 1967 issue of Negro Digest, Childress remarked that her play underscored how little had changed for black women between 1918 and 1966. The reluctance of producers to stage Wedding Band and their sensitivity to public opinion, which delayed its New York premiere for seven years, supports Childress's assertion.
Miscegenation Law
Wedding Band was partly inspired by miscegenation laws that prohibited marriage or cohabitation between individuals of different races. Although interracial marriage was illegal in the South, Julia could not have escaped segregation by moving north. Despite the fact that her marriage to Herman would have been legally recognized in the North, societal pressures and racial prejudice would still alienate Julia from the community. In fact, in 1966, laws against interracial marriages were still active and enforced in South Carolina.
Role of Women
Following the conclusion of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, southern states enacted laws stating that black women were solely responsible for their children's upbringing. This legislation aimed to shield slave owners from claims made by black women seeking support for children fathered by white slave owners. As a result, black women were left to raise their children without any aid from either black or white fathers. In the post-war period, women were free to find a black man willing to marry them and take on the responsibility for their children. However, most African American men were unable to provide for a family due to a lack of education and access to well-paying jobs. Segregation laws kept African Americans separate from white society, limiting their access to parks, neighborhoods, education, and even drinking fountains, ensuring their continued subordination. During the first fifty years after the Civil War, numerous laws were enacted that effectively enslaved African Americans with invisible chains of prejudice and hatred. This lack of opportunity, coupled with severe poverty, is starkly portrayed in the opening scene of Wedding Band , where the loss of a quarter is a significant financial blow for Mattie. It is further illustrated when Nelson's marriage proposal is declined because he lacks prospects. Despite risking his life as a soldier, he will return to South Carolina after the war to face the same subservient...
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role that has always defined his life. His mother, Lula, asks Julia to convince Nelson that he will come back to a changed world with opportunities and equality, but both Julia and Nelson know that his future after World War I remains as bleak as before. In essence, he had no future and no opportunities in the American South.
Literary Style
Wedding Band is a play consisting of two acts, featuring prose dialogue and stage directions without any internal monologue. Both acts are divided into multiple scenes. There are no soliloquies, so the actors must convey the characters' thoughts and any off-stage actions. In Wedding Band, the characters speak to each other, not to the audience.
Structure
Wedding Band is organized into two acts. The first act merges the exposition and complication, revealing Julia and Herman's love and the obstacles preventing their marriage. The climax unfolds in the second act when Herman's mother confronts the couple. This act also includes the resolution as Julia and Herman reconcile.
Conflict
The conflict in a play is the central problem that needs resolution, often arising between two characters or between a character and society. Conflict generates tension in the storyline and often propels the plot forward. In Wedding Band, there is a prominent conflict between Julia's affection for Herman and the societal norms that prohibit and punish interracial love. Additionally, there is tension between Herman and his mother, who disapproves of his relationship with Julia. Julia's alienation from her own race further illustrates the conflict between societal expectations and her decision to love a white man.
Empathy
Empathy involves experiencing shared feelings, both emotional and physical, with someone or something outside oneself. Unlike sympathy, which involves feeling for someone, empathy involves understanding their situation. For instance, Mattie and Lula can sympathize with Julia's love for a man who cannot marry or protect her, but they empathize when they reveal they have had similar experiences, despite Julia's involvement in an interracial relationship.
Setting
The setting of a play includes the time, place, and culture where the action occurs. Elements of the setting can include geographic location, physical or mental environments, cultural attitudes, and the historical period of the action. Wedding Band is set in South Carolina in 1918. The events take place over three days near the end of World War I. The women characters live in poverty, as illustrated by the conditions of their homes.
Compare and Contrast
1918: Private Alvin York spearheads an assault on a German machine gun position, resulting in the deaths of 25 enemy soldiers. He captures 132 prisoners and seizes 35 machine guns, leading to his promotion to sergeant and receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Despite being a conscientious objector, York was drafted into service.
1966: Cities worldwide participate in International Days of Protest, condemning U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Today: More than two decades after the Vietnam War ended, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. has become the city's most visited tourist site.
1918: The House of Representatives passes a resolution for a U.S. Women's Suffrage Amendment to the Constitution, but the Senate rejects it for the third time.
1966: Governor Wallace enacts legislation preventing Alabama's public schools from adhering to the Office of Education's desegregation guidelines.
Today: Oprah Winfrey, a prominent African American television host and actress, ranks among the highest-paid performers and wealthiest women in the U.S. She exemplifies the success many African Americans have achieved, despite the ongoing issue of racism in American society.
1918: Approximately 25% of Americans contract the Spanish Influenza, with 500,000 deaths, including 19,000 in New York. Baltimore and Washington run out of coffins.
1966: Poor health care and nutrition among low-income expectant
mothers contribute to an infant mortality rate in the U.S. that surpasses that
of Britain and Sweden.
Today: Access to health care remains a significant challenge for the nation's
poor, who often lack health insurance. New welfare reform laws have further
restricted the poor's ability to access medical care, leading the U.S. to
maintain the highest infant mortality rate among first-world countries.
1918: Al Jolson performs "My Mammy" at the Winter Garden Theatre during the opening of the production of Sinbad.
1966: The television series Star Trek premieres on NBC, featuring a diverse cast including Nichelle Nichols as a black female communications officer, providing young black women with one of the few positive television role models.
Today: The film Rosewood hits theaters, depicting a story of racial tension and the destruction of a small town in post-World War I Florida.
Media Adaptations
The American Broadcasting Company adapted Wedding Band for television in 1973. Childress was responsible for writing the screenplay for this ABC production.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Further Reading
Bloom, Harold, editor. Modern Black American Poets and Dramatists,
Chelsea House, 1995, pp. 51-63. This collection includes selected critical
analyses and reviews of Childress's contributions.
Brown-Guillory, Elizabeth. "Black Women Playwrights-Exorcising Myths" in Phylon, Vol. 48, no. 3, Fall 1987, pp. 229-39. This article offers a critical comparison of the works of Alice Childress, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ntozake Shange, highlighting the impact of these three black female playwrights.
Sources
Austin, Gayle. "Black Woman Playwright as Feminist Critic" in Southern
Quarterly, Vol. 25, no. 3, Spring 1987, pp. 53-62.
Childress, Alice. "The Negro Woman in Literature" in Freedomways, Vol. 6, no. 1, Winter 1966, pp. 14-19.
Curb, Rosemary. "An Unfashionable Tragedy of American Racism: Alice Childress's Wedding Band" in Melus, Vol. 7, no. 4, 1980, pp. 57-68.
Holliday, Polly. "I Remember Alice Childress" in Southern Quarterly, Vol. 25, no. 3, Spring 1987, pp. 63-65.
Jordan, Shirley, editor. Broken Silences: Interviews with Black and Women Writers, Rutgers University Press, 1993, pp. 28-37.
Wiley, Catherine. "Whose Name, Whose Protection: Reading Alice Childress's Wedding Band" in Modern American Drama: The Female Canon, edited by June Schlueter, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990, pp. 184-97.
