In the novella, The Half-Caste by Dinah Craik, Zillah has the lowest level of status among all the characters. She is looked down upon by everyone in the Le Poer household, including her younger female cousins and her own governess, who, before getting to really know Zillah, noted, “There was something quite demonic in her black eyes at times. She was lazy, too-- full of languor of her native clime” (19). Although it is never outright said, it is easy to guess why she was treated as a second class citizen in her home: she was a half-caste. Even if she were the opposite of all that they criticized her for, she would still be seen as inferior due to her racially impure blood, something that was of utmost importance to English society during the…show more content… One way this correlation can be seen is through language used by Craik. In the beginning of the novella, Zillah is considered by Cassandra as being the “pitiable cinderella” (21) of the Le Poers due to all the tasks she is required to carry out that is normally expected to be done by the housemaid. Despite her receiving an equal education to her cousins and being of importance to Mr. Le Poer, she is still expected to do these tasks because of her race and her implicit ties to colonialism. Although Cassandra is the one to recognize the subservient role the Le Poers have put Zillah in, she herself is also consistently in a subservient role due to her gender. Cassandra constantly strives for marriage (an oppressive institution due to her description of Mr. Le Poer being Mrs. Le Poer’s “lord and master” (17)), and because she never achieves it, she must constantly rely on others for her well being as can be seen by her ending where she lives with Zillah and Zillah’s family. Craik draws these parallels between the patriarchy and colonialism to prove a point behind the philosophy of colonialism: the conquerors often justify colonialism because they believe that the people they are colonizing need their help due to their inferiority as a race; however, by showing that women of the “purer”…show more content… When Zillah tries to justify the marriage to Cassandra, her idyllic perception of marriage is brought forth again and again to justify the hasty relationship: “[Augustus] promised always to be kind to me, and to never let me work [...] Oh, do let me marry my cousin!” (49). If marriage were not considered the “be-all and end-all” for women, Zillah may not have been as willing to believe the fraudulent ruse Augustus put up. However, in Victorian society, marriage defined a woman, as can be seen by the evaluation of Cassandra throughout the novella. Every first encounter the reader saw of Cassandra with another male character, their appraisal of her was noted- which is significant considering she is the narrator and chose to include this. For example, when she first meets Mr. Le Poer she says, “He seemed viewing over my feminine attractions as a horse-dealer does the points of a new bargain. But soon the interest died away. I knew he considered me as all others did- a very plain and shy young woman [...] but nothing more” (15). This happens again with Mr. Sutherland when he and Cassandra are reunited in person for the first time since her childhood and also with Augustus. Augustus is guessed to be the same age as Cassandra, and even he only sees her as an “ancient duenna” (32), because she is of a certain age and not
