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Porgy
The fictional characters of Porgy, Bess, Black Maria, Sportin' Life, and the other Gullah denizens of Catfish Row have attained a mythic status and have become inextricably identified with Charleston. This novel is the story of Porgy, a crippled street-beggar in the black tenement. Unwashed and un-wanted, he lives just on the edge of subsistence and trusts his fate to the gods and chance. His one shining moment is his pursuit of Bess, whom he wins and then loses during one summer of passion and violence.
This story by DuBose Heyward is, of course, the origin of George Gershwin's acclaimed folk opera Porgy and Bess. Heyward created Porgy with such sympathy, honesty, and insight that Porgy has ascended into the pantheon of the universal.
This Banner Books edition includes an afterword by James M. Hutchisson, Heyward's biographer, who places Porgy in its social and historical context and shows how the novel revolutionized American literature. Heyward had no literary training, and he wrote Porgy while working as an insurance agent. It is ironic that this deeply feeling author was a member of the Charleston aristocracy which regarded African Americans as little more than servants. Indeed, the tightly knit black community is celebrated in the novel and is contrasted with Charleston's white culture, which in Heyward's view lacked the vitality and rich social ethos of the Gullahs.
In 1927, even before Gershwin transformed the novel with a musical score, the book was successfully dramatized for the New York stage. The production revolutionized the black theater movement with its casting of black actors.
Porgy, published in 1925, proved to be on the leading edge of the great southern renaissance, in which works by William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and others would depict black characters of increasing emotional and psychological complexity. The novel has gone through seven editions and has been translated into French, Gullah, and German, among other languages and dialects.
DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) published Porgy to tremendous critical acclaim and financial success. He wrote poetry, short fiction, plays, and screenplays. James M. Hutchisson is a professor of English at The Citadel in Charleston.
This story by DuBose Heyward is, of course, the origin of George Gershwin's acclaimed folk opera Porgy and Bess. Heyward created Porgy with such sympathy, honesty, and insight that Porgy has ascended into the pantheon of the universal.
This Banner Books edition includes an afterword by James M. Hutchisson, Heyward's biographer, who places Porgy in its social and historical context and shows how the novel revolutionized American literature. Heyward had no literary training, and he wrote Porgy while working as an insurance agent. It is ironic that this deeply feeling author was a member of the Charleston aristocracy which regarded African Americans as little more than servants. Indeed, the tightly knit black community is celebrated in the novel and is contrasted with Charleston's white culture, which in Heyward's view lacked the vitality and rich social ethos of the Gullahs.
In 1927, even before Gershwin transformed the novel with a musical score, the book was successfully dramatized for the New York stage. The production revolutionized the black theater movement with its casting of black actors.
Porgy, published in 1925, proved to be on the leading edge of the great southern renaissance, in which works by William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and others would depict black characters of increasing emotional and psychological complexity. The novel has gone through seven editions and has been translated into French, Gullah, and German, among other languages and dialects.
DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) published Porgy to tremendous critical acclaim and financial success. He wrote poetry, short fiction, plays, and screenplays. James M. Hutchisson is a professor of English at The Citadel in Charleston.
166 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1925
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701 people want to read
About the author
DuBose Heyward
70 books22 followersDramatization in 1927 of
Porgy
(1925), novel of American writer Edwin DuBose Heyward based
Porgy and Bess
, folk opera of George Gershwin.
This best known work of this white author based the namesake play, which he co-authored with his wife Dorothy Heyward, and in turn this music.
Thomas Heyward, Jr., his ancestor, signed Declaration of Independence of the United States and served as a representative of South Carolina. As a child and young man, frequently ill Heyward also caught polio at eighteen years of age, then contracted typhoid fever at twenty years of age, and fell ill with pleurisy in the following year. He described as "a miserable student," uninterested in learning and dropped high school in his first year at fourteen years of age despite a lifelong and serious interest in literature; writing verses and stories, he passed the time in his sickbed.
In 1913, Heyward wrote a one-act play, An Artistic Triumph , produced in a local theater. This minor success on derivative work reportedly showed little promise but encouraged him to pursue a literary career. In 1917, he, convalescing from his illnesses, began to devote seriously to fiction and poetry. In 1918, his first published short story, "The Brute," appeared in Pagan, a Magazine for Eudaemonists. In the next year, he met Hervey Allen, then teaching at the nearby Porter military academy. They became close friends and formed the Poetry Society of South Carolina, which helped spark a revival of southern literature; Heyward edited the society's yearbooks until 1924 and contributed much of their content. His poetry was well received, earning him a Contemporary Verse award in 1921. In 1922 he and Allen jointly published a collection, Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country and they jointly edited a southern issue of Poetry magazine. During this period Heyward and a friend, Henry T. O'Neill, had operated a successful insurance and real estate company and by 1924 Heyward had achieved a measure of financial independence, allowing him to give up business and devote himself full time to literature. Between stints of writing he supplemented his income by lecturing on southern literature at colleges.[3]
The poet and playwright Langston Hughes said Heyward was one who saw "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive."[4] Biographer James M. Hutchisson characterizes Porgy as "the first major southern novel to portray blacks without condescension" and states that the libretto to Porgy and Bess was largely Heyward's work.[citation needed] Many critics have believed that Heyward was sympathetic in his portrayal of the Southern black. Others, however, have noted that the characters in Porgy, though viewed sympathetically, are still viewed for the most part as stereotypes.[citation needed]
Heyward and his wife Dorothy, whom he met at the MacDowell Colony in 1922, spent many years in Charleston, where he taught at the Porter Military Academy, while observing and thinking deeply about the lives of blacks of that area. His mother participated in an amateur Southern singing society performing Gullah songs, and he sometimes joined her. It was open to anyone whose family had lived on a plantation, whether as owner or slave.[citation needed] In Charleston, Heyward found inspiration for his book, including what would become the setting (Catfish Row) and the main character (a disabled man named Porgy). Literary critics cast Heyward as an authority on Southern literature, later writing, "Heyward's attention to detail and reality of the Southern black's lifestyle was not only sympathetic but something that no one had ever seen done before."[citation needed]
Opening on Broadway in 1927, the non-musical play "Porgy" was a considerable success, more so than the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess e
This best known work of this white author based the namesake play, which he co-authored with his wife Dorothy Heyward, and in turn this music.
Thomas Heyward, Jr., his ancestor, signed Declaration of Independence of the United States and served as a representative of South Carolina. As a child and young man, frequently ill Heyward also caught polio at eighteen years of age, then contracted typhoid fever at twenty years of age, and fell ill with pleurisy in the following year. He described as "a miserable student," uninterested in learning and dropped high school in his first year at fourteen years of age despite a lifelong and serious interest in literature; writing verses and stories, he passed the time in his sickbed.
In 1913, Heyward wrote a one-act play, An Artistic Triumph , produced in a local theater. This minor success on derivative work reportedly showed little promise but encouraged him to pursue a literary career. In 1917, he, convalescing from his illnesses, began to devote seriously to fiction and poetry. In 1918, his first published short story, "The Brute," appeared in Pagan, a Magazine for Eudaemonists. In the next year, he met Hervey Allen, then teaching at the nearby Porter military academy. They became close friends and formed the Poetry Society of South Carolina, which helped spark a revival of southern literature; Heyward edited the society's yearbooks until 1924 and contributed much of their content. His poetry was well received, earning him a Contemporary Verse award in 1921. In 1922 he and Allen jointly published a collection, Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country and they jointly edited a southern issue of Poetry magazine. During this period Heyward and a friend, Henry T. O'Neill, had operated a successful insurance and real estate company and by 1924 Heyward had achieved a measure of financial independence, allowing him to give up business and devote himself full time to literature. Between stints of writing he supplemented his income by lecturing on southern literature at colleges.[3]
The poet and playwright Langston Hughes said Heyward was one who saw "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive."[4] Biographer James M. Hutchisson characterizes Porgy as "the first major southern novel to portray blacks without condescension" and states that the libretto to Porgy and Bess was largely Heyward's work.[citation needed] Many critics have believed that Heyward was sympathetic in his portrayal of the Southern black. Others, however, have noted that the characters in Porgy, though viewed sympathetically, are still viewed for the most part as stereotypes.[citation needed]
Heyward and his wife Dorothy, whom he met at the MacDowell Colony in 1922, spent many years in Charleston, where he taught at the Porter Military Academy, while observing and thinking deeply about the lives of blacks of that area. His mother participated in an amateur Southern singing society performing Gullah songs, and he sometimes joined her. It was open to anyone whose family had lived on a plantation, whether as owner or slave.[citation needed] In Charleston, Heyward found inspiration for his book, including what would become the setting (Catfish Row) and the main character (a disabled man named Porgy). Literary critics cast Heyward as an authority on Southern literature, later writing, "Heyward's attention to detail and reality of the Southern black's lifestyle was not only sympathetic but something that no one had ever seen done before."[citation needed]
Opening on Broadway in 1927, the non-musical play "Porgy" was a considerable success, more so than the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess e
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January 24, 2020
Published in 1925, Porgy is the novel on which the play Porgy and notable Gershwin folk opera Porgy and Bess is based. Porgy is disabled and begs on the streets in Charleston, South Carolina. He meets drug-addicted Bess, who is involved with a violent man. He becomes a positive influence in her life. They live in Catfish Row, a black waterfront tenement, and are harassed regularly by the authorities. There are several instances of unjust incarceration, attempts at manipulation, and assumption of guilt for crimes not committed.
This story is a moving, empathetic portrayal of poor urban blacks in the American South in the 1920's, an uncommon storyline for its time. The primary characters are fully fleshed out, with hopes and dreams, strengths and flaws. It contains one of the most dramatic and realistic scenes of riding out the storm surge of a hurricane that I have ever read. The story is well-framed, and the writing is beautifully poetic.
“But Porgy best loved the late afternoons, when the street was quiet again, and the sunlight, deep with colour, shot level over the low roof of the apothecary shop to paint the cream stucco on the opposite dwelling a ruddy gold and turn the old rain-washed tiles on the roof to burnished copper. Then the slender, white-clad lady who lived in the house would throw open the deep French windows of the second story drawing room, and sitting at the piano, where Porgy could see her dimly, she would play on through the dusk until old Peter drove by with his wagon to carry him home.”
The only difficulty, at least initially, is the dialogue, which is written in dialect. I thought it was supposed to be southern, but it didn’t seem to fit, so I looked it up and it is Gullah, a creole language that evolved during the slavery years on the Sea Islands, located off the coast of the southeastern U.S. As the novel progressed, I figured out the syntax and it flowed much better.
This book is a full of sensory details, providing a vivid sense of the Gullah culture and community. It is slim, but powerful. I found it poignant and expressive, fully deserving of a place on my list of modern classics.
This story is a moving, empathetic portrayal of poor urban blacks in the American South in the 1920's, an uncommon storyline for its time. The primary characters are fully fleshed out, with hopes and dreams, strengths and flaws. It contains one of the most dramatic and realistic scenes of riding out the storm surge of a hurricane that I have ever read. The story is well-framed, and the writing is beautifully poetic.
“But Porgy best loved the late afternoons, when the street was quiet again, and the sunlight, deep with colour, shot level over the low roof of the apothecary shop to paint the cream stucco on the opposite dwelling a ruddy gold and turn the old rain-washed tiles on the roof to burnished copper. Then the slender, white-clad lady who lived in the house would throw open the deep French windows of the second story drawing room, and sitting at the piano, where Porgy could see her dimly, she would play on through the dusk until old Peter drove by with his wagon to carry him home.”
The only difficulty, at least initially, is the dialogue, which is written in dialect. I thought it was supposed to be southern, but it didn’t seem to fit, so I looked it up and it is Gullah, a creole language that evolved during the slavery years on the Sea Islands, located off the coast of the southeastern U.S. As the novel progressed, I figured out the syntax and it flowed much better.
This book is a full of sensory details, providing a vivid sense of the Gullah culture and community. It is slim, but powerful. I found it poignant and expressive, fully deserving of a place on my list of modern classics.
February 10, 2016
Porgy has been sitting on my shelf since the legendary Frogtown Books closed and sold out their collection. In anticipation of this Friday's performance of Gershwin's opera by Toledo Opera, I knew it was time to take it down and read it. What a beautiful book. All the characters I knew from various arias from the opera are there in the flesh, artfully described by Heyward. The descriptions of his beloved Charleston are rich and evocative, heavy with humidity, sea breezes and salt air, fish markets and cobbled streets. The Gullah people of Catfish Row come alive through Heyward's depictions and painstaking use of dialect. This is a powerful story well told.
July 16, 2023
Porgy. Without Bess?
I had no idea Porgy existed apart from Bess and that a book called Porgy preceded the Gershwin musical Porgy & Bess. But there you go. I had heard Nina Simone singing songs from "Porgy & Bess" and when I dug deeper, and found the book, and discovered it was set in Charleston SC, I had to read it -- once upon a time I had been stranded for a week in Charleston and had fallen madly in love with it. Porgy brought me back to Charleston.
"Porgy" the book has become opera upon opera upon opera about Porgy & Bess. Set in Charleston, South Carolina it is of the "poor neighborhood" genre: Dickens' poor London, or Elena Ferrante's poor Naples, or The Wire's poor black Baltimore. Neighborhood character at the core of "Porgy" have their day to day lives complicated by white outsiders, a murder, jailings, and big storms.
Porgy is a beggar, so crippled he has to be carried to where he begs in downtown Charleston, trundled there by his friend Peter, a meek man who is used and abused by others. Porgy lives in a complex called Catfish Row and when he is not begging he is a pretty sociable guy around the neighborhood. At the core is a love story that develops between Porgy and Bess, a Mary Magdalene figure.
Porgy himself reminded me of a real person, who sat in front of the IGA grocery on Queen Street in The Beach in Toronto in the early 2000's. He had a worn baseball hat, thick eyeglasses, and a grizzled gray scruff of beard. He sat on his two bum legs, cajoled and complimented passers-by especially ladies into buying his pencils and pens. Without romanticizing his or Porgy's situation, I always admired the dignity and humor with which he lived.
I liked "Porgy" the book much better than movie adaptations. Absolutely worth the time.
I had no idea Porgy existed apart from Bess and that a book called Porgy preceded the Gershwin musical Porgy & Bess. But there you go. I had heard Nina Simone singing songs from "Porgy & Bess" and when I dug deeper, and found the book, and discovered it was set in Charleston SC, I had to read it -- once upon a time I had been stranded for a week in Charleston and had fallen madly in love with it. Porgy brought me back to Charleston.
"Porgy" the book has become opera upon opera upon opera about Porgy & Bess. Set in Charleston, South Carolina it is of the "poor neighborhood" genre: Dickens' poor London, or Elena Ferrante's poor Naples, or The Wire's poor black Baltimore. Neighborhood character at the core of "Porgy" have their day to day lives complicated by white outsiders, a murder, jailings, and big storms.
Porgy is a beggar, so crippled he has to be carried to where he begs in downtown Charleston, trundled there by his friend Peter, a meek man who is used and abused by others. Porgy lives in a complex called Catfish Row and when he is not begging he is a pretty sociable guy around the neighborhood. At the core is a love story that develops between Porgy and Bess, a Mary Magdalene figure.
Porgy himself reminded me of a real person, who sat in front of the IGA grocery on Queen Street in The Beach in Toronto in the early 2000's. He had a worn baseball hat, thick eyeglasses, and a grizzled gray scruff of beard. He sat on his two bum legs, cajoled and complimented passers-by especially ladies into buying his pencils and pens. Without romanticizing his or Porgy's situation, I always admired the dignity and humor with which he lived.
I liked "Porgy" the book much better than movie adaptations. Absolutely worth the time.
January 8, 2020
I may be reading with hindsight, but it feels like a beautiful, tragic American opera right on the page, as DuBose Heyward wrote it. I loved the humane characterizations, the well drawn atmosphere of Catfish Row, as real a place as exists in American literature. The dialect is anything but mean-spirited and conveys wisdom as well as malevolence. That Bess is a bad woman and she knows it. Weak is more like it! Porgy is a cripple. It dooms him. She made him a murderer, and for what? But then how can you expect her to live with a murderer? All doomed and human and weak and part of the pageant, the "Repent Ye Saith the Lord" parade. As am I and Gershwin and everyone else.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2020
On the one hand, there is some strong writing in this novel, but on the other hand I am not a fan of writing in dialect to the point where I have to slow right down and try and translate what is being said--this alone made me take away one entire star.
This is the novel that the opera Porgy and Bess is based on. It was important in fiction because apparently it is the first published novel where African Americans are not portrayed as stereotypes. IN this review, I am not going to discuss about how a white author hadn't lived the experience of being black, because that is obvious. However, where I do think he has an understanding of Porgy is in physical disabilities. I don't think he was permanently disabled by the polio he had, but he spent a fair bit of his youth ill--polio, later typhoid fever and finally pleurisy. He died of a heart attack at 54, but I don't know if that was as a result of long term heart damage from the typhoid fever or not.
What I liked was how DuBose showed a solidarity among the black residents of this building and how they had their own justice; this I find believable. In addition, he shows the tragedy of substance abuse (Bess) and a number of things that are common human problems (the drug pusher, the abusive boyfriend, etc). I thought there was depth to Porgy as well.
But of course, what I really like is the opera Gershwin wrote. It was one of the first major classical operas to feature mostly black opera singers, and over the years singers such as Leontyne Price and the current South African soprano Golda Schultz have performed this around the world. While I don't care for some of the more popular versions such as Fantasia's, I have to say that I love how Ella Fitzgerald sang Summertime and it is one of my all time favourite renditions of it, but then she wasn't dubbed the first lady of song for nothing! I spent nearly as much time listening to songs from the musical and then learning about Golda Schutlz as I did reading the book.
This is the novel that the opera Porgy and Bess is based on. It was important in fiction because apparently it is the first published novel where African Americans are not portrayed as stereotypes. IN this review, I am not going to discuss about how a white author hadn't lived the experience of being black, because that is obvious. However, where I do think he has an understanding of Porgy is in physical disabilities. I don't think he was permanently disabled by the polio he had, but he spent a fair bit of his youth ill--polio, later typhoid fever and finally pleurisy. He died of a heart attack at 54, but I don't know if that was as a result of long term heart damage from the typhoid fever or not.
What I liked was how DuBose showed a solidarity among the black residents of this building and how they had their own justice; this I find believable. In addition, he shows the tragedy of substance abuse (Bess) and a number of things that are common human problems (the drug pusher, the abusive boyfriend, etc). I thought there was depth to Porgy as well.
But of course, what I really like is the opera Gershwin wrote. It was one of the first major classical operas to feature mostly black opera singers, and over the years singers such as Leontyne Price and the current South African soprano Golda Schultz have performed this around the world. While I don't care for some of the more popular versions such as Fantasia's, I have to say that I love how Ella Fitzgerald sang Summertime and it is one of my all time favourite renditions of it, but then she wasn't dubbed the first lady of song for nothing! I spent nearly as much time listening to songs from the musical and then learning about Golda Schutlz as I did reading the book.
December 15, 2018
This is the book upon which first a play and then the opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin was based. Written in 1925, the novel makes use of Gullah, a creole dialect developed by slaves in the Sea Islands off the shores of Carolina and Georgia. It tells the story of Porgy a crippled beggar in Charleston and his lover Bess. Heyward created some unforgettable characters with Crown, Bess's violent past lover, Sportin' Life, a drug dealer who leads Bess astray, and Maria, the fierce owner of the local cafe where they all hang out in Catfish Row. These and a cast of many other unique characters form the main cast that gives this book its amazing life and colorful feel.
Heyward came in for a lot of criticism from the black community in his own time and for many years later when the book was published and when the play was produced. Many blacks resented the picture of blacks as violent and common people who gambled and took drugs, feeling these represented stereotypical views of Negroes held at the time. Not even the wonderful score of Gershwin's music and the all-black cast in most productions could change minds. By the '70s however, times had changed enough for people to begin to appreciate the nuances of this book and the small slice of black life it presented. The rich sense of community and life-giving support it shows the people of Catfish Row providing each other more than makes up for the seamier aspects.
Heyward came in for a lot of criticism from the black community in his own time and for many years later when the book was published and when the play was produced. Many blacks resented the picture of blacks as violent and common people who gambled and took drugs, feeling these represented stereotypical views of Negroes held at the time. Not even the wonderful score of Gershwin's music and the all-black cast in most productions could change minds. By the '70s however, times had changed enough for people to begin to appreciate the nuances of this book and the small slice of black life it presented. The rich sense of community and life-giving support it shows the people of Catfish Row providing each other more than makes up for the seamier aspects.
January 28, 2020
I came across this novel writing a paper on "Porgy and Bess", the opera based on it. Since I'd never heard it mentioned when I studied American literature, I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. The novel is gripping, the writing is very poetic and effective when it comes to describing the most dramatic, and the characters are well-rounded and human. Heyward truly deserves more credit than he's been given as a writer, especially for a very honest portrayal of the black community in Charleston, with its wonderful capacity for compassion, and its bonds of self-protection, as well as destructive features such as violence and gambling. His attempt to reproduce BEV is also praise-worthy.
August 7, 2023
Crippled and legally blind, Porgy is a wonderful hero. He maintains his dignity throughout the novel and ultimately acts with true heroism. The perpetually controversy of course is whether white people have the right to write about Black society. In general I think that they do. In the case of "Porgy", I think that its critics ought to admit that it illustrates with brutal honestly how segregation made life a living hell for Afro-Americans.
A major flaw with Porgy is that Heyward has his characters speak in a bizarre patois that presumably resembles the spoken language that he heard in his native Charleston. In the Gershwin opera, the characters speak standard English for the most part and the effect is much better.
A major flaw with Porgy is that Heyward has his characters speak in a bizarre patois that presumably resembles the spoken language that he heard in his native Charleston. In the Gershwin opera, the characters speak standard English for the most part and the effect is much better.
June 10, 2025
Most 20th-century novels about working-class neighborhoods rely on indulgent and voyeuristic descriptions of poverty.
Despite being written by a white author, Porgy's depiction of an African American slum in Charleston pushes against that trend. The novel represents addiction, physical disability, and the abusive power of the police state with a shockingly modern perspective.
The final act centres on a hurricane that sweeps through Charleston, forcing many of the characters to rebuild their shacks and lives from scratch. A powerful call for a social safety net, Porgy is a lament that many people live at the mercy of cruel, amoral forces.
Despite being written by a white author, Porgy's depiction of an African American slum in Charleston pushes against that trend. The novel represents addiction, physical disability, and the abusive power of the police state with a shockingly modern perspective.
The final act centres on a hurricane that sweeps through Charleston, forcing many of the characters to rebuild their shacks and lives from scratch. A powerful call for a social safety net, Porgy is a lament that many people live at the mercy of cruel, amoral forces.
Want to read
January 10, 2026Unannotated Book in F. Scott Fitzgerald's College of One
January 4, 2023
Published in 1925, this beautifully crafted story left me with so many feelings and questions. The writing style intertwines a breathtaking poetic writing style with difficult to read dialect. While at first the two styles seem contrary, ultimately it seems an intent by the author to somehow mirror the beauty and tragedy of the setting and social environment of the time in Old Charleston.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2018
"— Os homens e as mulheres não são iguais — comentou Porgy. — Há um mês viviam elas com os seus maridos. O temporal levou-os. Pois já se esqueceram deles e entregam-se aos que vêm depois.
— Não, a verdade não é essa — replicou Bess — e nunca hás-de compreender. Elas têm filhos a sustentar. São mulheres, e para mais negras. Fazem o que podem, e é tudo."
(página 93)
— Não, a verdade não é essa — replicou Bess — e nunca hás-de compreender. Elas têm filhos a sustentar. São mulheres, e para mais negras. Fazem o que podem, e é tudo."
(página 93)
December 19, 2024
I read the edition of this book that included etchings by Elizabeth O'Neill Verner. Verner did architectural drawings of Charleston, South Carolina, and these added a wonderful sense of the time period and location. Apparently, both she and Heyward worked in various ways to preserve knowledge about the time period in which they were living, knowing that change was imminent. (The book was published in 1925 and this was written about that period of time and about the Gullah people from West and Central Africa who had been slaves or descended from slaves). It was Heyward who, together with his wife, turned the novel into a play, which he then collaborated on with Gershwin to turn into the opera Porgy and Bess.
I'm not a fan of trying to capture dialect, especially dialect that the author does not use. It was said that Langston Hughes described Heyward as, with "his white eyes," capturing the wonderful poetry of the Gullah people. But given concerns about the stereotyping (almost all the Black characters talk with the same dialect, for example) I wonder if he meant it was not despite his whiteness that he captured it, but he did so with the white perspective still intact in many ways.
His character did vary: we have scoundrels, and those battling drug addiction, but also hard-working, value-driven, individuals who celebrate community and protection of each other. The whites are seen as typically power-driven capitalists who take advantage of the Blacks' lower status, with the occasional sympathizer who nonetheless can't really buck the still extremely unequal system.
It did make me think of a different question which is how relevant operas are that were once lauded but now represent racist and sexist stereotypes (including this opera, but others as well). The argument that we can still appreciate the universal emotions is harder when they are based on stereotypic and damaging assumptions and situations. The remake of this opera, and others, however, is also controversial.
What I appreciated learning about in this novel were the origins for the opera and the sense of the time and place that this evoked. It has helped spark an interest in the Gullah people and a desire to see what other historical information can fill gap or correct misunderstandings provided by Porgy.
I'm not a fan of trying to capture dialect, especially dialect that the author does not use. It was said that Langston Hughes described Heyward as, with "his white eyes," capturing the wonderful poetry of the Gullah people. But given concerns about the stereotyping (almost all the Black characters talk with the same dialect, for example) I wonder if he meant it was not despite his whiteness that he captured it, but he did so with the white perspective still intact in many ways.
His character did vary: we have scoundrels, and those battling drug addiction, but also hard-working, value-driven, individuals who celebrate community and protection of each other. The whites are seen as typically power-driven capitalists who take advantage of the Blacks' lower status, with the occasional sympathizer who nonetheless can't really buck the still extremely unequal system.
It did make me think of a different question which is how relevant operas are that were once lauded but now represent racist and sexist stereotypes (including this opera, but others as well). The argument that we can still appreciate the universal emotions is harder when they are based on stereotypic and damaging assumptions and situations. The remake of this opera, and others, however, is also controversial.
What I appreciated learning about in this novel were the origins for the opera and the sense of the time and place that this evoked. It has helped spark an interest in the Gullah people and a desire to see what other historical information can fill gap or correct misunderstandings provided by Porgy.
Read
May 20, 2010The novel on which Gershwin based his opera, "Porgy and Bess." Heyward collaborated with Gershwin and wrote much of the libretto.
From the Afterword, by Heyward's biographer, James M. Hutchinsson:
"The story of the crippled beggar Porgy and his lost Bess, in this, its original form, was a landmark in southern literature when it was published in 1925 and is today a cultural document.... The novel opens a window on a unique time, place, and culture: early twentieth-century Charleston - specifically, that quarter occupied by the Gullahs, a black community peculiar to the coastal south..." pg. 159
When Porgy begged, he "sat silent, rapt. There was something Eastern and mystic about the intense introspection of his look. He never smiled, and he acknowledged gifts only by a slow lifting of the eyes that had odd shadows in them. He was black with the almost purple blackness of unadulterated Congo blood. His hands were very large and muscular, and, even when flexed idly in his lap, seemed shockingly formidable in contrast with his frail body. Unless one were unusually preoccupied at the moment of dropping a coin in his cup, he carried away in return a very definite, yet somewhat disquieting, impression: a sense of infinite patience, and beneath it the vibration of unrealized, but terrific, energy..... [Porgy:] was waiting, waiting with the concentrating intensity of a burning-glass." (pp. 17-18)
Worldly, strong-willed Maria, keeper of the community's moral compass, describes alpha male Crown, the stevedore:
"'Dem sort ob mens ain't need tuh worry 'bout habin' 'omen.... Dey kin lay de lash on um, an' kick um in de street; den dey kin whistle w'en dey ready, an' dere dey is ag'in lickin' dey han'.'" (pg. 103)
Bess confesses to Porgy the obsessions that rule her: "'W'en I tek dat dope, I know den dat I ain't yo' kin'. An' w'en Crown put he han' on me dat day, I run tuh he like water. Some day dope comin' agin. An' some day Crown goin' put he han' on my t'roat. It goin' be like dyin' den. But I gots tuh talk de trut' tuh yuh. W'en dem time come, I goin' tuh go.'" (pg. 134)
From the Afterword, by Heyward's biographer, James M. Hutchinsson:
"The story of the crippled beggar Porgy and his lost Bess, in this, its original form, was a landmark in southern literature when it was published in 1925 and is today a cultural document.... The novel opens a window on a unique time, place, and culture: early twentieth-century Charleston - specifically, that quarter occupied by the Gullahs, a black community peculiar to the coastal south..." pg. 159
When Porgy begged, he "sat silent, rapt. There was something Eastern and mystic about the intense introspection of his look. He never smiled, and he acknowledged gifts only by a slow lifting of the eyes that had odd shadows in them. He was black with the almost purple blackness of unadulterated Congo blood. His hands were very large and muscular, and, even when flexed idly in his lap, seemed shockingly formidable in contrast with his frail body. Unless one were unusually preoccupied at the moment of dropping a coin in his cup, he carried away in return a very definite, yet somewhat disquieting, impression: a sense of infinite patience, and beneath it the vibration of unrealized, but terrific, energy..... [Porgy:] was waiting, waiting with the concentrating intensity of a burning-glass." (pp. 17-18)
Worldly, strong-willed Maria, keeper of the community's moral compass, describes alpha male Crown, the stevedore:
"'Dem sort ob mens ain't need tuh worry 'bout habin' 'omen.... Dey kin lay de lash on um, an' kick um in de street; den dey kin whistle w'en dey ready, an' dere dey is ag'in lickin' dey han'.'" (pg. 103)
Bess confesses to Porgy the obsessions that rule her: "'W'en I tek dat dope, I know den dat I ain't yo' kin'. An' w'en Crown put he han' on me dat day, I run tuh he like water. Some day dope comin' agin. An' some day Crown goin' put he han' on my t'roat. It goin' be like dyin' den. But I gots tuh talk de trut' tuh yuh. W'en dem time come, I goin' tuh go.'" (pg. 134)
December 20, 2009
Porgy was a really great novel. Dubose Heyward brought to life the black community of South Carolina of the early 1920s. The story had interesting and some sweet characters. Poor disabled beggar Porgy had a lovely caring heart. Especially for Bess, he was always helping her with her troubles. Since her man Crown left her with nothing. So she wound up staying with Porgy. They both happy together even though they stuggled together not only in their hardship, but from some of the people with cruel intention in their surrounding.
This beautiful, and bittersweet folk tale was worth the read. But one thing I had to admit is that it was alittle odd is their language at first. Luckily it wasn't too difficult aslong if you get used to it & follow along. I understood that all of the southern slang made sense in that period of time. I could see why 'Porgy' was the first major southern novel to portray African Americans outside of their stereotypes. A classic indeed.
I can't wait to see the movie. Unfortunately it is not on DVD. Let's just hope they make it into dvd soon. =)~
This beautiful, and bittersweet folk tale was worth the read. But one thing I had to admit is that it was alittle odd is their language at first. Luckily it wasn't too difficult aslong if you get used to it & follow along. I understood that all of the southern slang made sense in that period of time. I could see why 'Porgy' was the first major southern novel to portray African Americans outside of their stereotypes. A classic indeed.
I can't wait to see the movie. Unfortunately it is not on DVD. Let's just hope they make it into dvd soon. =)~
April 30, 2014
Really enjoyed this. It was a quick read. Heyward is very poetic and descriptive. It definitely helps that I had already seen "Porgy and Bess" and knew the story, because sometimes the language was a bit difficult. I got better at reading the Gullah dialogue as I went on, but I would like to listen to this one read aloud someday. The forward by Dorothy Heyward as well as the afterward both helped to put this novel in historical perspective. I could "hear" some of Gershwin's music in my head as I read this! Always interesting to read the original version of this iconic story.
December 24, 2008
I didn't read it in this book; I read it in "Famous plays of the 1920s" but it's not on good reads. I adore this play; I couldn't get enough of it while reading it and now that I'm through, I'm wishing there were more pages! Crown, Porgy, Bess-- love tension at its best!
January 12, 2008
I just can't get through the language...maybe there's a movie somewhere?
July 29, 2011
If you are the kind of person who loves walking on hot coals or having shards of bamboo shoved under your fingernails, you absolutely must read this book.
July 11, 2017
"Bess lay upon the bed in Porgy's room and stared at the ceiling with hard, bright eyes. From time to time she would pluck at the sheet that covered her and utter hurried, indistinct sentences that bore not the slightest relation to existing circumstances. A week had passed since her release, and its seven interminable days had been spent in this fashion.
Porgy was out upon the day's rounds. Occasionally the door to the sick-room would open, and an awed, black face peer in. The mystery of delirium frightened and perplexed the negroes, and limited the manifestations of kindness and sympathy that they usually bestowed upon unfortunate friends. Even Maria was not proof against this dread, and the irrelevant observations that greeted her when she went in with the daily lunch sent her hurrying wide-eyed from the room.
Porgy returned early in the evening. His face was deeply marked, but the lines were those of anxiety, and his characteristic firmness of mouth and jaw was gone. He closed the door on the curious glances of his neighbors, and lifted himself to a seat upon the bed.
'How Bess now?' he asked softly.
She shifted her gaze from the ceiling to his face.
'Eighteen miles tuh Kittiwar!' she muttered. 'Rattlesnake', palmettuh bush, an' such.'
Her eyes were suddenly fearful, and she closed her hand tightly upon his.
Porgy cast a hurried glance over his shoulder. Then, reassured, stroked her brow, and comforted her in his deep, gentle voice.
'Yuh hyuh wid Porgy now; an' nuttin' can't hurt yuh. Soon de cool wedder comin' an' chill off dese febers. Ain't yuh 'member how dat cool win' come tuh town wid de smell ob pine tree; an' how de star is all polish up lak w'ite folks' silber ? Den ebbery body git well. Ain't yuh know ? Yuh jus' keep still, an' watch wut Porgy say.''
She was silent after that, and closed her eyes. Presently, to his relief, he saw that she was sleeping. This was the moment for which he had been waiting. He went out, closing the door very gently, and joined a group of sympathisers in the court.
'Wut we goin' do now?' he asked. 'A week gone, an' she ain't none better.' Peter knocked out his clay pipe on a flagstone, with three staccato little raps, thus gaining the attention of the circle.
'Ef yuh wants tuh listen tuh me,' he remarked weightily, 'I adwise yer tuh sen' she tuh de w'ite folk' hospital.'
His words were received with a surprise amounting to incredulity.
'Fuh Gawd sake, Daddy Peter !' an awed voice said at last. 'Ain't yuh knows dey lets nigger die, so dey kin gib um tuh de student?'
But the old negro stood his ground.
'De student ain't gits um 'til he done dead. Ain't dat so? Den he can't hurt um none. Ain't dat so, too? An' I gots dis tuh say. One ob my w'ite folks is er nuss tuh de hospital; and dat lady is er pure angel wid de sick nigger. Ef I sick tuhmorruh I goin' tuh she; an' wut she say is good wid me. I wants dis carcase tek care ob w'ile he is alibe. W'en he done dead, I ain't keer.'
'Yuh ain't keer whedder yuh is cut up an' scatter, 'stead of bein' bury in Gawd own grabe-yahd?' someone asked the iconoclast.
Under this direct attack, the old man weakened.
'Well, mebbe I ain't sayin' I jus' as lief,' he compromised. 'But I t'ink Gawd onduhstan' de succumstance, an' mek allowance.'"
Porgy was out upon the day's rounds. Occasionally the door to the sick-room would open, and an awed, black face peer in. The mystery of delirium frightened and perplexed the negroes, and limited the manifestations of kindness and sympathy that they usually bestowed upon unfortunate friends. Even Maria was not proof against this dread, and the irrelevant observations that greeted her when she went in with the daily lunch sent her hurrying wide-eyed from the room.
Porgy returned early in the evening. His face was deeply marked, but the lines were those of anxiety, and his characteristic firmness of mouth and jaw was gone. He closed the door on the curious glances of his neighbors, and lifted himself to a seat upon the bed.
'How Bess now?' he asked softly.
She shifted her gaze from the ceiling to his face.
'Eighteen miles tuh Kittiwar!' she muttered. 'Rattlesnake', palmettuh bush, an' such.'
Her eyes were suddenly fearful, and she closed her hand tightly upon his.
Porgy cast a hurried glance over his shoulder. Then, reassured, stroked her brow, and comforted her in his deep, gentle voice.
'Yuh hyuh wid Porgy now; an' nuttin' can't hurt yuh. Soon de cool wedder comin' an' chill off dese febers. Ain't yuh 'member how dat cool win' come tuh town wid de smell ob pine tree; an' how de star is all polish up lak w'ite folks' silber ? Den ebbery body git well. Ain't yuh know ? Yuh jus' keep still, an' watch wut Porgy say.''
She was silent after that, and closed her eyes. Presently, to his relief, he saw that she was sleeping. This was the moment for which he had been waiting. He went out, closing the door very gently, and joined a group of sympathisers in the court.
'Wut we goin' do now?' he asked. 'A week gone, an' she ain't none better.' Peter knocked out his clay pipe on a flagstone, with three staccato little raps, thus gaining the attention of the circle.
'Ef yuh wants tuh listen tuh me,' he remarked weightily, 'I adwise yer tuh sen' she tuh de w'ite folk' hospital.'
His words were received with a surprise amounting to incredulity.
'Fuh Gawd sake, Daddy Peter !' an awed voice said at last. 'Ain't yuh knows dey lets nigger die, so dey kin gib um tuh de student?'
But the old negro stood his ground.
'De student ain't gits um 'til he done dead. Ain't dat so? Den he can't hurt um none. Ain't dat so, too? An' I gots dis tuh say. One ob my w'ite folks is er nuss tuh de hospital; and dat lady is er pure angel wid de sick nigger. Ef I sick tuhmorruh I goin' tuh she; an' wut she say is good wid me. I wants dis carcase tek care ob w'ile he is alibe. W'en he done dead, I ain't keer.'
'Yuh ain't keer whedder yuh is cut up an' scatter, 'stead of bein' bury in Gawd own grabe-yahd?' someone asked the iconoclast.
Under this direct attack, the old man weakened.
'Well, mebbe I ain't sayin' I jus' as lief,' he compromised. 'But I t'ink Gawd onduhstan' de succumstance, an' mek allowance.'"
April 20, 2024
like 2.5 IF I AM BEING INCREDIBLY KIND AND GENEROUS. this book, written by a white man in the 20th century, is what you should expect of a white man in the 20th century. for that i am unsurprised. it is deeply racist in its portrayals and unconcerned with the truth of the people it seeks to represent. it pits the female characters against one another and ensures the continue and perpetual violence of the female protagonist Bess, who ends the story kidnapped with no one seemingly having tried to help her? it marks the black community as inherently tragic. porgy, our disabled protagonist, is the frequent subject of ridicule because of his disability and also ends in tragedy, having been incarcerated and murdered a man for his woman only to not have her any more. suffice to say that porgy by dubose hayward fails in many significant ways. it was only okay in its marking of community as central (and even then the community wasn’t truly communal — they gave up on one another so frequently). i would go as far as to say it was never really okay. i’m going with like 1.75 stars. it is a racist book by a racist man who likely stole a lot of his literary work from his racist wife.
AND ANOTHER THING i can tell half the people who are reviewing this book are white and it shows and i want yall to pack up and shut up. one review said “the blacks”. YOU BITCHES ARE SO INSUFFERABLE TO ME boo tomato boo
AND ANOTHER THING i can tell half the people who are reviewing this book are white and it shows and i want yall to pack up and shut up. one review said “the blacks”. YOU BITCHES ARE SO INSUFFERABLE TO ME boo tomato boo
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2020
Ich hatte diesen Sommer das erste Mal die Gelegenheit, einer Oper zu lauschen, und fand es als Einsteiger ganz glücklich, dem trotz durchkomponierter Form als musicalhaft verschrienen „Porgy und Bess“ beigewohnt haben zu dürfen. Da ich auf der musikalischen Seite meines Herzmuskels nicht völlig taub bin, hat mich die Oper derart ergriffen, dass ich auch das Buch lesen wollte, auf dem die Geschichte basiert. Kurzerhand kaufte ich die unglaublich hübsche, wenn auch schweineteure Manesse-Ausgabe und fand’s unterm Strich so naja.
Die Geschichte des in orthopädischer Hinsicht beeinträchtigten Bettlers, der ganz überraschend liebt und wiedergeliebt wird, nur um am Ende wieder verlassen zu werden, liest sich wie ein Gemälde mit Überlänge. Eigentlich sind Zeit und Ort wunderschön beschrieben, wenn man sich einmal an all die politisch unkorrekt anmutenden Begriffe gewöhnt hat, und das Wachsen und wieder Zusammenfallen des Mannes Porgy kommt einem im Rückblick so vor, als hätte sich ein Herzmuskel nur einmal kurz zusammengezogen, obwohl es einen Sommer gedauert hat, in dessen Tagen ein ganzes Leben vergangen ist. Porgy hat seine ganz eigene Poesie, aber es hat mich längst nicht so berührt, wie die gesungenen Zeilen.
Befremdet hat mich das Nachwort von Michael Naura. Ich habe vergessen, warum.
Die Geschichte des in orthopädischer Hinsicht beeinträchtigten Bettlers, der ganz überraschend liebt und wiedergeliebt wird, nur um am Ende wieder verlassen zu werden, liest sich wie ein Gemälde mit Überlänge. Eigentlich sind Zeit und Ort wunderschön beschrieben, wenn man sich einmal an all die politisch unkorrekt anmutenden Begriffe gewöhnt hat, und das Wachsen und wieder Zusammenfallen des Mannes Porgy kommt einem im Rückblick so vor, als hätte sich ein Herzmuskel nur einmal kurz zusammengezogen, obwohl es einen Sommer gedauert hat, in dessen Tagen ein ganzes Leben vergangen ist. Porgy hat seine ganz eigene Poesie, aber es hat mich längst nicht so berührt, wie die gesungenen Zeilen.
Befremdet hat mich das Nachwort von Michael Naura. Ich habe vergessen, warum.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2023
This is the novella which was later the basis for the play of the same name and then eventually the opera, Porgy and Bess. Heyward was a white Charlestonian, and a good argument could be made about it being a sad example of cultural appropriation. How authentic is a novel by a white writer concerning the Black population of Charleston and their Gullah based regional dialect? At first, I was uneasy about the characters’ constant use of the N word and other racist aspects of the story (would it have been authentic with the same language from a black writer?). It also relies heavily upon racial stereotypes. However, the characters are sympathetic and vividly drawn. The story remains much the same from novel to opera, with the changes that were made for the opera making sense. Heyward worked with his wife on converting his novel into a play, and then he worked with Gershwin to convert the novel into the opera. By this last iteration of the story, he had a firm grip on the tale, and the minor changes made for the opera strengthened the story quite a bit. The result is that the opera is the best version of his overall concept. The refocusing into new media, twice, is the reason why the opera is such a great work (along with the fact that Gershwin rocks).
August 18, 2024
The only reason I picked up Porgy is because I am doing the 2024 Popsugar Reading Challenge and one of the prompts is to read a book that was turned into a musical. I wanted to read something different (not Wicked!) and not as popular. It took me exactly 3 months to read this 156 page book. It was one of the worst books I’ve ever encountered in my entire existence. It is beyond racist. The black characters are written in a way that they are so unbelievably ignorant and their dialect is barely coherent. And, unsurprisingly, the white characters all speak in normal English and are easy to understand. I can’t believe anyone would think this mess is worthy of becoming a Gershwin musical. There is no way someone would think this is a love story between Porgy and Bess. I hated every second of this book.
April 27, 2020
I decided to read this book as it is the source for Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Having recently seen the Met Live stream at the cinema (pre-Covid19 lockdown!) and found it to be a very moving experience I wanted to dive in deeper. The book was published in 1925 and is of its time so includes language (incuding the N-word) which wouldn't be acceptable today. However, it is a very sympathetic depiction of African-American culture and life in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina. It was a bestseller when it was published and its endurance is testimony to the level of understanding and sympathy for the characters and culture that it depicts, qualities which were ahead of the social norms of that time.
June 12, 2025
Heyward's novel may have been ground-breaking one hundred years ago, but his reliance on the (often difficult to parse, and questionably authentic) patois of his black characters most unfortunately reduces "Porgy" to nothing more than a cartoon.
More significantly, the novel is little else than a series of episodes ("tableaux" may be the more appropriate word), with no investigation into or revelation about the characters' inner, emotional lives. The little humanity bestowed upon these caricatures (see, for instance, the brief poignant moments regarding Porgy and his goat) happens in the closing pages of the novel: we only begin to care when the story is finished.
"Porgy" deservedly lives on in its operatic incarnation, albeit with a most welcome and more hopeful, optimistic ending.
More significantly, the novel is little else than a series of episodes ("tableaux" may be the more appropriate word), with no investigation into or revelation about the characters' inner, emotional lives. The little humanity bestowed upon these caricatures (see, for instance, the brief poignant moments regarding Porgy and his goat) happens in the closing pages of the novel: we only begin to care when the story is finished.
"Porgy" deservedly lives on in its operatic incarnation, albeit with a most welcome and more hopeful, optimistic ending.
April 26, 2018
I found this book to be quite interesting, but the language somewhat difficult. I can't ignore the context of a white, early century author writing the main characters who are not. The dialect of Gullah is easier to figure out to me when spoken, but the frequency of N words made that not something that was going to happen. I actually haven't seen Porgy and Bess, but love a kids book the author also wrote.
February 1, 2020
This beautiful perfectly crafted short novel about life on Catfish Row in Charleston in the first quarter of the 20th Century illuminates the tragedy/comedy mask of the Greeks. It is utterly timeless as well.
It centers on Porgy, a crippled beggar, who lives in one of the rooms at ground level. Porgy is alone yet part of a community. He has a gift for gambling which eventually has him crossing paths with the brutal murderous Crown and his addiction prone woman, Bess. Over the course of one summer, these 3 and the other residents of Catfish Row see tragedy and comedy play out to a conclusion as inevitable as anything written by Euripedes or Shakespeare.
The writing sings, it is poetry as prose, it is absolutely remorseless and terrifying when needed. I think the description of the hurricane alone will haunt me. It is no wonder it inspired the Gershwins to create a great American opera. How brilliant of them also to have the author of the original work participate in writing the libretto, a rare event in opera, or theater or film for that matter.
It centers on Porgy, a crippled beggar, who lives in one of the rooms at ground level. Porgy is alone yet part of a community. He has a gift for gambling which eventually has him crossing paths with the brutal murderous Crown and his addiction prone woman, Bess. Over the course of one summer, these 3 and the other residents of Catfish Row see tragedy and comedy play out to a conclusion as inevitable as anything written by Euripedes or Shakespeare.
The writing sings, it is poetry as prose, it is absolutely remorseless and terrifying when needed. I think the description of the hurricane alone will haunt me. It is no wonder it inspired the Gershwins to create a great American opera. How brilliant of them also to have the author of the original work participate in writing the libretto, a rare event in opera, or theater or film for that matter.
February 16, 2020
Challenging read for me. Between the dialog written in the character’s Gullah dialect and the author’s lyrical prose it was not a quick read even though it is a short novel of 195 pages. I checked the book out of the library. It is the original 1925 version. I’d like to read this updated version with commentary. Inspired by The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess opera to read the original book. Very interesting.
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