Race, Beauty, and Exoticism Theme Analysis

Quicksand depicts the adult life of Helga Crane, a mixed-race woman who travels to various locations in the U.S. and Europe, reflecting on the way people treat her in different communities. After living among black Americans in Harlem, Helga travels to Denmark to reconnect with her white family, and the white side of her mixed-race identity. Helga is surprised to find that the Danes embrace her as a thing of beauty, and relishes in the attention. Soon, however, Helga’s ego unravels when she realizes that she is only appreciated in an objectifying way, as an exotic, sexualized commodity. Through Helga’s encounters in Denmark, Nella Larsen captures ways in which white people of her time tend to frame the black female body as a sexual object, rendered attractive because it is “different.” In stark contrast, Larsen presents her own view of blackness as beautiful in vivid descriptions of characters like Helga throughout the story. Her descriptions emphasize beauty, rather than sexual objectification. Larsen writes from Harlem in the 1920s among other Harlem Renaissance thinkers who were focused on developing new narratives for the emerging black post-slavery culture. Larsen’s physical descriptions of black characters in the story reflects the Harlem Renaissance’s emphasis on developing a new beauty aesthetic for communities of color that doesn’t center on the white gaze (which is captured in the way the Danes view Helga).

When Helga moves to Copenhagen to live with her white family, she is objectified as an exotic curiosity. Larsen shows that often, the white gaze reduces black women to sexual objects who are only valued because they seem different and “exotic” to the white norm. Helga’s aunt and uncle, Herr Dahl and Fru Dahl, frequently dress Helga up in revealing, eye-catching clothing and adorn her with jewelry, makeup, and “dangerously high heels” which makes Helga feel embarrassed and demeaned. When the Dahls dress Helga up and take her to a tea room in Copenhagen, Helga feels reduced to “some new and strange species of pet dog being proudly exhibited,” and is “reddened” by the thought of her appearance. The maid, Marie, tailors one of Helga’s favorite dresses lower in the back, to the point that Helga thinks it’s “practically nothing but a skirt.” Fru Dahl, Helga’s aunt who she lives with, furnishes Helga with many colorful, extravagant clothes, and subtly schools her to make a “voluptuous impression.” Helga is later appalled to learn that the Dahls want Helga on display because her exoticism will likely appeal to an artistic suitor and enhance their social standing. Axel Olsen, Helga’s Danish suitor, paints a portrait of Helga that she describes as “some disgusting sensual creature with her features.” After refusing Axel, Helga realizes that her aunt and uncle had hoped she would marry him to “secure the link between the merely fashionable set to which they belonged, and the artistic one after which they hankered.” They scold her for failing to exploit her status as the only “mulatto” (mixed-race person) in town. Helga realizes that she will always be seen as no more than an exotic “decoration, “curio,” or “peacock” to the Dahls. 

In contrast, Larsen describes Helga’s (and other black characters’) beauty very differently in her prose, avoiding sexually objectifying language, and emphasizing the beauty in blackness itself. Larsen’s descriptions stand out because they focus on beauty and sophistication, contrasting with the overt sexualization of Helga’s body by the Dahls. Larsen introduces Helga as a “radiant” young woman. She describes Helga’s beauty in careful detail, emphasizing “her narrow, sloping shoulders and delicate but well-turned arms and legs,” her attractive “sharply cut face,” her “soft yet penetrating eyes,” her “pretty mouth,” her “delicately chiseled ears,” and her “delightful” blue-black hair that falls gently around her shoulders. Larsen’s use of words like “radiant,” “pretty,” and “delightful” prompts the reader to see Helga as beautiful without referencing her sex appeal. This picture of Helga contrasts sharply with the Dahls’, who use objectifying words like “voluptuous” and “rare” when describing Helga. Larsen similarly describes other black characters, such as Anne (Helga’s roommate in Harlem), and Dr. Anderson (Helga’s central love interest) with words such as “beautiful,” “musical,” and “luminous,” to show that it is possible to describe people of color without relying on sexual innuendo or exoticizing language.   

The Dahls’ view of blackness as sexually exotic exposes how the black female body is often objectified under the white gaze. However, Larsen’s descriptions of black characters offer a counter-narrative about beauty in blackness that doesn’t objectify the black body. Quicksand thus reflects the Harlem Renaissance’s goal of developing a new aesthetic for communities of color that doesn’t objectify blackness as an exotic curiosity.