![]() ![]() ![]() Marcel is a product of such an arrangement, and when he is born, Philippe refuses to give him his name but promises to send him to Paris to be educated when he is 18. Depending on the level of bartering done by their parent or guardian, the women could receive monthly stipends, clothes, houses and assurances that their children would be formally educated. In exchange for their affections, the women were granted limited access to middle-class society. Marie (Gloria Rueben) came to Louisiana with her guardian (Victoria Rowell) from Haiti, and as a young woman entered into a placage with wealthy plantation owner Philippe Ferronnaire (Peter Gallagher).Īs was the custom at the time, many young women entered into an arrangement in which white landowners kept women of color as mistresses. Through flashbacks, we learn how his mother, Cecil St. Marie (James Earl Jones) reflects on his ancestors for the Feast of All Saints, the day of remembering the dead. This unique class of citizens was spared the tyranny of slavery and, in fact, enjoyed many social advantages, but was not afforded the same rights as the white middle class.Ĭaught between privilege and oppression, the “gens de couleur libres” had to overcome classism, sexism and racism within their own community. ![]() ![]() “Feast,” a fictional story based in fact, explores the lives of free people of color in pre-Civil War New Orleans. ![]()
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