Misce-gene-nation: Heredity and the Rise of Pluralism in Caribbean Narrative

On Cecilia Valdés's aspirations:

creía y esperaba Cecilia ascender siempre, salir de la humilde esfera en que había nacido, si no ella, sus hijos. Casada con un mulato, descendería en su propia estimación y en la de sus iguales; porque tales son las aberraciones de toda sociedad constituida como la cubana.

—Cirilo Villaverde, Cecilia Valdtés

Cecilia hoped always to rise, leave the humble sphere in which she had been born. She would rise herself, if possible, but if not, her children would. Had she married a coloured man she would have lowered herself in her own esteem and in that of her equals; for such are the erroneous notions of all societies constituted like the Cuban.

—Cecilia Valdés

Sab is mulatto; his body bears witness to miscegenation.

—Catherine Davies, “Introduction” to Sab