Marse Chan: The Tale of Old Virginia

Reflecting the ideals of the Lost Cause literary movement—which aimed to celebrate the culture of the American South following the American Civil War—Thomas Nelson Page’s short story, “Marse Chan: The Tale of Old Virginia” paints an idyllic vision of plantation life prior to the outbreak of war. Opening with a northerner’s arrival in Virginia, the narrative is quickly taken up by the former slave Sam, whose tales glorify his former master, Tom Channing, and the once glorious and prosperous Channing Plantation.

Recognized today as one of Page’s most prominent works, “Marse Chan” reflects the complex ideology of life in post-Civil War America, and conveys the chivalry and romance that Page held as essential to life in the South—and which he also believed were destroyed by the aftermath of the Civil War.

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