# La belle Zoraïde — Short Fiction character guide

> La belle Zoraïde in Short Fiction by Kate Chopin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Zoraïde

**First appearance:** 0045-la-belle-zora-de

## Snapshot

A café-au-lait beauty raised at her mistress's side, whose heart chooses a sugarcane-field dancer over the mulatto her godmother has picked.

## Who they are

La belle Zoraïde has never done rougher work than a fine muslin seam, and her elegant manners are the envy of half the ladies of la rue Royale. Her mistress and godmother, Madame Delarivière, has arranged a respectable match with the cruel-eyed M'sieur Ambroise, but Zoraïde's heart was lost the moment she saw le beau Mézor dance the Bamboula in Congo Square. Her plea—'Am I white, nénaine?'—sets the whole tragedy of love, race, and possession quietly in motion.

## In the story

### [La Belle Zoraïde](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/chapters/la-belle-zora-de)

The beautiful enslaved woman who falls in love with Mézor, is separated from her child, and descends into madness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/characters/la_belle_zoraide
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/characters