Ntozake Shange’s work Liliane explores female sexuality extensively. In the midst of her father’s efforts to instill in Liliane an obligation to the racial uplift project and his desire for Liliane to marry a person with the possibility to become an influential leader in the Black community, throughout the novel, Liliane’s sexual and romantic relationships are diverse, varied, and interpersonal bridge gaps between both races and class.
Liliane Lincoln is an artist who uses her vivid and colorful artwork to show the world what she knows about herself. Liliane gradually understands, however, that in order to survive, she must confront what she has kept hidden from herself.
Liliane, the protagonist in Ntozake Shange’s novel, is extremely emotionally conflicted due to her family’s historical secrets, her own goals for herself, and her father’s desires for her. Furthermore, Liliane suffers from the existential torment of anti-black racism. Subsequently, Liliane’s interactions with her therapist are frequently tumultuous and incoherent as she struggles to develop her self-esteem as she matures and develops as a painter.
Liliane in Ntozake Shange’s Liliane is still a fascinating character, a chameleon who is both archetypal and distinctive, a woman whose heavy struggles with the emotional and social forces that both drive and sunder her are tempered by a wicked sense of humor.