In Charles Chesnutt's story "The Wife of His Youth," the primary conflict is the conflict Mr. Ryder has with himself. Nevertheless, a conflict exists between him and Liza Jane, who is, in fact, the wife of his youth.
When Liza Jane arrives at Mr. Ryder's house, she may or may not know that he is her husband, Sam Taylor. It seems apparent that Mr. Ryder doesn't recognize her at first. Twenty-five years have passed since they lived as a married couple. As the story unfolds, however, and Liza explains how she lost track of Sam, Mr. Ryder certainly knows his wife has come back—and at a particularly inopportune time, just when he is about to propose to Molly Dixon.
This sets off an interesting debate between Mr. Ryder and Liza Jane. He gives several reasons why she shouldn't expect to be reunited with Sam. He could be dead, he may have remarried since his "slave marriage" wouldn't be legally recognized now, or he might have outgrown the woman he used to love. Liza Jane has a comeback for each of Mr. Ryder's suggestions. She doggedly maintains that Sam would never marry another or outgrow her, and she's sure he's not dead.
Although Mr. Ryder doesn't acknowledge Liza Jane on the spot, he asks for her address so he can contact her after he can "give the matter some attention." Chesnutt doesn't let the reader in on the secret until the end of the story. Mr. Ryder tells the Blue Veins about the woman who came to see him and what it might mean for the man she was seeking to acknowledge the wife of his youth. He puts it to the audience, but he has already decided that he will acknowledge her, for she's waiting to be introduced.
The conflict between Mr. Ryder and Liza Jane is that she has never stopped searching for and loving her "Sam," but Mr. Ryder has pretty much forgotten the years when he loved and married a slave woman. Her loyalty has remained steadfast, while his has not. While Chesnutt never explicitly states that the two marry each other again, the story strongly implies that they do because Mr. Ryder looks at Mrs. Dixon "with a mingled expression of renunciation and inquiry." In the end, he seems to choose loyalty to Liza Jane over his new life and his new love, so their conflict is apparently reconciled.
There seems, to me, to be less emotional conflict between Liza Jane and Mr. Ryder than there is within Mr. Ryder himself. Once Liza Jane comes to see him and request his help, he must determine whether or not he is willing to give up all of the status and prestige he has in order to remain loyal to his one-time wife. He has been planning to marry a woman who affirms his new position in society, and reuniting with Liza Jane will make such a marriage impossible. After she leaves, he goes to his room and "stood for a long time before the mirror [...], gazing thoughtfully at the reflection of his own face." If there is some conflict between Liza Jane and Mr. Ryder, it is a rather low-key one because she doesn't even realize that he is her husband of old. He, of course, knows right away who she is. She is hoping to find her husband, and she has displayed incredible "'fidelity and devotion'" to him—more even than he to her. By the time he makes his toast at the ball that same evening, he's already decided to act with integrity and introduce Liza Jane as the wife of his youth.
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