Discuss the ways in which this character challenges early twentieth-century established norms of womanhood.

Shug is a well-known Bessie Smith jazz singer. She arrives at Mr. ______’s house at least six years after Celie moves in, but she is introduced to us much earlier in the novel. Celie’s sixth diary entry records her first glimpse of Shug in a photograph. Celie writes that she is "the most beautiful woman I ever saw." She is independent, single-minded, and the strongest and most outrageous female character in the novel. She is sexually free and unashamed of it, enjoying Albert’s company whether married or not. She can be mean; she remarks how ugly Celie is. And she can be selfish; she runs off with Germaine at the end of the novel. But she exudes life and brightens up the world around her. When she arrives at Albert’s home, she is wearing a red wool dress, and when she sings at Harpo’s, Celie describes her outfit as "a skintight red dress look like the straps made out of two pieces of thread." The old dress she gives Celie for her quilt is a sunny yellow color. Shug brings color and opportunity to the people she meets. She brings Celie and Albert love, she brings Harpo income, she inspires others to sing, and she brings entertainment to all her fans.