On page 8 of “Dark Princess,” Matthew begins to tell his life story to the Princess. His childhood is tumultuous; he is born in Virginia but is sent to a boarding school then finds himself moving between cities in the North before coming to Berlin. While he is talking, the two characters are having tea, a drink which historically has also traveled far and wide to now be drank by Matthew and the Princess in the Tiergarten. Matthew’s life has led him throughout many places thus far, similar to how tea can be mapped across the world, making its mark all over.
Though it started with one application (herbal medicine), tea gradually took on multiple uses (eaten as a meal, and later as a beverage). It was eventually traded along the Silk Road, moving through the Asian continent to Europe. I wonder if W.E.B Du Bois meant to relate the paths Matthew went through with the geographical passage of tea in order to show that while a place one finds themselves in can be new and unfamiliar, it can also become a place where they belong and can thrive.
Additionally, as tea traveled further and further, many traders tried to find new ways to preserve the product. One way tea was changed was through oxidation of the leaves, which made green tea into black tea. Circumstance forces change and I think that this is something that we have started to see and will be seeing later on in the book.
Citation:
Teabox. Origins and History of Tea – Teabox. 28 Nov. 2018, tea101.teabox.com/history-of-tea/.