Finding Meaning in For Color Girls

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“…And this is for colored girls who have considered suicide but are moving to the end of their own rainbow…” (Perry: For Colored Girls, 2010). For colored girls was first written and performed as a play by Ntozake Shange in 1977. It was then called “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow was enuf”. Tyler Perry adapted and transformed it into a movie in 2010. For colored girls is centered on nine women as they encounter their fair share of neglect, abuse, pain and harassment both physically and emotionally. They slowly but surely recover from such abuse and discover joy in themselves. The movie begins with the characters as strangers but at the end, they become good friends. I watched this movie because it was directed by Tyler Perry. I thought the movie was about women and their struggles to overcome them. Not much of that thinking has changed except now, with critical attitudes like the intrinsic and feminist literary theory analysis, the text has a broader meaning. For colored girls does not mean for black women only, it means for all women with beauty and different shades as they rise and take power. I am going to analyze this text using the intrinsic and feminist literary theory analysis. With the intrinsic analysis, I will brood mostly on the style and characterization of the text. According to Eaglestone, 2009, intrinsic analysis is a look into the text for meaning and understanding, assuming it has no connection, whatsoever, to the outside world. “Style is said to be the way one writes as opposed to what one writes about and is that voice that your readers hear when they read your work” (Wiehardt, n.d). The text uses mostly colors, poems and songs to deliver its messages. The main characters in the... ... middle of paper ... ...n. I now understand the title for colored girls. Using patriarchy and agency help me to appreciate being a woman and the power we have. I must say, I still love the movie and now even more because I understand it. References Eaglestone, R. (2009). Doing English: a guide for literature student. (3rd ed., pp. 40-41). New York: Routeledge. Owl Purdue. (n.d.). Literary criticism theory. Retrieved from http://humanxplitcrit.weebly.com/genderfeminist.html Perry, T. (Director) (2010). For colored girls [DVD]. Available from http//www.imdb.com/title/tt1405500/. Swardhani, N. W. (2013). Feminist literary criticism. Retrieved from http//www.wayanswardhani.lecture.ub.ac.id/files/2013/05/feminist literary criticism.pdf. Wiehardt, G. (n.d). Style. Style for creative writers. Retrieved from http//www.frictionwriting.about.com/od/craftechniqu/g/style.htm.

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