Sexuality and Society in Eliot’s “The Wasteland” and Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God
Jacob Taylor
Sexuality and society are common concepts in T.S. Eliot's poem, “The Wasteland,” and Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The relationship between sexuality and society contrasts greatly between the two works. Hair, a motif in both “The Wasteland” and Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an important theme for representing the relationship between feminine sexual maturity and a corrupt society, as well as the pursuit of freedom from an oppressive society. Eliot focuses on how a morally unfit world influences sexual maturity during sexual development, frustration, and vulgarity. Hurston, in contrast, concentrates on obtaining
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feminine freedom from society, marriage, and in one’s self. Hair is a significant motif, as it is universally known as a symbol for esteem and attractiveness. While vulgarity and freedom are two opposing concepts, they are both represented in a similar fashion. Eliot uses hair to represent beauty and sexual allure. In Eliot’s “The Wasteland,” it is imperative that Eliot depicts how sexual maturity progresses -- specifically in sexual manipulation -- as it compares directly with the poem’s theme of societal regression. “The Wasteland” depicts a young woman with arms full and “hair wet” (38) in a way such that her male companion “could not / Speak” (38-39) as his “eyes failed” (39). Eliot describes the young duo, a young woman of obvious beauty and a young man incapacitated by her appearance, as they return late from a hyacinth garden. By describing the young woman with full arms, Eliot depicts her innocence, her arms wrapped gently about her waist as if she was cradling a bundle of flowers, a symbol of innocence. Additionally, his description of her “hair wet” (38) alludes to the young woman’s blossoming sexual ability, drawing from its association to rainy spring days and the soft soil, where fertility is new and strong. By using the male character to voice the young woman’s beauty and his inability to react, Eliot successfully establishes the young woman’s power over men, though she is too innocent to exploit it in the particular moment. As the woman comes to understand her strength, it is inevitable, in Eliot’s corrupt society, that she would eventually use it to her advantage. Elliot further uses the image of hair to express the decline of the moral society in “The Wasteland.” In a scene of frustration, a sexually mature woman stresses as she cannot find the words to express her emotions towards her husband. Elliot wrote: “under the brush, her hair / Spread out in fiery points / Glowed into words then would be still” (108-110). As a direct contrast to “hair wet” (38) used before to represent innocence and the coming of sexual maturity, Eliot’s use of “fiery” (109), as if in direct representation to uncontrollable and scorching flames, is a reference to the woman’s passion, anger, and sexual prowess. Each stroke of her hairbrush expresses the words she could not speak -- her passionate frustration like fire. Her ability to express her emotions without words conveys her sexual ability; however, it is not until she uses it for her own personal gain that her use of her sexuality becomes vulgar. In his most blatant use of hair's symbolism, Eliot emphasizes society’s primitivity in comparison to developing sexual maturity. As the scene between the married couple continues, the woman finds the words in her rage, but can only express her frustration through indecent threats. She says, “‘I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street / ‘With my hair down, so” (132-133). The woman threatens to run out in public, doubtlessly in her nightdress, as a direct threat toward her husband. Eliot’s wasteland society focuses heavily on the decline of morality, which emphasizes through the wife’s actions. She practices infidelity and insincerity in the way she threatens to wear her hair down, a symbol for freedom and inhibition -- particularly sexual inhibition -- to get her way with her husband. While Eliot focuses on sexuality and its abuse in a corrupt society, other authors refer to sexuality as a break from an oppressive society. In Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experiences sexual judgement from both men and women.
Janie is a symbol for beauty, though she is often criticized for going against society in her pursuit for personal freedom. Men see “her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets” (2) and her “great rope of black hair swinging to her waist” (2). Women, in contrast, focus on her societal unconformities, such as her “faded shirt and muddy overalls” (2). Women notice her differences, barely judging her inherent beauty. Janie is different, because she wants to express herself. She wants freedom from the men who look upon her body and see her as a tool. They see her buttocks and think of sex; they gaze at her long, straight hair and think of her as someone's property or property who could soon be theirs. Janie wants freedom from society’s judgments, and throughout the novel, her hair is a symbol for her desperate freedom. Of all the people who look upon Janie as property, no one could compare to her husband …show more content…
Jody. Jody thinks of Janie as property, forbidding her to express herself as he becomes her worst oppressor.
In one of his tyrannical acts, Jody forces Janie to wear a head-rag, greatly limiting Janie’s feminine freedom. He decides that Janie’s hair “was NOT going to show in the store,” since she is his “to look at, not those others” (Hurston 55). Jody views Janie’s hair as a symbol of her sexual beauty, and as part of Janie, he believes it was his personal possession. His act of covering up her hair is easily seen as his avarice toward Janie, but also as an inhibitor of Janie’s individual freedom, as her hair expresses her own being. It is not until Jody’s death that Janie experiences the freedom she
covets. After Jody’s death, Janie gains her independence. To express her freedom, she first releases her hair from the head-rag Jody forced upon her. “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston 87). With all her beauty again in her possession, Janie is free to express herself openly. He hair down, Janie has no restrictions by her husband. More important, Janie learns what she values most, separate of what society expects of her. The night of Jody’s funeral, she burns every head-rag in her possession and again searches for a man to love, but this time Janie would look beyond class and status and focus only on her personal desires. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” and Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God focus heavily on society, specifically on its effect on the sexual demeanor of an individual; however, Eliot concentrates on the use of sexuality as a way to manipulate others for selfish desires while Hurston directs attention towards the ability to defy society and gain independent freedom. Hair is critical in both works. Eliot uses hair to depict the sexual maturity of women and the power they have over men, while Hurston emphasizes the beauty of Janie’s hair as she receives societal judgment and marital oppression in her search for individuality. Hair possesses qualities that make it a sexual symbol, making it vital in both works for representing freedom and vulgarity, and providing a deeper look into its hidden symbolism.
Janie is a woman who has overcome the rules and restrictions she was given. Janie was nothing but "a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels" (Hurston 72). Eventually, Janie made it her purpose to rebel against this mold.
When Janie became the mayor’s wife things have change for her. In the beginning of chapter 7 Hurston describes Janie as being a ‘rut in the road’ ever since she has gotten that title of being the mayor’s wife. “ For a while she thought it was gone from her soul. No matter what Jody did, she said nothing. She had learned how to talk some and leave some. She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels. Somethings she stuck out into the future, imaging her life different from what is was, But mostly she lives between her hat and her heels , with her emotional disturbances like shade patterns in the woods-come and gone with the sun. She got nothing from Jody except what money could buy, and she was giving away what she didn’t value” (pg 76). This metaphor shows how the relationship between
Janie, lead character of the novel, is a somewhat lonely, mixed-race woman. She has a strong desire to find love and get married, partially driven by her family’s history of unmarried woman having children. Despite her family’s dark history, Janie is somewhat naive about the world.
Janie and Arvay respond to their men in similar ways as well. Both women swing from extremes of doubt and distrust to passionate, all-encompassing love for their husbands. Moreover, both women reconfigure themselves to adjust to the man’s world, as when Janie moves to the Everglades with Tea Cake, and when Arvay goes out to sea with Jim on his fishing b...
Janie’s attempts at achieving her own pear tree and fails, nevertheless this is done so that she can find for herself that adventure and life experiences are more important than love alone. It didn’t take Janie long to learn her first lesson but after she left Logan “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead” (Hurston 25). Janie sought to have her own “pear tree” which meant that she wanted a perfect relationship with a man, defining her as a dependant early on. Once Logan began demanding more of Janie and stretching that thin fabric that is Janie’s loyalty she left him, Janie will experiment with Jody and learn the same lesson. Hurston personifies the extent of Janie’s dream by stating that it is “dead” showing that Janie chases her dreams extensively and she will do this continually until she achieves her own horizon. When Janie lives with Jody she is suppressed and her search for perfect love is shattered once more except this time she learns how to defend herself from this malice, “You ain’t tried tuh pacify nobody but yo’self. Too busy listening to yo’ own big voice.” (Hurston 87). We see once more that Janie is denied of her grand dream and is taught another valuable lesson, how to defend herself. Janie demonstrates her independence as a woman by living without a man for the
Jody believes that Janie has poisoned him, illustrating the magnitude of both of their unhappiness. Almost immediately after Jody dies, Janie “starches” and “irons” her face, which could also imply how the headrags represent a facade that she unwillingly dons in public. Janie goes to the funeral inundated in loneliness and grief. However, after she emerges from the funeral Janie burns all of her head rags. Hurston states: “Before she slept that night she burnt up everyone of her head rags and went about the house the next morning..her hair in one thick braid”(pg 89). Fire represents the destruction of something; by burning the very tool that was facilitating the suppression of her identity, Janie is making a vow to never sacrifice herself to others. The long, nimble braid the reader is introduced to in the first chapter reemerges. It is important to note that as she lets her hair down, her circumstances change for the better. Janie meets Tea Cake, her playful new husband. Hurston describes Janie as the curious, vibrant child she was under the pear tree similar to how she is presently with Tea Cake. Therefore, Hurston reveals the overarching theme that when one unwillingly enshrouds their identity, their circumstances become unpalatable. This theme is conveyed through JAnie: As she sacrifices herself to tie her hair up, her happiness devolved into loneliness. However, once she crosses the threshold to her true self, she fully exuded the vivacious Janie that she truly is. All of this is manifested through her
Her hair serves as a reminder throughout the novel of the social pressures and expectations people, especially black women, were suppose to follow during this time period. The racial tensions were high throughout the country and many were oppressed through racism and sexism. These hurdles cannot be ignored, so it is important to identify the importance of Janie's hair to the overall understanding of the novel. Through symbolism, Hurston was able to portray a real example of the oppression and conflicts many faced during the
In such cases, when he would usher her off the front porch of the store, when the men sat around talking and laughing, or when Matt Boner’s mule had died and he told her she could not attend its dragging-out, and when he demanded that she tie up her hair in head rags while working in the store, “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT shown in the store” (55). He had cast Janie off from the rest of the community and put her on a pedestal, which made Janie feel as though she was trapped in an emotional prison. Over the course of their marriage, he had silenced her so much that she found it better to not talk back when they got this way.
His death had allowed her to see that in order to be her best self, in order to be able to get it right, she could not allow herself to be a victim of mislove anymore. Because of Jody’s death, Janie was finally able to tare “off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (87). Janie’s hair was her symbol of strength and sovereignty that had been hidden her entire marriage to Jody, and now she was finally able to let it down, and become her own
In Hurston's story, Janie symbolically represents the position of a woman in the South who is seen to be confused due to her nature as a woman. She is also married to three husbands at different stages, this represents her development from a dependent person who could not make her own choices and in her last marriage to the Tea Cake she makes her choice independently hence and indication that she has finally developed and gained independence. Also, when her last husband dies she shave her hair and goes backs home (Hurston, 2000), by shaving her hair she symbolized her rebirth from dependent to an independent woman and also it was a symbol of change and a new
Jody Starks was Janie?s second husband and was even more controlling over Janie than Logan. Janie usually wore very nice designer dresses because Joe was the mayor of Eatonville and felt that the mayor?s wife had to wear the best. The dresses symbolize the control and arrogance of Joe, because he forced Janie to wear things she was not comfortable in just to show off their money. Joe also made Janie wear head rags to cover her hair after an incident in the store. ?This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store.? (page 55). The head rags symbolize not only the control of Janie like in her first marriage but it also shows the jealousy Jody has towards his wife and other men.
Hurston uses the power of language and different narrative techniques to show Janie's transition throughout the novel. It is important to notice that in Janie's journey from object to subject, the narration of the novel shifts from third person to a mixture of first and third person; thus, the shift shows the awareness of self within Janie. Language becomes an instrument of injury and salvation and of selfhood and empowerment. The use of powerful language is exemplified well in the text when Janie is asked to say a few words as the new Mrs. Mayor. Joe, her second husband, quickly cuts in and says, "Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for not...
After the marriage with Logan she met Joe a man she ran off with after an argument with Logan. Joe was the charisma type when you over with talk and charm that's how he won Janie, but little did she know Joe wasn’t who she thought he was. Joe was a controlling man who thought Janie place should be by his side when she is needed or working in the store. “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all”. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was.Joe loved Janie’s hair so much that he hated when other men would look at it, Joe was very controlling to the point he made Janie wear rags on her head to cover up her magnificent hair so other men couldn’t enjoy its beauty. Another instances were Joe took Janie individuality was when she had the chance to speak in public because of Joe becoming mayor “Janie had never thought of making a speech, and didn’t know if she cared to make one at all. It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things. She had the chance to speak to the people of the town, but Joe didn’t give her the chance to speak because he felt like it wasn’t a woman's place to speak in public. Each of those time Joe took a piece of who Janie was.
herself. Janie, all her life, had been pushed around and told what to do and how to live her life. She searched and searched high and low to find a peace that makes her whole and makes her feel like a complete person. To make her feel like she is in fact an individual and that she’s not like everyone else around her. During the time of ‘Their Eyes’, the correct way to treat women was to show them who was in charge and who was inferior. Men were looked to as the superior being, the one who women were supposed to look up to and serve. Especially in the fact that Janie was an African American women during these oppressed times. Throughout this book, it looks as though Janie makes many mistakes in trying to find who she really is, and achieving the respect that she deserves.
... Janie is free-spirited and unconcerned about what others think of her. When she returns to Eatonville after Tea Cake’s death, she shows no shame for what she has done or where she has been, because she is finally able to live the life she always wanted to lead. Hurston’s own struggles in life for individuality and an outlet for her suppressed spirit clearly contribute to the development of Janie’s character. Just as Hurston struggled for recognition, equality, and purpose in the literary world during the Harlem Renaissance, Janie’s struggle for the recognition, equality, and purpose in her relationships.