The Significance of The Blue Dress in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the Suwanee
Their Eyes Were Watching God:
Janie (talking to Phoebe about Tea Cake): “He done taught me de maiden language all over. Wait till you see de new blue satin Tea Cake done picked out for me tuh stand up wid him in. High heel slippers, necklace, earrings, everything he wants tuh see me in. Some of dese mornin’s and it won’t be long, you gointuh wake up callin’ me and Ah’ll be gone.” (pp. 109-10)
Seraph on the Suwanee:
“Over her mother’s outraged protests, Arvay put on the blue mull dress the next day. She thought that it was very becoming to her looks. She was ready away ahead of time, but ate no dinner. She was excited and curious about this buggy ride, and besides her corset was laced very tight. She put on the new leghorn-intention hat with the big pink rose on the floppy brim and waited.” (pp. 47-8)
Two impatient brides-to-be, puttin’ on the blue dress – but what different wedding nights and marriages await them. From the moment Janie and Tea Cake meet in Chapter 10, they delight in each other’s company and conversation. By Chapter 12, Janie joyfully acknowledges him as her partner and her teacher. His “lessons” consist not of imparting new information, but of reinstructing Janie “all over again” in something that she formerly possessed: “de maiden language.” This phrase recalls the biblical origins of the world (“In the beginning, there was the Word”), suggesting that through her relationship with Tea Cake, Janie’s own world and even her relation to the cosmos are being reordered. “Language” also refers to the verbal delight that Janie and Tea Cake take in each other. In contrast with Arvay and Jim, whose communi...
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...e can, however, signal her virginal status by dressing in a way that represents its equivalent: as a southern belle. In addition to her low-cut blue dress, with its feminine, puffed sleeves, Arvay wears a floppy-brimmed “leghorn-intention” (straw hat), decorated with a “big pink rose” (suggestive of reproduction). Most tellingly, we are told that she is wearing a corset that is “laced very tight” – so tight that she cannot eat her dinner. Corsets hold in the flesh and nip in the waistline to an attractively small diameter. By narrowing the waist, they emphasize the swellings of the hips and breasts, a contrast intended to stimulate sexual arousal. Thus Arvay’s wedding/reception attire emphasizes her fragility and innocence while highlighting her desirability. The clothing signs her as an object for consumption, rather than celebrates her as a beautiful companion.
If Ah ever gits tuh messin’ round another woman it won’t be on account of her age. It’ll be because she got me in de same way you got me—so Ah can’t help mahself." Tea Cake professes his love to Janie by saying that she is the only woman he thought of marrying. Tea Cake knows that he will be loyal to Janie, but can not control other women's urges to flirt with him. When Tea Cake tells Janie that he is the man in her life he says:"You don’t have tuh say, if it wuzn’t fuh me, baby, cause Ah’m heah, and then Ah want yuh tuh know it’s uh man heah." (Ch.18). Tea Cake wants Janie to know that he is nothing like her other husbands, but is perfect for her. Tea Cake is essentially perfect for Janie because he helped her accomplish her her ultimate dream of love. Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage is the key to a good marriage because they treat each other with equality and
Tea Cake, in this moment, takes the initiative for Janie allowing her to move forward in her life. Through his actions, Tea Cake breaks these boundaries set by Joe thereby creating a new impression of gender
To begin with, a husband needs to be honest with his wife. Out of all of Janie’s husbands Tea Cake is the least honest one, but one of the times he does lie to her, but he makes it better. Tea Cake is going everyday and working then spending some nights till late with his friends. Janie wakes up one day finding out that her
When Tea Cake enters Janie's life, Janie really starts to come out of her shell. She lets down her hair that was kept up the entire time with Starks. This symbolizes Janie letting all her inhibitions out. In finding Tea Cake, Janie has "completed her voyage" of self-discovery. Tea Cake allows her to feel exhilarated and young again. She makes more friends and becomes more social. During this time in her life Janie is an excellent role model for other black women. She does not give a second look at what other people think about her, which is very admirable. This is shown when Hezekiah Potts tells Janie that Tea Cake is too low of a man for Janie yet, she stills persists on seeing him. Many people also think that Tea Cake is courting Janie for her money only. Janie pays no regard to these onlookers though.
"Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady" (O'Conner 138).
Woman’s Search for Identity in Hurston’s Seraph on the Suwanee and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Hurston uses Janie and Tea Cake's relationship to establish the message that respect can do wonders in a marriage. When there is understanding and equality, a healthy relationship will surely form. Money and power will provide temporary happiness; whereas, Tea Cake makes Janie feel the type of happiness only true love can bring. She's finally getting to feel the idealized love she has always wanted.
At some point in any person’s life he or she will be the victim or victimizer of stereotyping. This all too familiar aspect of society is one of the most unfortunate occurrences in life. For many, the harsh generalizations that stereotypes are based on crush the spirit of free will. Yet there are some brave people who choose to counter these stereotypes and live life as they choose, despite what judgments may come. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character, Janie—an African American woman of the 1930’s, struggles with accepting the stereotypes that affect her life. She tries to fit in with them at the cost of her happiness and self-expression. Through her revelations and life changes that defy these stereotypes the audience discovers just how damaging and self-defeating stereotypes can be. Stereotypes can lead to loss of cultural pride and loss of self-expression because they are often based on racist and or sexist generalizations, people feel obligated to fit in with stereotypes, and people lose a sense of independence when they try to follow a stereotype.
Of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Alice Walker says "it speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done." Though 45 years separate Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Color Purple, the two novels embody many similar concerns and methods. Hurston and Walker write of the experience of uneducated rural southern black women. They find a wisdom that can transform our communal relations and our spiritual lives. As Celie in The Color Purple says, referring to God: "If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place, I can tell you."
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a touching play about the lost dreams of a southern family and their struggle to escape reality. The play is a memory play and therefore very poetic in mood, setting, and dialogue. Tom Wingfield serves as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Tom lives with his Southern belle mother, Amanda, and his painfully shy sister, Laura. The action of the play revolves around Amanda's search to find Laura a "gentleman caller. The Glass Menagerie's plot closely mirrors actual events in the author's life. Because Williams related so well to the characters and situations, he was able to beautifully portray the play's theme through his creative use of symbolism.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel illustrating the life of an African American woman that finds her voice through many trials and tribulations. At the heart of the story, Hurston portrays a protagonist who moves from a passive state to independence, from passive woman with no voice who is dominated by her husband to a woman who can think and act for herself. Hurston achieves the greater theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God, of self-expression and independence through her use of three basic southern literary elements: narrative structure, ¬¬¬¬¬allegory, and symbolism. A brief inspection of these three basic elements will reveal how Their Eyes Were Watching God achieves its inspiring effect.
The women on the trail, though it shows, had little time to care about mending clothes, “The majority of the overland women wore what clothing they had and prayed that what they wore would not tear. They were too preoccupied with the necessities of the day to consider fashion at all (Schlissel 105). ” I would be happy if I were these women because that just means one less chore that was their “duty” to perform. In conclusion, the woman of the Victorian Era had her role in life planned out from before she was born. Although it was a dreadful role, these women carried it out in a way that shows their purity of the heart and willingness to do so many things for others and for little return.
On April 12th, 2014, Syracuse Stage presented the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. The play was directed by Timothy Bond, and turned out to be an interesting production. The Glass Menagerie is a memory play that is set in St. Louis in 1937. Its action is taken from the memories of the narrator, Tom Wingfield. Tom who has a dream of being a poet works in a shoe warehouse to support his mother, Amanda, and sister, Laura. Their father, Mr. Wingfield ran off years ago. They had not heard from him except for in one postcard, they said he fell in love with long distance. Their mother Amanda, who genuinely wants the best for her children, pressures them with her uncontrollable desires for them. She is disappointed that Laura, who is crippled and is painfully shy, does not attract any gentlemen callers. She is even more disappointed to see that her son is following in his father’s footsteps.
Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie relives the horrors of the Great Depression and the effects it had on many people's lives. The story is in many ways about the life of Tennessee Williams himself, as well as a play of fiction that he wrote. However, the story is based on Tennessee and his family's struggle to emotionally deal with the harsh realities that followed the crash of 1929 (807).
Tennessee Williams’ excellent use of themes to portray characters in his world class, classic play “The Glass Menagerie” makes the play enthralling till the very end of it. Out of many themes like loneliness, illusions and distress; disintegration of the family seems to be a major plot of the play. Undoubtedly, all the themes displayed in “The Glass Menagerie” are as much important for the success of the play which keeps the audience indulged into it throughout. Nature and lifestyle of each character plays a vital role in creating events and setting the theme of the story. From an ambitious, energetic and hard-working young man, Tom to a physically challenged and unsociable girl, Laura; many qualities of a human being have been portrayed in