Women Breaking Free From Their Traditional Expectations
All throughout the early part of history women were portrayed as the inferior sex, because at that point in time, women were seen as beings only born to have children. Men didn’t think that women were capable of being anything other than a typical housewife. It was unthinkable that women would actually need an education, let alone earn a living, or become a leader. These ideas are revealed all throughout classical literature. Rarely was a woman seen as doing anything but being dominated by males in some form, whether she was a man’s submissive devoted wife, a sexual object, or a woman being punished for wanting her freedom. We finally begin to see women trying to break free from these traditional expectations and barriers through the lives of Janie Crawford in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, John’s wife in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Louise Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and Songlian in Raise the Red Lantern by Su Tong.
Zora Neale Hurston in Their Eyes Were Watching God shows how the lives of American women changed in the early 20th century. Janie Crawford is an example of a woman in society who follows her dreams, takes control of her soul, and finds her own identity in a male dominated world. After two marriages in which Janie is ‘owned’ by the men in the relationship, she finds that she can own herself. “Janie was an unusual protagonist for her time—black, female, independent, and strong” (Shafer).
Janie’s first effort to free her soul is from her husband Logan Killicks. Logan works her like a mule, making her do house chores as well as outside work. When she finally realizes that she doesn’t want to spend her life as a slave or with someone that she doesn’t love, Janie runs away to be with a man she had met only a few days before. Janie faces reality and gets out from under Logan’s rule before she becomes consumed into his world.
Again Janie is only a possession of her new husband, Joe Starks. He displays her like a medal around his neck. He is so jealous of other men lusting after his wife that he restricts her to always tend the store, leave fun situations, and wear a head rag to hide her beautiful hair. Janie slowly breaks out of the shell that Starks has molded her into when she verbally defies him in front ...
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...oper place was in the home. Even the laws and literary writings reflected this position. As women became more educated, they began to seek their freedom and a voice in society. This movement to gain equal rights for women has been referred to as feminism. Slowly have we made our way in history, but profoundly do we take our stand in life.
Works Cited
Aull, Felice “The Yellow Wallpaper” The Feminist Press at the City Univ. of New York
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Gribben, Alan. “Chopin, Kate” The World book Encyclopedia. 1990 ed.
Maloney, Karen E. “A Feminist Looks at Education: The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman” Teachers College Record vol. 99. Spring98: 514
Roberts, Edgar V. Fiction/An Introduction to Reading and Writing. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987. 599 & 306
Shafer, Audrey. “Their Eyes Where Watching God” Harper & Row (New York) 1937 7 July 2000
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After a year of pampering, Logan becomes demanding and rude, he went as far to try to force Janie to do farm work. It was when this happened that Janie decided to take a stand and run away with Joe. At this time, Janie appears to have found a part of her voice and strong will. In a way, she gains a sense of independence and realizes she has the power to walk away from an unhealthy situation and does not have to be a slave to her own husband. After moving to Eatonville and marrying Joe, Janie discovers that people are not always who they seem to be.
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, she was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it. So, she left him for Joe Starks who promised to treat her the way a lady should be treated, but he also made her the way he thought a lady should be. After Joe died she found Tea Cake, a romantic man who loved Janie the way she was, and worked hard to provide for her.
Janie does so by choosing her new found love with Joe of the security that Logan provides. Hurston demonstrates Janie's new found ‘independence’ by the immediate marriage of Joe and Janie. Janie mistakenly chooses the pursuit of love over her pursuit of happiness and by doing so gave her independence to Joe, a man who believes a woman is a mere object; a doll. By choosing love over her own happiness Janie silences her voice. The realization of Janie's new reality is first realized when Joe states, “...nah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home()" Joe is undermining Janie, cutting short any chance for Janie to make herself heard. Joe continues to hide Janie away from society keeping her dependent and voiceless. As Janie matures, she continues to be submissive to her husband, “He wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it. So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush (71).” Though Janie ‘learned to hush’, and suppress herself, Janie still urges for her voice. When the opportunity came for Janie to reclaim her voice, "But Ah ain’t goin’ outa here and Ah ain’t gointuh hush. Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo’ you die. Have yo’ way all yo’ life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let yo’self heah ‘bout
The beginning of Janie’s marriage to Joe shows promise and adventure, something that young Janie is quickly attracted to. She longs to get out of her loveless marriage to Logan Killicks and Joe’s big dreams captivate Janie. Once again she hopes to find the true love she’s always dreamed of. Joe and Janie’s life is first blissful. He gives her whatever she wants and after he becomes the mayor of a small African American town called Eatonville, they are the most respected couple in town. Joe uses his newfound power to control Janie. When she is asked to make a speech at a town event, she can’t even get out a word before Joe denies her the privilege. He starts making her work in the store he opens and punishes her for any mistakes she makes. He enjoys the power and respect her gets when o...
Hurston, Lora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1990.
Janie’s first attempt at love does not turn out quite like she hopes. Her grandmother forces her into marrying Logan Killicks. As the year passes, Janie grows unhappy and miserable. By pure fate, Janie meets Joe Starks and immediately lusts after him. With the knowledge of being wrong and expecting to be ridiculed, she leaves Logan and runs off with Joe to start a new marriage. This is the first time that Janie does what she wants in her search of happiness: “Even if Joe was not waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good…From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything” (32). Janie’s new outlook on life, although somewhat shadowed by blind love, will keep her satisfied momentarily, but soon she will return to the loneliness she is running from.
Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a thriving woman. Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards life has to offer.
Over time Janie begins to develop her own ideas and ideals. In Their Eyes Watching God. Each principle character has their own perceptions. towards the end of marriage. & nbsp;
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman that is lost in her own world. She longs to be a part of something and to have “a great journey to the horizons in search of people” (85). Janie Crawford’s journey to the horizon is told as a story to her best friend Phoebe. She experiences three marriages and three communities that “represent increasingly wide circles of experience and opportunities for expression of personal choice” (Crabtree). Their Eyes Were Watching God is an important fiction piece that explores relations throughout black communities and families. It also examines different issues such as, gender and class and these issues bring forth the theme of voice. In Janie’s attempt to find herself, she grows into a stronger woman through three marriages.
The beginning of Janie’s journey is with her marriage to Logan Killicks, a man with tons acres of land to his name, but to Janie’s knowledge, is just an ugly old bag that has a huge lack of any love or companionship for her. For example, when Janie talks to Logan one night about their relationship he only says “Considerin’ youse born in a carriage ‘thout no top to it, and yo’ mama and you bein’ born and raised in de white folks back-yard” (30). Logan is emotionally destitute towards Janie in the beginning of the marriage. She cannot relate to him in any way what so ever and they both know it as well. In addition, at a point later on in the marriage Logan asks Janie to help him with chores outside, she replies “you don’t need mah help out dere, Logan. Youse in yo’ place and ah’m in mine,” (31). Not only does Logan have an absence of emotion, he also has an absence of love and he expresses the exact opposite of it through his bitterness and anger for Janie. She can now understand that Logan sees himself as supposedly “higher” than her and she loathes it even more. The marriage between Logan and Janie isn’t equal...
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston originally published in 1937. Janie Crawford is the focus of the story, which follows her across post-Civil War Florida on her journey for womanhood. In the opening Janie comes back home a middle-aged woman, greeted by her friend Phoeby. Janie never knew her parents and instead was raised by her grandmother, referred to as “Nanny”. As Janie launches herself into the real world, she goes through 3 marriages with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and finally Tea Cake. Logan treats Janie like a mule, working her on his farm. Joe pampers Janie and restricts her lifestyle on account of her gender. But with Tea Cake, it seems that Janie finds a perfect soul mate who can lead her to freedom.
In fact, she was tempted by Joe’s words. He would gave her what Logan could not: power, fame, and the promise of a prospering life. Once again, life didn’t go as she expected. Joe earned back all his money by selling land to people who wanted to move to the town. Soon afterwards, he became a prestigious man in the town and was elected mayor. Unfortunately, he valued his ambition and power more than Janie. Although she lived a luxurious life, Janie never felt happy since “A feeling of coldness and fear took hold of her. She felt far away from things and lonely” (Hurston 46). Additionally, Janie suffered under his strict rules sorrowfully. For instance, Joe never let her to speak up her mind. As a mayor’s wife, she was not allowed to associate with the locals or attend social events because Joe always tried to shape her into his imagination of a mayor’s wife should be. Moreover, she also resented him bitterly for one simple reason: he forced her to keep her beautiful hair tied up and hide it from public. Actually, he took away all of her freedom. Consequently, Janie was only the suitable ornament to his power and his wealth no more no less. Joe once slapped her face for preparing a bad meal. At that moment, Janie realized she could no longer love Joe and she would save herself for another man. Meanwhile, their relationship continued to break down. Janie’s second marriage was even worse than her first one since she had to live with Joe in almost two decades. She lived with him long enough to stop fighting. For Janie, marriage without love equals life without emotions. In fact, what he did to her caused her a profound trauma psychologically, however she was still suffering his iron rules without
Even though the sympathy may be due to Starks dying, the disgust shown towards Janie is clear and evident. They know that Joe mistreated Janie, but remain oblivious to that, but are conscious and sensitive when Janie does something wrong or against the will of her husband. The contrast between kindness and forgiveness towards mistreatment by men and the alertness and criticalness towards actions of women reveals the criticism of the town towards Janie and women. Even when Janie leaves the overbearing husband Logan Killicks and her controlling grandmother, Janie remains weak and controlled because of the criticism of other people. Eventually, Janie becomes free and more independent when she leaves Eatonville; she finally lives the life she yearned for (Jordan
...at she had to be strong and much more than a house-wife. Moving on with her life, in the next marriage with Joe she was constantly belittled, but she stayed by his side even after the abuse. Janie had develop faithfulness in this relationship, but still she had not found true love. In addition, Joe had left her with a huge sum of money and the store leaving her more stable and independent. From Janie last relationship with Tea Cake she had developed her own identity. Leading Janie to true happiness and love. Through Janie’s long journey she was able to find out who she was and she finally found her true love.