CATHERINE MALTEZ
MR. AMOROSO
AP LIT PERIOD. 3
“THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD”
BY ZORA HURSTON
LAP #3
Catherine Maltez Nov.7, 2017
Mr. Amoroso AP LIT Per. 3
LAP #2 Compare/Contrast Janie in Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” & Edna in Chopin’s “The Awakening” in terms of conformity within a male- dominated society.
Males have always fiddled with the lives of women for years, they play it well and society is the audience asking for an encore, it is society that says it’s okay. They take advantage of their circumstances and the other gender has to endure the harsh results from that. Janie, a black woman in Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God and Edna, a white woman in Chopin’s “The Awakening” live in two
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He had Made her put her hair up, hid it from one’s eyes, told her what she can or can’t say and had gotten violent with her , she was not in a healthy relationship whatsoever . In “The Awakening” Edna’s husband reminds her of her duties as a women like taking care of the kids, cleaning and cooking. These were the basic principles, the fundamentals of a women back in the day and they would constantly be reminded of this conception. Coincidentally Janie and Edna both had 3 male figures in their life that opened doors to the understanding of the world and one self. Men will always create a whirlpool of love and suffering. With Edna her husband, Mr. Pontiellier was for security , Robert was love however he was just playing with her head which caused suffering for her and Leonce was lust but it was nothing more than that, She experienced a lot of memorable moments with these other guys behind her husband’s back contrary to Janie she would stick to one man and wouldn’t go behind their back. She genuinely wanted to know how it felt to love someone. With Logan it was forced so from the beginning it was bad news, with Jodie she had hope with him but his ego took ahold of him that which inevitably crashed everything and Tea Cakes was where she got her wish. …show more content…
We are being tested simply so that we ourselves can be strong enough to go against the main enemy that we are going to have to face eventually. The enemy in this case would be Jodie and Mr. Pontellier. ( Hurston pg. 107) “Ah know it. Andnow you got tuh die tuh find out day you got tuh pacify somebody besides yo’self if you wants any love and any sympathy in dis world. You aint tried tuh pacify nobody but yo’self. Too busy listening tuh yo’ own big voice.” Janie was finally letting out everything that she kept to herself to Jodie and explained all the wrong he’s done to her, Jodie being stubborn tries to control the situation but isn’t capable of doing so and ended up dying , having no peace with Janie towards the end. Janie however said what she needed to say and was content with it all. After his death she’s free. She lets out her hair and then has to recalibrate her whole existence. She then meets a guy named Tea Cake, she had her guard up from the beginning because she didn’t want the past to rekindle again so Tea Cake had to break her wall overtime and he ended up showing Janie the true meaning of love. (Hurston pg.183) “ They seemed to be starting at the dark but their eyes were watching god.” A hurricane has aroused and Tea Cake tells Janie that she should’ve just went to her house in Eatonville but Janie says that she didn’t care about the circumstances and wanted to stay with him. She was able to
Allen, Priscilla. "Old Critics and New: The Treatment of Chopin's The Awakening." In The Authority of Experience: Essays in Feminist Criticism, ed. Arlyn Diamond and Lee R. Edwards. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977, 224-238.
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.
For many centuries, literature has been used to communicated various ideas and wisdom gained from experiences. The idea of masculinity and male superiority can be best portrayed in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. The novel takes place at a luxurious resort known as the Grand Isle, located in New Orleans, during the mid-1800s. Edna Pontellier, one of the main characters in the novel, struggles to find happiness, love, and freedom. Her attitude towards many aspects of life are much different than other married women around her. This novel is very unique mainly because of the time period it was written in. During this era, strict gender roles were enforced and women had many restrictions. The duties of women were strictly fixated on cooking, cleaning, and nurturing. Edna Pontellier craved for independence. She became depressed due to the monotonous and cookie cutter society that she was forced to conform in. The plot of the novel focuses on Edna’s journey to progress into an independent women in this male driven soc...
Until the middle of the twentieth century, females were in an inferior position to males in all aspects of society. Women who wanted to deviate from the norm were often restrained by males and isolated in a sphere of society’s “perfectly submissive housewife”, a stereotype which women of the world eventually shattered. Kate Chopin accomplished this through her realist piece, The Awakening.
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...
In a world that has seen men as governmental leaders and women as sex symbols, all humans can easily perceive that stereotypical behavior is one of the world’s greatest prejudices. In the story The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, a few of the characters destroy the realm of the “stereotypical world”. Characters such as Léonce, Madame Reisz, and Robert break the mold and give the reader something to think about as chapters pass by. Mrs. Chopin’s knack for switching characters’ stereotypical behaviors becomes indisputably clear throughout The Awakening, as the reader finds it is not only the main character who is different, but the characters around her as well. It should be known that difference is not good nor
...ly must complete with the dominance of men. “In acknowledging her personal desires and dreams, Edna realizes that double standards exist for men and women” (Telgen and Hile 53). Ignorant of her “awakening” to come, Edna tests and defies every accepted value in women during the late 1800s including but not limited to obedience, fidelity, and compliance. Ultimately Edna succeeds in determining who she, reaching her full “awakening,” but discovers that the price for having her own identity in the restrictions of society is more than she can handle emotionally (53). Chopin provided insight for the future generations through the evidence of the effect of gender roles and the process of finding one’s self through their individual “awakening” in the midst of controversy and “as she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself” (Chopin 49).
women and male dominating society. During the 1800s, the time period Chopin lived in ,
During the nineteenth century, Chopin’s era, women were not allowed to vote, attend school or even hold some jobs. A woman’s role was to get married, have children
When Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" was published at the end of the 19th Century, many reviewers took issue with what they perceived to be the author's defiance of Victorian proprieties, but it is this very defiance with which has been responsible for the revival in the interest of the novel today. This factor is borne out by Chopin's own words throughout her Preface -- where she indicates that women were not recipients of equal treatment. (Chopin, Preface ) Edna takes her own life at the book's end, not because of remorse over having committed adultery but because she can no longer struggle against the social conventions which deny her fulfillment as a person and as a woman. Like Kate Chopin herself, Edna is an artist and a woman of sensitivity who believes that her identity as a woman involves more than being a wife and mother. It is this very type of independent thinking which was viewed as heretical in a society which sought to deny women any meaningful participation.
I believe that in the beginning of this story, Edna has not yet discovered who she is or what she really wants out of life. Edna has come to the Grand Isle as a dutiful wife and mother who grew up in an oppressive, unloving and un-nurturing home without her mother. Edna’s marriage is not a loving one, neither she, nor her husband have an emotional connection to each other. Edna goes about her life as a mother and wife in a mechanical fashion, she doesn’t have the mind for it and it’s obvious that her current position where she wants to be although at first she doesn’t see it yet. Edna most likely has never experienced any sort of love or connection with anyone. She doesn’t seem to think very highly about her husband, father, or sisters. Her love for her children is flighty at best. It’s as if she’s been locked in a cage m...
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. In summary, she married Logan because of her grandmother, Jody because she wanted to escape from Logan, and Tea Cake because they had true love. The marriages were different in that Logan treated Janie like a Slave, Joe was moulding her into what he wanted her to be, and Tea Cake just wanted to be with her. As a result, Janie learned many things from each marriage Tea Cake taught her to be herself and do what she wanted to, her marriage with Logan taught her to make changes in her life, and her marriage with Joe taught her to stand up for herself. In conclusion, her experiences in her marriages shaped her into the person she became, and were an important part of her life.
Wohlpart, Jim, Dr. "Patriarchal Society and the Erasure of the Feminine Self in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”." Fgcu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. .
In the past, literature for women strove to reinforce the culturally approved ideas of femininity. Tremendous volumes of literature were written to reinforce appropriate female behaviour. By the mid-eighteenth century, the ideological division of women into two classes, the virtuous and the fallen, was well developed (Armstrong, 18). Literature often portrayed both of these women, with the virtuous triumphing at the end and the fallen receiving her appropriate punishment. Chopin followe...
The 19th and 20th centuries were a time period of change. The world saw many changes from gender roles to racial treatment. Many books written during these time periods reflect these changes. Some caused mass outrage while others helped to bring about change. In the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin, gender roles can be seen throughout the novel. Some of the characters follow society’s “rules” on what a gender is suppose to do while others challenge it. Feminist Lens can be used to help infer and interpret the gender roles that the characters follow or rebel against. Madame Ratignolle and Leonce Pontellier follow eaches respective gender, while Alcee Arobin follows and rebels the male gender expectations during the time period.