Zora Neale Hurston's, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God' is a book about a girl called Janie Crawford who is of mixed parentage at a time when it was difficult to be of mixed parentage. Upon becoming an adolescent, Janie becomes overly obsessed with finding and meeting her true love. Neale then documents Janie's journey and experiences coupled with the maturity and emotional growth she goes through in her three marriages.
American history depicts a new ideology that begun in the mid- 19th Century about women that was referred to as the Cult of True Womanhood. According to True Womanhood, men were obligated to work and had control over the public sphere of life while the women were basically homemakers and in- charge of raising the children. True womanhood depicted women as pillars of virtue representing key values of domesticity, piety, submissiveness and purity.
Janie is not a very pious character as are most of the characters in the book. However, there are some elements of piety that in a sense depict the values of true womanhood. Janie exhibits a spirituality that in a way acts as an antidote to her restless heart. During the 19th Century, religion acted as a tranquilizer for the many unfulfilled and undefined longings of pious girls. In the book, Janie longs for the kind of love that is meaningful and that would not erode her self- esteem. She searches for this kind of love in her marriages to Joe and Logan. Hurston writes that Janie then develops a split personality. She is able to manage life in the store and with Joe, her husband while her other psyche allows her to "under a shady tree with the wind blowing through her hair and her clothes". The author describes the state she is in as "like a drug" (Hurston 77) which connotes some form of religious spell (Holmes 62).
When it comes to sexual purity, Janie does not fit in well with the perceived true womanhood ideology. Nanny believes in sexual purity which prompts her to rush Janie to get married after she saw a boy "lacerate" her with a kiss (Hurston 12). Hurston portrays Janie as an active sexual being with numerous erotic scenes. With Tea Cake, Janie confesses to Pheoby that they had sexual relations before marriage. She describes their relations like learning "the maiden language all over" (Hurston 115) (Holmes 63).
In relation to domesticity, Hurston portrays Janie as embracing some aspects of domesticity while rejecting others. With Logan, she accepts the role of a homemaker and prefers to work in the kitchen than to plow the fields. Her second husband, however, obligates her to be a homemaker as well as working in the store even though he believes the kitchen is the only place she is skilled at. In her third marriage, Janie is portrayed as a homemaker and very skillful in the kitchen but she also helps her husband on the farm during the day and he helps her prepare supper in the evening (Holmes 65-66).
Hurston portrays Janie as somewhat submissive in the novel. Janie's second husband is abusive and often chastises her to which Janie accepts by suppressing her emotions. Hurston writes, "She didn't change her mind but she agreed with her mouth" (Hurston 63) and "So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush" (Hurston 71). Janie is submissive outwardly but inside she is rebellious especially towards her husband Joe who she eventually gets separated from (Holmes 67-69).
The body politic within the context of the book can be described as homogenous and uncontested. There existed a masculine social construction and Hurston uses a stratification of place, time and work to separate and differentiate male and female roles in the book. Janie becomes part of the body politic officially when she gets married to her first husband. Also, according to Nanny, Janie could only receive social acceptance through integration into places that are biased towards male and females like Killick's house. To Nanny, Janie's marriage would mean initiation into womanhood as well as a kind of initiation in the household labor market (Szabo).
Janie's Eatonville experience brings out a situation in which her language complements the element of space in the book and gives rise to two conspicuous roles of regulation. The evening porch talks that Janie has with her husband elevate her from mere feminine roles and positions to a masculine social place (Szabo). Janie's use of language also allows her to fit into the body politic. By the time she returns to Eatonville, she is sure of herself and knows her role in society and as a woman. She learns to be silent and to speak when she chooses. By the end of the book, Janie is no longer dependent on her husbands or a man for happiness and self- fulfillment; she discovers everything she needs inside her.
In conclusion, Hurston's character Janie in a way fits into the ideology of true womanhood. The author depicts Janie as somewhat submissive, pious, pure and domesticated. However, Janie is not entirely given to these roles and struggles to free herself and to find her voice as well as her freedom from a patriarchal society that regards men more than females.
Works Cited
Holmes, Beverly B. The Influence of the Sentimental Novel and the Attendant Cult of True Womanhood on Four Novels by African American Women. Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences (2008).
Hurston, Zora Neal. Their Eyes Were Watching God a novel
Szabo, Peter Gaal. Transparent Space and the Production of the Female Body in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and Jonah’s “Gourd Vine”. Americana E- Journal of American Studies in Hungary (2007) Vol. 3, No.1
