A Feminist Reading of Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay -- Feminism F

A Feminist Reading of Their look Were reflection matinee idol In Zora Neale Hurstons novel, Their Eyes Were notice God, the reader is treat to an enthralling story of a adult distaffs lifelong call for for happiness and love. Although this novel may be analyzed according to several(prenominal) critical lenses, I believe the perspectives afforded by French feminists Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray have been roughly useful in informing my interpretation of Hurstons book. In The laughter of the Medusa, Cixous discusses a phenowork forceon she calls antilove that I have found helpful in delimitate the social hierarchy of women and relationships between them in the novel. In addition, Cixous addresses the idea of woman as caregiver, which can be illustrated through the character of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God. On the other hand, Luce Irigaray discusses the different modes of sexual desire of men and women in her essay, The Sex Which is Not One. Many examples supporti ng and refuting her claims can be found in the novel. According to Cixous, the most heinous crime connected by men against women is the promotion of antilove. Insidiously, violently, they have led women to hate women, to be their own enemies, to mobilize their immense strength against themselves, to be the executants of their virile need (1455). Their Eyes Were Watching God offers many examples of women in vicious brawl with one another, usually involving or benefiting a man. Janie is confronted by the malice of her female neighbors in the very first chapter of the novel, as she arrives back in Eatonville afterwards her adventure with Tea Cake. The women took the faded shirt and muddy overalls and laid them out for remembrance. It was a weapon against her strength and if i... ... 1930s can also be employ today, within the context of my own personal life and that of the surrounding society. The challenges Janie struggles with as she moves through her life are the same struggle s every woman, no event where or when she lives, have had to face. In my opinion, it is this universality that renders Their Eyes Were Watching God and its companion criticisms so valuable for readers. Works Cited Cixous, Hlne. The laughter of the Medusa. The Critical Tradition Classic Texts and coetaneous Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. Boston Bedford Books, 1998. 1454-1466. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York HarperPerennial, 1998. Irigaray, Luce. That Sex Which is Not One. The Critical Tradition Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. Boston Bedford Books, 1998. 1467-1471.