Women and Power
"De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see."
--Nanny, Their Eyes Were Watching God 14
This quote establishes the novel's unusual perspective on gender difference. It's the story of a woman's struggle with power. During this time, African American women were looked upon as the mules of the world, because the men were considered the "Gods." Society believed that since they were the men of their households, whatever they said was the way it went. The novel set the tone for different novels during the Harlem Renaissance. It was the first major novel published by an African American woman, so it was often classified as a feminist novel. Feminism is often associated with the idea that men and women are equal. The narrator immediately establishes an important difference between men and women, but allows the reader to recognize that men and women need certain things from each other. (Curran 21)
The novel is about an African American woman named......
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Approximate Word Count: 2825
Approximate Pages: 11 (260 words per double-spaced page) |