ipl-logo

Feminism In Zora Neale Hurston's Sweat

713 Words3 Pages

The short story Sweat written by Zora Neale Hurston takes places in Florida in the 1920s about the marriage of a black couple named Delia Jones and Sykes and how she is trapped in this marriage and is constantly being abused by her husband and uses her fears to his advantage to effect their relationship. There are many themes throughout this short story but the main one that stood out was the strong feminism. Feminism is portrayed in Sweat by the main character Delia Jones which is the breadwinner in the relationship and works as a washwoman and is stuck in a toxic marriage and has to provide for her insecure husband Sykes. Just like how Delia is not privileged due to her race and her gender in Sweat, African American women are also by the same reasons, since slavery they have struggled individually and in groups to overcome the multiple injustices that they and their communities face. The term Black feminism was not a widely used term until the Black women 's movement in the 1970s. It is used to characterize Black women’s courage during the terrible conditions of slavery. In Sweat Delia is constantly being put down by her husband because she works as a washwoman cleaning whites clothes. A quote to support this is when Sykes …show more content…

The reason behind why Syke is so abusive mentally and physically towards Delia is because she is the breadwinner of the marriage, she basically does everything that the man of the house should be doing. Which causes him to be insecure because he feels threatened that Delia is the hardworking one and bringing in all the income. A quote that would support all this is “You sho is one aggravatin ' n- woman! (8). He says which doesn 't make sense because she clothes him and feeds him and has to say and do all these things so he can feel masculine and that he’s the man of the house. In the article stated earlier the author mentions that “ Hurston had to simultaneously deconstruct stereotypical notions of domesticity as safe and natural,

Show More
Related

  • Roles Of Women In Sweat And Their Eyes Were Watching God By Hurston

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    Evan Wheeler Ms. Gommermann Honors English 10 3 March 2023 Role of Women in Different Works In both her short story, “Sweat,” and book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston brings forth the convention that black women are abused by their husbands; however, she highlights the different ways that the women in each story stand up for themselves. In the short story, “Sweat,” Delia defends herself from the beginning. Conversely, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie hesitates to assert herself until midway through the book. The outcomes of these women standing up for themselves are very similar, but the timing in which they do so are very different.

    Read More

  • What Is The Central Idea Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

    704 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” and her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” the African American social group is being represented in many ways. The texts have similar ways that African Americans are represented for the time period. The African Americans or “colored people” are represented in an aspect that comes from the author's point of view. The African Americans are represented as being unbothered, growing up in a closed community, playing the game with whites, and optimistic.

    Read More

  • Sweat By Zora Neale Hurtson Summary

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurtson exemplifies the amount of disrespect and domestic abuse a woman can handle. It also demonstrated how some males view women in a distasteful and unsatisfied way. Gender and sexuality can initiate most of the specific tactics of domestic violence that can dehumanize an individual, especially women. Zora Neale Hurtson’s character, Delia Jones, demonstrates how women can transition from being inferior to becoming superior in a domestic relationship. The story opened with Delia washing clothes for white people on Sunday, and Sykes verbally abused her for dishonoring God because she was washing clothes that belong to white people on the Sabbath day.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

    820 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the short story Sweat written by Zora Neale Hurston, she tells the story of a hard-working woman named Delia Jones and her abusive, cheating husband Sykes. Delia and Sykes are drastically different characters. Delia is an honest, church going woman, who cleans white people 's laundry to make ends meet and Skyes is a low-down womanizer who uses his wife 's income to support not only himself but also Bertha the woman he is having an affair with. After years of putting up with her husband 's mistreatment, Delia finally holds her ground. She defends her job with a skillet.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Ar 'N' T I A Women By Deborah Grey White

    880 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book Ar’n’t I a women the author, Deborah Gray White, explains how the life was for the slave women in the Southern plantations. She reveals to us how the slave women had to deal with difficulties of racism as well as dealing with sexism. Slave women in these plantations assumed roles within the family as well as the community; these roles were completely different to the roles given to a traditional white female. Deborah Gray White shows us how black women had a different experience from the black men and the struggle they had to maintain their sense of womanhood against all odds, resist sexual oppression, and keep their families together. In the book the author describes two different types of women, “Jezebel” and “Mammy” they

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

    1187 Words  | 5 Pages

    Historical criticism strives to cognize a literary work by examining the social, cultural, and intellectual context that essentially includes the artist’s biography and milieu. Historical critics are more concerned with guiding readers through the use of identical connotation rather than analyzing the work’s literary significance. (Brizee and Tompkins). The journey of a historical reading begins with the assessment of how the meaning of a text has altered over time. In many cases, when the historical context of a text is not fully comprehended, the work literature cannot be accurately interpreted.

    Read More

  • How Does Zora Neale Hurston Use Imagery In Sweat

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston’s Sweat uses a plethora of imagery and symbolism to capture the anxiety, torment, and eventual relief the main character Delia experiences throughout the short story. It is mentioned numerous times that Delia has a petrifying fear of snakes, however, Hurston also uses the snake to symbolize Sykes, her abusive husband, and the venom he spits at Delia through the abuse. The bed Delia shares with her husband is anything but comforting for Delia; rather, it is where she is bullied by Sykes and where she has her epiphany of her failing marriage. At the end of the short story, Delia finds relief from the hot, Florida morning sun underneath her Chinaberry tree and waits for Sykes to die. The imagery of snakes, the marriage bed,

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Delia Jones In Hurston's Sweat

    387 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "Sweat," the main character, Delia Jones, is portrayed as a strong-willed, hard-working washwoman who would wash clothes for white people. She worked tireless to provide for her family. Delia was married to Sykes, who would berate, beat and mentally abuse Delia, incessantly. For example, Sykes would walk into the room where Delia just folded clothing for the white people and find the whitest pile of clothes, stomp all over them and then kick them across the room, leaving her to clean up and restack them. Sykes was also openly living in infidelity with another woman, named Bertha.

    Read More

  • Male Domination In The Color Purple Essay

    1544 Words  | 7 Pages

    The domination of men over women is often characterized by physical and psychological victimization of women and enhancement of their misery. This male domination is not limited to any particular region or particular period but it is globalised problem of all the times. Many women writers enter the literary scene to motivate women and fight against male domination. Walker is one among these sort of writers. Alice walker in her novels portrays the world view of women and their worthy roles, as mother, sister, daughter, wife and beloved.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Zora Neale Hurston

    1338 Words  | 6 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston used symbolism throughout the novel to express the influences that molded Janie’s emotional life. There were three moments when Hurston’s use of symbolism was used to demonstrate the forces that had an impact on Janie’s emotional life stood out, which are the vision of the pear tree, Nanny’s horizon rope, and Joe Starks’ head rag. One of the most referred and used symbolism throughout the novel is Janie’s pear tree vision. The vision occurs in chapter 2, but it continues to shape Janie’s decisions throughout her life from deciding to leave Logan Killicks to live with Joe Starks and then deciding to live with Vergible Woods after Joe’s death.

    Read More

  • Angela Davis: A Social Activist

    869 Words  | 4 Pages

    To be specific, she situates the imminent feminist struggle by highlighting the legacy of slavery among black people, and black women in particular. “Black women bore the terrible burden of equality in oppression” (Davis). Due to her race, her writing focuses on what she understood and ideas that are relevant to black females. Conversely, since white men used black women in domestic labor and forcefully rape these individuals. These men used this powerful weapon to remind black women of their female and vulnerability.

    Read More

  • Comparing Story Of An Hour And Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

    1184 Words  | 5 Pages

    From that point on Delia was a changed women. One night Delia even had the courage to tell Sykes, “’Ah hates you, Sykes’” (Hurston 535). This came as such a surprise to him that he had trouble trying to come up with something harsh to say back to her. Delia was a changing women and Sykes could not handle it.

    Read More

  • Sweat Hurston Character Analysis

    1101 Words  | 5 Pages

    Name: Lakisha Minnis Instructor: Mr. Compton English 2202-001 Date: April. 24, 2017 Sweat Zora Neale Hurston is a prolific writer famed for numerous award winning plays, novels and short stories. In this paper, I will be elaborating on a character from the novel Sweat. Her novel Sweat was first published in 1926. Sweat is a novel that tells a story about the good, evil, and domestic abusive husband.

    Read More

  • Social Stratification In The Movie The Help

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.

    Read More

  • The Tortilla Curtain: Racism And Discrimination

    1084 Words  | 5 Pages

    Even though everyone is different and have different ways of living, they still stick around and help even though they have to go through harsh treatment sometimes to be appreciated. These women in the story are basically raising the kids of the rich white families and they are still living in poverty, belittled, and called out of their names. Stockett exemplifies this throughout the story for the readers to understand how life was back then for the opposite

    Read More

More about Feminism In Zora Neale Hurston's Sweat

Open Document