Male Domination In Alice Walker's The Color Purple

The novel entitled The Colour Purple (1982) is set a period that was almost entirely male dominated. This theme of power and desire on the part of the men to have control exerted over women is evident throughout (Selzer 2011, p. 13). The protagonist of this story is a young woman by the name of Celie, whose life is marked almost entirely by oppression, submission and abuse, and almost exclusively at the hands of males (Lundin 2009, p. 6).

Abuse and male domination is seen almost immediately in the beginning of this novel and then continuously throughout. The power that men hold and male supremacy is cited in almost every facet of this novel. Her stepfather “Pa” is Celies first abuser who mistreats her both physically and psychologically. He tells her she is worthless and “ugly” (Walker 1982, p. 18) and throughout her childhood rapes her and manages to successfully impregnate her twice. He further conveys his power by taking the two children she gave birth to and selling them off without Celie’s knowledge or opinion (Selzer 2011, p. 13).

Celie is forced into a marriage with a man who has no feelings of affection towards her and goes on to become the next abuser in Celie’s life. Her husband is never mentioned by name, and is only referred to as Mr___ which only reinforces the power he has (Selzer 2011, p. 13). By being nameless, he almost

It considered the way in which social progress was expressed in both the novel The Color Purple (1982) and the film Alice in Wonderland, as well as what the role of the female was in each of these specific contexts. This essay aimed to examine the ways in which both Alice and Celie attempted to progress their lives and how this progress was expressed both literally as well as figuratively, and how they individually developed as characters and emerged stronger in the fight against male domination and female