A Study Of Their Eyes Were Watching God From A Perspective Of Feminism

Zora Neale Hurston is a talented African American female writer in the early 20 th century.She is also a novelist,playwright,folklorist and anthropologist.She was an important member of the Harlem Renaissance in the United States,but was forgotten before she died.In the 1970 s,Hurston and her works were rediscovered and studied by Western scholars.In her works,Hurston expresses her own unique views on the reconstruction of black culture and the establishment of black women's self-identity,which has a great influence on many famous black women writers in the 20 th century,such as Alice Walker,Tony Morrison,etc..Published in 1937,Their Eyes Were Watching God is Hurston's magnum opus and the first black female novel to portray the image of a new black woman.This work is now regarded as a classic of American literature.In the novel,Hurston describes the process by which black women under racism and sexual oppression struggle with reality and ultimately achieve their self-identity.This thesis uses feminist theory to analyze how the protagonist in the novel builds her identity through struggle.This paper consists three parts.The first part introduces the background information of Zora Neale Hurston and her literary achievements,the research status of Their Eyes Were Watching God at home and abroad,related theories of feminist theory.The second part is the body part,divided into three chapters.The first chapter reveals the oppression and spiritual persecution of black women suffered from racism and sexism during and after slavery.Because black women are at the bottom of society,they are subjected to multiple exploitation and oppression by white slave owners and black men.White culture and patriarchal ideas have successfully turned black women into objects.The second chapter analyzes the struggle of black women in order to achieve self identity.After the abolition of slavery,the old ideas of black women still exist and affect the identity of the protagonist Janie in her first two marriages.After her self-consciousness is awakened,Janie bravely struggles against oppression and speaks for herself.The third chapter mainly analyzes the process of Janie's self-realization.Janie is inspired by nature to have a preliminary awareness of her identity and a good yearning for marriage,which provided the impetus for her life's self-seeking.In her three marriages,Janie is imprisoned by material security,social status,and blind love.But since Janie never gives up on her self,she eventually becomes an independent woman who gets rid of her dependence on men and lives for herself.When Jenny returned to the black community,she wins Phoeby's friendship by telling her own story and spreads her black feminist ideas to Phoeby.The third part is the conclusion.Reaffirming the importance of Their Eyes Were Watching God for providing a new image of black women.The feminist thoughts Hurston expresses in the novel is worthy of feminists study and research.It is a well-deserved female literature classic.