Marriage in EWWG by

Janie goes into marriage looking for love instead of entering a loving relationship and then looking for marriage.

clairisawagner — 2014-03-05 20:34:42 UTC

Quote #2 -- Chapter 3

clairisawagner — 2014-03-05 20:37:04 UTC

"Did marriage compel love like the sun the day? ...Yes, she would love Logan after they were married. Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant. It was just so" (Hurston 21).

Quote #3 -- Chapter 4

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-05 20:45:20 UTC

"'Ah wants to make a wife outa [Janie].' 'You mean dat, Joe?' 'De day you puts yo' hand in mine, Ah wouldn't let de sun go down on us single'" (Hurston 29).

Quote #6 -- Chapter 13

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-05 20:49:09 UTC

"No need for Janie to wait any longer. Wear the new blue dress because [Tea Cake] meant to marry her right from the train. Hurry up and come because he was about to turn into pure sugar thinking about her" (Hurston 116).

Quote #4 -- Chapter 8

clairisawagner — 2014-03-05 20:53:05 UTC

"'Listen, Jody, you ain't de Jody I run off down de road wid. ...Dat ain't whut Ah rushed off down de road tuh find out about you'" (Hurston 87).

Quote #1 -- Chapter 2

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-06 20:49:51 UTC

"She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation" (Hurston 11).

Quote #5 -- Chapter 9

clairisawagner — 2014-03-06 20:51:49 UTC

"...[Janie] had run off down a back road after things. It was all according to the way you see things. Some people could look at a mud puddle and see an ocean with ships" (Hurston 89).

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:30:16 UTC

By Clairisa Wagner and Abby Smith

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:30:54 UTC

The bee that Janie describe first joins itself to the flower, and then experiences the "loving embrace"; this notion of first-union-then-love is reflected in what Janie thinks she will find with her husband. Janie also calls this union a "revelation," which is a direct parallel to her expectations of the marriage between her and Logan.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:33:33 UTC

In plain words, Janie describes how she feels love is a product of marriage. The image of the sun is powerful here; she notes how she believes love between partners springs from the exchanging of rings in the same way that daybreak is only a side affect of the rising sun.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:34:10 UTC

The shared codependency that reveals itself in both Jody and Janie--even at the very start of their relationship--shows how Janie relies heavily on the nature of a couple's union as an instigator of love. It assures her that love will prove itself to be a product of the marriage.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:34:33 UTC

Here, Janie explicitly tells her husband that she left with him and married him in order to "find something." Based upon her previous attitude toward marriage, we can infer that she is looking to find love.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:34:53 UTC

Again, we see how Janie leaves with a man always in search of something--love. She looks at the promise of a marriage and sees simply the potential for being loved, just like some people can see murky water on the street and think of it as a beautiful and raging sea.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:35:20 UTC

Here, the blue dress is a tangible symbol of Janie's expectations. Presumably, she bought the dress before she knew for sure when and where they were even to be wed; she agrees to wear it even when it means discomfort on the train and even when there is a chance Tea Cake might not go through with it.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 14:35:37 UTC

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 15:10:10 UTC

Conclusion:

2014-03-09 15:20:46 UTC

Textual evidence supports the analysis of Janie's character. Rather than finding love and then making the decision to marry, she marries and then goes searching for love within the relationship she is already bound inside. Regardless of whether or not this could be seen as a character flaw, it certainly makes Janie's emotions real, unique, and understandable.

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 15:29:54 UTC

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 15:33:38 UTC

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 15:39:36 UTC

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 15:44:13 UTC

abby_smith713 — 2014-03-09 15:48:06 UTC