Essay Comparing The Awakening And Their Eyes Were Watching God

From the Bonds of an Oppressive Master: A Comparison and Contrast of The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Though it is rare to find literary works that empower women while still maintaining a scholarly tone, it is interesting that both The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston achieve this without coming across as confrontational to the reader or seeming like they are trying to indoctrinate the reader into a new set of beliefs. While they have their differences, both of these novels not only pursue a storyline that holds feminist ideals very highly, but they also subdue their feminist messages into small hints occasionally throughout their stories, thus making these books suitable for any demographic. In both of these books, similar story lines are pursued, feminist ideals are introduce and followed throughout the story, the characters develop in similar ways, and both authors are credible sources for this subject matter. Both Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Awakening contain similar story lines. Both books follow a woman in
Janie almost always relies on her husbands, despite her attempts to become independent from them, and of course Edna killing herself did not accomplish independence. In a way, her killing herself was more like Edna giving up because she could not become independent (Hurston 50; Chopin 140). This also shows the difference between cultures as it was almost too easy for Janie to get up and leave her husband for another man, while Edna tried almost everything she could think of, but in the end, she and Robert could not be together (Hurston 42; Chopin 145). In the end, both Janie and Edna continue to rely on their husbands, despite constantly saying that they want to be independent. In this way, the both fail to obtain their independence they longed