Delia Jones is an African American woman who has been married to Sykes Jones for fifteen years. She is a hardworking woman who washes white man’s clothes to support her no good cheating husband. In the beginning of her marriage she was a pretty little thing but the years of physical and emotional abuse have taken a toll. Hurston demonstrates this, “She was young and soft then, but now she thought of her knotty, muscled limbs, her harsh knuckly hands, and drew herself up into an unhappy little ball.” She is a good church going women who prays for strength to deal with her mean, oppressive husband and as the story progresses we see her change from a…
It's always amazing how much pain one human being is able to endure, and Delia Jones in "Sweat" is no exception. She runs her own household, works full time, feeds and clothes her husband, and deals with his daily verbal, mental, and physical abuse. How could anyone keep on with their lives given such dire circumstances? For Delia, it's all thanks to G-O-D. Delia's faith is a big part of her life, and Hurston's story is ripe with allusions to religious symbols, themes, and metaphors. In fact, the story itself could be seen as one big testament to the power of faith, as Sykes' sins catch up with him in the end while Delia's devotion brings her to a better…
'The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 95% of the victims of domestic violence are women, and they also estimate that a women is beating by their partner everyone 15 seconds in just the United States alone. ' [ (Domestic Peace) ]. Domestic violence is something that is very prevalent in today 's society. What makes it such an awful crime is that most people never really witness it because it happens behind the close doors of people 's homes. Also, what makes it worse is that most of these women, who are the victims to these crimes, don 't go and seek help, they just bottle up their emotions and angers and keep to themselves. In "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Delia, is a hard working wife in Florida who makes ends meat from her job cleaning other peoples clothes. She is a very good women but her husband, Sykes, is always trying to pick fights with her and harasses her with more methods than one. He treats her with no respect what so ever and even has a girlfriend that Delia knows about on the side. Sykes complains frequently about the size of Delia 's figure claiming that she is too skinny. One day Sykes captures a rattlesnake and places it in their home, which scares Delia, who is terrified of snakes, to death each time she sees or hears it. Then when arriving home one day she sees the snake has gone missing from its cage and she immediately leaves her house. Skyes comes home not too long later and Delia watches him and he gets bitten by the snake. Delia could have gone and tried to get help but instead she just watched him die there because she did not love him what so ever anymore. Hurston truly captures all the feelings and emotions felt by Delia throughout the story. Hurston also gives a different perspective of the characters in the book by looking in on local people in the towns conversations about Delia…
Delia is a hard-working woman who is very obedient and faithful to her husband, Sykes. Through harsh words, he cuts her down about her work of washing white folks clothes and her looks saying that he “hates skinny woman”. Delia’s appearance resembles her hard work, with “knuckly hands” from using the washboard. Delia has put many hard- earned tears, blood, and sweat into her house while supporting Sykes’ habits and taking all the abuse he could dish out. On many occasions Sykes has cut down Delia and her kind nature, even to her religious beliefs, accusing her of being a “hipocrite” because she worked on the Sabbath day.…
For example, while Delia is working, Sykes “stepped roughly upon the whitest pile of things, kicking them skelter as he crossed the room. [Delia] gave a little scream of dismay, and quickly gathered them together again” (Hurston 106). This insulting act reveals a huge division between sexes, which is women picking up after men. Society can acquire that women are only useful for cleaning and nothing else, highlighting the struggle women suffered during this time. Furthermore, when Delia tells Sykes how much of a hard worker she is, she “seized the iron skillet from the stove and struck a defensive pose, which act surprised [Sykes] greatly, coming from her” (Hurston 107). This gesture is considered risky for women in the 1920s since they were expected to be loyal to their husbands, which suggests that Delia simply did not care about society and its expectations. She differs from other women because of this new understanding, highlighting her independence. The way women were expected to act during the 1920s did not apply to Delia, which causes her to isolate from…
Delia Jones had to work to earn her keep, with regard to her home life which was abusive. “Ah’ll throw ‘em out and put mah fist up side yo head to boot” (350), her husband display his intentions striking her. She fulfilled her obligation as a committed employee which allowed her the luxuries during that time. “Mah sweat is done paid for this house and Ah recokon Ah kin keep on sweatin’ in it”(350). Though the title for her job was laundry maid she was a really an entrepreneur.…
Maria Teresa is very empathetic; she puts others before herself and always pursues what she think will be more beneficial for those she cares about. When Maria Teresa was being tortured in order to get her husband to do a job for Trujillo, she told the men who were torturing her that she “would never ask [her husband] to go against what his conscience told him was right”(Page 255). This not only proves that Maria Teresa loves her husband, but that she takes into consideration his opinions very seriously. She wants him to go along with what his “conscience” tells him, she doesn’t want her personal thoughts to get in the way and go “against” him. Maria Teresa…
Team Demeter did a great job about intertwining both into a solid debate. One of the considerable points of concern among the debate was that Pittacus pardoned the murderer of his son. Team Apollo argued it showed him as a sympathetic man however, I feel Team Demeter did a wonderful job countering that. Taylor of Team Demeter, explained that the policy of “pardon is better than punishment” would lead Lesbos into chaos. She also argued that we “should not let them (murderers) walk around the Polis. I felt she made a fantastic point that used logic and reason of Logos to convince me that his policies on crime is dangerous. The final two debaters of Team Demeter, Katie and Chloe both also used logic, reason, and evidence in their efforts to oppose Pittacus. Katie brought up the point that for being a proclaimed military general, he’s “only won one battle.” That alone made me question his reputation. Chloe, who was the concluder, offered a great role as the friend of Pittacus. She used reverse ethos to try and convince us of his unfitness to rule, which hits home harder seeing that a close friend of his is willing to speak ill of him. She also did very well in recapping the team’s arguments with strong phrases like he’s a “warrior not a leader”, “bad temperament will lead to war”, and commented on his controversial policy on pardoning murders yet making drunken crimes twice the punishment calling him “very…
She apparently suffers no qualms, however, in asking Mariana to share Angelo's bed. She could therefore be perceived as self-righteous and hypocritical, for example, her seeming lack of sympathy for Claudio when he pleads with her to save him by giving in to Angelo's desire. She turns upon him violently, revolted by his weakness and after a scathing speech in which she tells Claudio that he is no true son of their father, she leaves him in a rage, never to speak to him again in the play. Some critics have accordingly compared her to Angelo as they are both proud yet hypocritical characters who do not see any wrong in their own actions but are quick to blame others, for example when Claudio asked Isabella to give up her virginity to save him she was outraged, “O you beast!, O faithless coward! O, dishonest wretch!” Nonetheless, she expected Marianna to do the exact things she refused to…
Her character arc follows an inverse trajectory to Desdemona’s. When she is first introduced in the story, she is quiet and passive, accepting Iago’s misogynistic abuses without protest in act two, scene one. However, as the story progresses, Emilia becomes a much more outspoken and audacious character. In response to Othello’s outrage towards Desdemona upon misplacing her handkerchief, Emilia muses that men “are all but stomachs, and we [women] all but food; they eat us hungerly, and when they are full, they belch us” (88). This feminist vein appears again when she castigates Othello for labeling Desdemona a whore, saying that “a halter [noose] [should] pardon him” and “hell [should] gnaw his bones” for making such serious and erroneous accusations (112). When asked if she would ever be unfaithful to her husband, she responds that she would not hesitate to do so if the reward were great enough, and goes on to say that “it is their husbands’ faults if wives do fall” to such temptations, and that they should know that “their wives have sense like them” (120). Upon discovering that Othello has murdered Desdemona, only Emilia has the gumption to censure Othello for such a wrongful act, and she is also the only one with the wit to reveal Iago’s machinations as the impetus for it. Though she too pays for this boldness with her life, she…
When we think of Othello, our thoughts often turn to Othello's tragic downfall and/or the way he's victimized by Iago. But, here's a reminder that the real victim in the play is Desdemona. At the play's beginning, Desdemona is strong, confident, and defiant but she winds up becoming the victim of Othello's physical and emotional abuse. From this point on, she is passive and obedient and by the play's end, she blames herself for Othello's violent behavior. Later, when Emilia asks Desdemona who has harmed her, Desdemona replies "Nobody; I myself. Farewell" (5.2.125). We can't help but notice that Desdemona exhibits a classic symptom of "battered woman syndrome" – instead of telling Emilia the truth about Othello strangling her, she blames herself…
Othello written by William Shakespeare is a very interesting and double-minded play. I chose the passage of Emilia’s speech to Desdemona not because it was odd but because Emilia stood out to me as a very opinionated woman. I wanted to work with it more closely because Emilia captured my attention with her slightly exaggerated opinions on men. I got a strong sense of inequality with this whole scene (4.3). Emilia thinks that it is the husbands’ fault for their wives to be cheating: “But I do think it is their husbands‘ faults if wives do fall” (4.3.87-88). I feel like she is being way too cruel in the next couple of lines. She may even sound crazy because she’s rambling on.…
Honesty is a virtue seen in some of the characters, but the one character that seems to stand out is Desdemona. She is the beautiful woman that is wanted by all men and she is constantly looked upon as a woman of an honest and kind nature. Desdemona’s view on honesty is shown throughout the play, her wanting to be honest…
Desdemona is a virtuous and noble character who makes her own verdicts; Bianca is a low class woman presented as a strumpet, and Emilia is a maid, a middle class woman who is vulnerable to manipulation from Iago. She is loyal to Desdemona. In this book, Iago sees women as weak, absurd, and lazy characters whose main desires are physical pleasures. All through the play, Desdemona comes out as a helpless and innocent character. As we encounter her first in the book, she is described as a mature and focused lady. This is clearly depicted in the way she defends her love for Othello. When her father, Brabantio objects the love, she goes defensive and convinces him that Othello is the love of her heart. On several occasions, Iago confesses that Desdemona is cheating because he (Iago) is lying to Othello that she is committing infidelity with Cassio.…
Othello’s quick action without truly thinking about the consequences ends in the murder of his ever faithful wife Desdemona. Othello acts as a child might, had a favorite toy been taken away or a play spot intruded upon. Othello does first, and then thinks later. Even in the end when Desdemona does surly she try to prove herself innocent, he rashly hushes her and denies to listen to her plea.…