Their Eyes Were Watching for Marriage and Men
Ivie Caldwell
ENGL 250
Saunders
11 October 2016
Their Eyes Were Watching for Marriage and Men
When growing up, parents hold their children to expectations that hopefully develop the children into successful and appropriate citizens. More specifically, mothers hold their daughters to expectations and do this by teaching a variety of lessons to them about growing up in a society that is predominantly ran by the male gender. In both The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the goals of Amanda for Laura and the goals of Nanny for raising Janie were similar in message yet different in deliverance.
First of all, the two books plots take place in the early, almost mid nineteen hundreds. This is time when it was popular for women to be the caregivers and house caretakers. The main goal that Amanda and Nanny have in common for their daughters is to have them get married, to successful and financially stable men who would be able to care for them. Amanda is very obvious about this goal for Laura by constantly telling her that she used to be a hot commodity for the gentlemen of her time and that her daughter should be too. Amanda is very focused on getting Laura a gentleman caller by telling her to “stay fresh and pretty – for gentlemen callers!” (7 Williams). Amanda determines Laura’s success by her relationship status because Laura did drop out of business school and does not seem to have a lot of friends so the only thing left that her mother measures is her romantic life. However, Laura states to Amanda that she feels uncomfortable with pursuing gentlemen callers that much.
During this time period, Amanda’s statements are not deemed as sexist or unreasonable in society. Ironically however, Amanda later begins to value Laura’s other qualities and traits and recognizes that they are important in addition to her looks. On page eight in The Glass Menagerie, Amanda says to Laura that a woman also, “need[s] to have a nimble wit and a tongue to meet all occasions.” Amanda also thinks that even though physical appearance is a way to gain a man, having the personality and social success to go with it is important as well. Everything that Amanda talks about regarding Laura is in hopes to find her a gentleman caller who will turn her into a married woman, which Amanda was deem as being successful rather than by Laura’s own personal terms.
In reference to Nanny and Janie, Nanny also has the similar goal to have Janie married off. When Nanny sees Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, Nanny tells Janie that she, “wants to see [her] married right away,” (Hurston) and how she is wearing her womanhood because of kissing a man. Nanny also has some standards for Janie when it comes to the boys she is kissing and hanging out with. Nanny wants a successful and established man who is wealthy and protects Janie. Nanny states this to Janie when she says, “Mah daily prayer now is tuh let dese golden moments rolls on a few days longer til Ah see you safe in life,” (Hurston) and “Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection,” (Hurston). Nanny believes that her granddaughter needs to be successful in marrying a man, marrying a successful man nonetheless.
However, in today’s modern society, many women do not determine their success based off of finding a husband. Rather, success if measured by whether or not she is employed, what she does for a living, how fiscally stable she is, and then once a woman
has completed that, becoming married and having a family becomes more important. Many women in today’s society also are more drawn towards finding a man they truly love and cherish, even if they are not the most successful.
I believe that even since the early nineteen hundreds, leading into society today that women are given unrealistic expectations about marriage. Whether it is their personal feelings, what people think marriage should be, how women should act to find a husband, how a woman’s husband should be. Effectively, leaving society up to determining what a good or bad gentleman or husband looks like. For example, Janie has a variety of poor relationships with men because she is supposed to be married so quickly and look for a particularly “successful” man. Janie quickly figures out how to be independent and how it is important. Well, until she finds Tea Cake that is, whom seems to be the perfect fit for Janie. Similar to today, women get married thinking it is the right thing to do and that this is what they are meant for and later, especially in modern day society, many end up separating or getting a divorce from their husbands. Learning to be independent as a woman was something that Amanda never taught Laura. Laura is expected to be dependent on a man for the entity of her life. First she is dependent on Tom and then her mother expects her to find a gentleman caller to get her married off and become dependent on him. Laura is never taught to be an independent woman who don’t need no man!