“Alice Walker’s Depiction of Female Characters in ‘the Color Purple’ Is Intended to Act as a Stark Contrast to How Many Female Characters Have Been Portrayed Throughout Literature” Discuss This Statement with Reference
“Alice Walker’s depiction of female characters in ‘The Color Purple’ is intended to act as a stark contrast to how many female characters have been portrayed throughout literature”
Discuss this statement with reference to the critical anthology
Throughout literature there has been an array of female portrayals, most prominently those in 19th century fiction, who didn’t work unless driven to it by necessity. Instead, the focus of interest was on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner, which would decide her ultimate social position and exclusively determine her happiness and fulfilment in life, or her lack thereof. However, when Walker published her novel The Color Purple, she rejected the traditional stance of the woman in literature and opted to create a novel that would empower black women who felt like they were rejected from the mainstream publications. When looking at a novel which is so focused on women we must ask ourselves, what sort of roles do the women play and are they associated with particular themes because of how they are portrayed. Rather than simply write in a manner which is a reflection of her environment, Walker intends to speak out against it through creating characters who in no way conform to the traditional constrains that are presented in female characters throughout literature. By doing so she (as do her characters) is speaking out against a patriarchal society which has put pressure on women to conform to society’s expectations of what women should be.
Through her writing Walker presents a divide between traditional literature and her novel, something which is most prominently shown through her use of black American vernacular (BAV). Through giving Celie a voice through this form of non-standard English, Walker makes Celie seem like more of a real person more so than a character who is narrating a series of events throughout the novel as we are able to hear Celie’s voice when reading, something which juxtaposes the fact that this
Discuss this statement with reference to the critical anthology
Throughout literature there has been an array of female portrayals, most prominently those in 19th century fiction, who didn’t work unless driven to it by necessity. Instead, the focus of interest was on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner, which would decide her ultimate social position and exclusively determine her happiness and fulfilment in life, or her lack thereof. However, when Walker published her novel The Color Purple, she rejected the traditional stance of the woman in literature and opted to create a novel that would empower black women who felt like they were rejected from the mainstream publications. When looking at a novel which is so focused on women we must ask ourselves, what sort of roles do the women play and are they associated with particular themes because of how they are portrayed. Rather than simply write in a manner which is a reflection of her environment, Walker intends to speak out against it through creating characters who in no way conform to the traditional constrains that are presented in female characters throughout literature. By doing so she (as do her characters) is speaking out against a patriarchal society which has put pressure on women to conform to society’s expectations of what women should be.
Through her writing Walker presents a divide between traditional literature and her novel, something which is most prominently shown through her use of black American vernacular (BAV). Through giving Celie a voice through this form of non-standard English, Walker makes Celie seem like more of a real person more so than a character who is narrating a series of events throughout the novel as we are able to hear Celie’s voice when reading, something which juxtaposes the fact that this
Bibliography: * http://www.litnotes.co.uk/color.htm * Race and Domesticity in The Color Purple- Linda Selzer * http://www.shmoop.com/color-purple/ * http://sitemaker.umich.edu/lesbianhistories * Critical Anthology * Feminism and Feminist criticism, Barry, P (2002) Beginning Theory (2nd Edition) (P. 121-123), Manchester University Press * Robert Towers, The New York Book of Reviews, August 12, 1982 * Richard Wesley, “ ‘The Color Purple ‘ Debate: Reading between the Lines,” Ms. September, 1986