Ophelia, from
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, and Janie
share distinct qualities in which they are both inexperienced and naïve. The
female characters carry out their part in similar environments of male
influence and lack of a motherly figure. Hurston does mention Janie’s mother in
the novel, but she does not have a large presence throughout Janie’s life.
Since Janie is the product of rape, her mother Leafy, took towards the life of
alcoholism. Nanny says to Janie, “And after you was born she took to drinkin’
likker and stayin’ out nights” (Hurston 19). Shakespeare never brought a mother
figure into the play for Ophelia, leaving both Janie and Ophelia among the presence
of solely men. Hamlet being published
around 1600 and Their Eyes Were Watching
God in 1937 shows a great time difference, yet the two female characters
possess similar qualities and face comparable obstacles.
The two girls are very
young in age, most likely around their early teenage years, which contribute to
their inexperience in life. Both Hurston and Shakespeare throw the girls into
an environment suited for women twice their age, but the time periods the play
and novel are set in allow for these occurrences. In Janie’s situation Nanny
assigns her a husband and Ophelia faces conflict whether to choose her brother
and father whom she is loyal to or her lover, Hamlet. Janie faces similar
conflict regarding whether she stay loyal to her husband Killicks or leave for
a better man, Starks. “S’posin’ Ah was to run off and leave yuh sometime”
(Hurston 30). Ophelia and Janie similarly face conflicts with the men in their
lives with no mother to guide them thus causing inexperience to take over. The
Disney film Alice and Wonderland
incorporates a female character resembling the inexperience present in both
Ophelia and Janie.
Alice, from Alice in Wonderland, does not face all
the conflicts Ophelia and Janie do, but she does possess the quality of
inexperience. She decides to follow a rabbit towards its habitat and run into
trouble. The video portrays her falling
down the large rabbit hole filled with strange household items. Not realizing
the potential dangers of following the animal contributes to her inexperience.
I enjoy this connection! Alice, Ophelia, and Janie show a sense of naviety in the way they can be persuaded so easily. Janie elopes the next day with a man she never met, Ophelia believes Hamlet is in love with her and is at a loss, while Alice seeks advice from idiotic mythical creatures all throughout her journey.
ReplyDeleteYou provide an excellent connection between Alice, Ophelia, and Janie! Alice, being the naïve girl she is, follows the rabbit hoping to seek knowledge from an unknown creature that she has never seen before. Both Janie and Ophelia are easily manipulated just like Alice. Janie is easily convinced by Joe Starks, and she immediately becomes attracted to a man she has never met before! Ophelia thinks that Hamlet is in love with her, when in reality she is wasting her time. All three of them connect through their naivety.
ReplyDeleteI never would've thought to connect Ophelia to Janie, but it is an excellent connection! Both Ophelia and Janie have authoritative figures telling what is crucial for their lives. The two are conflicted over their hearts desires and what they are ordered to from, for Ophelia, her father and for Janie, her Nanny.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Janie was married off very young and without any experience. When Nanny saw Janie kiss Johnny Taylor that one time, in Nanny's eye, she experienced enough to be married, Nanny says, "Janie, youse uh 'oman now, (12). During this time period, women need to be pure and virgins, once Janie started getting these urges, her Nanny didn't want her to be soiled and thanked God that Janie kissed Johnny "Only dis one time," (15).
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