Examining the Role of Intersectionality in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

Abstract

This paper explores the intersectional perspectives of gender, race, class, sex, physical appearance, class division, and particularly the quest for identity in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by utilizing Kimberle Williams Crenshaw’s (1998) theory of Intersectionality, along with concepts from African American literature and Harlem Renaissance influences. The objective of the study is to examine how the novel portrays the struggles of women of color within a male-dominated and racially segregated society in the American South, shedding light on the compounded form of oppression they experience. Hurston touches on two issues salient in American society, such as sexism and racism, demonstrating how these factors intersect to shape the lives of her characters. This is characterized through the protagonist’s relentless quest for independence, emphasizing the novel’s ongoing critical significance in the American literary mainstream. It also explores that men of color face racial intersectionality, while women of color face gender and racial intersectionality. Representational intersectionality publicly criticizes the racist and sexist marginalization of colored women. The research employs qualitative analysis.