Their Eyes Were Watching God Lesson Plan

All three of Janie's husbands have used violence to control her, with different results. How does Janie respond to this violence? What do you think of her responses?

Janie lives in a world where men hold all the power and even as independent as she is, she accepts men flexing their control by beating her. In the 21st century, a husband hitting his wife is generally considered a crime; spousal abuse became less and less acceptable over the course of the twentieth century. Students should consider what Hurston's views on such violence might have been, particularly based on the scene with Tea Cake, and how her views got to be that way. How do their own views on the beatings...