“Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss” (Hurston, 203). In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Tea Cake is portrayed as Janie’s one true love. However, an in-depth read of the text will reveal his manipulative and gaslighting tendencies toward Janie under the pretense of love. Due to the time period, in which the novel was set, Hurston consistently perpetuates the idea that love can be abusive and controlling through Janie’s and Tea Cake’s relationship.
Tea Cake and Janie’s story starts off great. With their innocent flirting and their dates, it seems that Tea Cake would be the one for Janie. However, the trajectory of their relationship takes a quick turn. The morning of their first night in the Everglades, Janie wakes up later than Tea Cake and “found out her two hundred dollars was gone” (Hurston 169). Tea Cake took her money without her knowledge and spent it on gambling. Phoeby, Janie’s friend had previously advised her not to let Tea Cake know about the money she held, reasoning that “Things might not turn out like she thought” (Hurston, 168). Although Tea Cake eventually does win the money back and more, it is important to note that Tea Cake feels like he could take advantage of Janie and her wealth without thinking of the repercussions. There were obviously none from Janie which furthers this notion that men have complete control over their wives and their properties.
This is further seen in Tea Cake’s abuse of Janie. As mentioned earlier, “being able to whip her assured him in possession” (Hurston, 203). While the act of aggression may not be seen as such a horrible thing due to the time the novel was set in, it clearly shows Tea Cake cares more about his fragile masculinity and his dominance over Janie rather than her actual well-being. The way people view love during this time is extremely warped, “The way he petted and pampered her as if those two or three face slaps had nearly killed her made the women see visions. . .” Society has ingrained this idea that it is okay if a man is abusive towards their partner as long as he takes care of them after which is creating this twisted idea of “true love.” “And the helpless way she clung on to him made men dream dreams” (Hurston, 203). During the 1930s, men dream of having a woman they could control and intimidate. They dream of establishing a power dynamic between them and their wives. However, they do not dream of having a true, meaningful, and nurturing relationship.
On the surface, it seems like Janie had more independence with Tea Cake compared to her previous partners but the reason for Tea Cake’s abuse as previously mentioned was to establish his dominance over her. It seems contradictory to label Janie as independent when she is also described as “helpless”. Janie constantly puts Tea Cake’s wants and needs over hers as well. While that may seem like a choice she happily makes, it sounds like she’s only obliging so she can keep Tea Cake content. Yet, this can only be achieved by giving up her own contentedness and this does not reflect what a healthy and loving relationship should look like. When he and Sop-de-Bottom are talking about Tea Cake’s abuse towards Janie, Sop-de-Bottom mentions how lucky he is to have Janie as a wife because she is submissive and “doesn’t even holler” when she’s hit, “she just cries,” (Hurston, 203). Men during the 1930s preferred women who were silent, and submissive and did as they were told and Janie did exactly that for Tea Cake.
From the time of her marriage to Logan Killicks to the time she married Tea Cake, Janie went from a 16-year-old girl to a 38-year-old woman. During those 22 years, she was single for only six months. Jumping from man to man, Janie did not have the time and space to discover who she truly is as a person and molds herself to what the men in her life wanted her to be. Janie does not find true love with Tea Cake and won’t find it with another man until she discovers who she truly is.
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