“How effectively does Hurston develop complex characters in the first 12 chapters of Their Eyes Were Watching God?”

Janie, the protagonist of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, is often identified as a feminist character. While she is certainly an independent woman who believes in the equality of the sexes, Janie does not lead a typically feminist existence throughout the novel. Largely because of her relationships with the three key men in her life, Janie is often beaten down, silenced, ignored, marginalized, and even physically abused. Yet it is these episodes of disempowerment that strengthen Janie’s feminist identity. She suffers at the hands of Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake, but she emerges from each marriage stronger and more sure of her own identity. Paradoxically, the times in her life during which she cannot be a feminist are what ultimately make Janie an exemplar of feminist strength.