How did Zora Neale Hurston portray Black women’s lives in Their Eyes Were Watching God?

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Phillis Wheatley's first book of poetry — African American literature Frontispiece and title page of *Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral* (1773) by Phillis Wheatley, the first Black woman to become a poet of note in the United States. The portrait on which the frontispiece's engraving is based is often attributed to Scipio Moorhead, an Black artist and writer who, like Wheatley, was enslaved and living in Boston.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the lives of Black women by centering on the protagonist Janie Crawford and her journey toward self-realization, autonomy, and voice.1

Hurston rejects traditional tropes, presenting Janie as a woman who is not punished for her sensual nature. Through Janie’s three marriages, the novel explores complex gender dynamics, illustrating how love can be both liberating and controlling. While Janie’s earlier husbands seek to dominate her, her relationship with Tea Cake highlights the persistence of patriarchal norms, even within more affectionate partnerships. Ultimately, Hurston portrays Janie’s refusal to sacrifice her independence, culminating in her self-defensive act against Tea Cake and her return to Eatonville to define her own identity.1

Furthermore, Hurston emphasizes the importance of self-expression. By utilizing a frame narrative and African American dialect, she depicts Janie’s transition from enforced silence to the power of storytelling, framing the reclamation of one's own voice as a vital act of liberation.1