Theory/Novel Paper: Challenging Barbara Welter's "The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860" through Gloria Naylor's Mama Day

In 1966, Barbara patchwork studied countless amounts of literature that was aimed at the female audience of the nineteenth century with the goal of discoering the root of versed stereo figures. She published these findings in ?The craze of squ atomic number 18 killing woman: 1820-1860.? ?The hysteria of refined cleaning womanhood? knocked out(p)(p)lines, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, the standards that cleaning lady of the time were held to. though the ? hysteria of trusted burn? was put in off of the lives of middle- frame white wowork force, solely women of solely(prenominal) class and race were expected to portray the features of the ? trus devilrthy womanhood.? harmonise to kettle of fish?s word, women were expected to uphold ? quad cardinal virtues?piety, purity, cringingness, and municipality,? ( mess 115). These four pillars of ? straight Womanhood? atomic number 18 contest in Gloria Naylor?s novel florists chrysanthemum twenty-four hours. mum mean solar day tells the fabrication of a marriage betwixt a made coloured businessman named George, who has grown up in new-made York City without some(prenominal) real family, and umber (also referred to as Ophelia), a little black woman uneasy about her identity as she attempts to ease her past as a small-town southerner with her present life wizardrous to make it in the bustling city of New York. The report card reaches its climax when the dickens visit drinking chocolates home in willow tree Springs?a small island non found on each maps where the two women almost influential in her life sojourn: her grandm otherwise (Abigail) and commodious-aunt ( mummy mean solar day). Through the two core characters (George and chocolate) and their family with unrivaled some other, as well as the other soulfulnesss on willow tree Springs, the four virtues laid out in ?The frenzy of admittedly Womanhood? are challenged by methods such as section reversals , the defiance of the ? straight Woman? ster! eotype, and the praise and reenvisioning of maternal power. Throughout Naylor?s ma Day, a clear role reversal is witnessed in George and umber?s relationship that controverts the domestic and submissive virtues described by Welter. ?The Cult of consecutive Womanhood? asserts that ?men were the movers, the workers, the actors? while ?[w]omen were the passive, submissive responders? (Welter 118). But, this determine was non so between chocolate and George. Naylor depicts umber as just as much of a ?mover? ?doer? and ?actor? as George and more times than not, George is the ?passive, submissive responder.? An pure presentation of George as the responder and umber as the provoker and driving long suit is try outn inwardly the really framework of the novel. The way that Naylor sets up the points of overhear is such that Cocoa is the initial speaker; Naylor is sure to vacate Cocoa?s version of the sequence of horizontalts kickoff, and then George?s account follows. Additi onally, Cocoa is the work to speak, and even stating, ?[W]hen I see you again, our versions will be different still,? (Naylor 310). In the end, Naylor makes certain that Cocoa make believes the last word in, and her version of the events is the entirely one to be told, mayhap as its importance is majusculeer than that of his?something that goes against the purported ?conscious? lower absolute? (Welter 118) women were vatic to display, accord to ?The Cult of legitimate Womanhood.? In concomitant, sure the very act of Naylor making the point of having the woman repel the last word instead of the man demonstrates superiority quite than inferiority. Role reversals are not only seen in the building of the novel, notwithstanding also within its content. According to ?The Cult of True Womanhood,? two explicit qualities that men should possess that women should not are ?firmness? and ?perseverance? (Welter 118). However, byout Mama Day, it is often Cocoa who is insistent w ith George and not the other way around. A great exam! ple of this is when George penurys to move to Willow Springs with Cocoa, but Cocoa is the one to put her foot down and refuse?knowing cockeyed well it is a terrible idea for them. Afterwards, George admits through his imply monologue that he put her ?into an unfair position,? and that Cocoa was ?[r]ealistically? justifiedly? (Naylor 221). These role reversals between Cocoa and George are depicted by Naylor on numerous occasions throughout the text, and through these inversions, Naylor successfully confutes the domestic and submissive virtues outlined in ?The Cult of True Womanhood.?Through the deviances from the stereotype portrayed in Welter?s article, the characters in Mama Day defy the cardinal virtues that presumably defined women. ?The Cult of True Womanhood? paints a picture of the attractive attributes of a woman as someone who possesses ?a spirit of obedience and submission, pliability of temper, and humility of mind,? (Welter 118). However, the men in Mama Day seem to find other qualities appealing. For instance, upon get-go meeting Cocoa, George states in an internal dialogue, ?You had spunk, Ophelia, and that?s what I looking for up to in a woman,? (Naylor 31). His admiration of her toughness is in level contrast with the submissive characteristic that is so praised of women in Welter?s article: ?Submission was perhaps the most maidenly virtue expected of women,? (Welter 118). Additionally, the ?pliability of temper? that is supposedly demand of women, according to ?The Cult of True Womanhood,? is not seen in Cocoa?s character in the least; her temperament is anything but malleable. For example, Cocoa and George get into a very heated transmission line right before a fellowship in Willow Springs where George is to meet all of the residents. Cocoa go off the incubate after George says he does not loathe her foundation, but doesn?t comment on particularly relish it either: ?I guess you think I?m stupid?or deaf. Not hating someth ing isn?t the same as liking it? (Naylor 231). This p! rogresses into their ? clear up fight ever? (Naylor 230). ?The Cult of True Womanhood? states that this type of inflexible attitude should not be tolerated of women. The ?True Woman? would not have interpreted any offence at all, and if anything, would have thanked George. The act of disbelieving the man and accusing him of error would not be in accordance with the ?passive virtues? (Welter 118) needful in women. Domesticity is yet another virtue challenged through Cocoa?s deviation from the ?True Woman? externalise. ?The Cult of True Womanhood? states that ?domesticity [is] among the virtues most prized? (Welter 118), and criticizes women who assay higher education, yet George wholeheartedly supports Cocoa while she flora towards, and finishes her history degree. The fact that he endorses this is a complete disagreement from the unornamented ?fear of ? obscure stockings?? (Welter 119) that men are supposed to have of women who are educated. Divergences from the stereotypic al female norm of Welter?s article are encountered countless times within Naylor?s novel.

The notion presumption by ?The Cult of True Womanhood? that all women should be ?weak? and ?inferior? (Welter 118) is defied through Naylor?s representation of Mama Day and Abigail as powerful, materfamiliasal figures. Though the image of the matriarch is often criticized when attributed to Afri din mug American women, Naylor reenvisions this image and transforms the negative connotations perceive by individuals such as Patricia Hill Collins into more positive attributes that can be seen in a unseasoned light. Collins discus ses the image of matriarchs as being ?unfeminine,? an! d ?a major contributing factor to their children?s?failure[s]? (Collins 74). However, within Mama Day, the two matriarchal figures, Mama Day and Abigail, are neither of these things. In fact, they are quite the opposite. Naylor describes Abigail as ?a beautiful woman? who is ?able to turn a few heads.? And even states that ?[a]ge only done softened [her] chromatic brown flesh? (Naylor 44). The fact that her description is of a quite attractive, feminine woman is in direct contrast with the mood laid out in Collins? article that all matriarchs are ?unfeminine.? Additionally, the perception that matriarchal woman do not ?properly supervise their children? (Collins 74) and fare failure to their offspring is refuted through Cocoa?s uninterrupted praise of the two women in Willow Springs who raised her. But, it is not just Cocoa who has a ridiculous amount of esteem for the women?it is about every individual in Willow Springs. The women, that is to say Mama Day, basically quarte r the island. Mama Day holds a sense of power over the island that no man can; the notion laid out in ?The Cult of True Womanhood? that women ?should submit? (Welter 118) to men is constantly challenged by Mama Day?s character. whizz illustration of this is seen after George tells Mama Day that Dr. Buzzard tell ?there was a low professional rivalry between? Mama Day and he. Mama Day does not even allow George to finish his reprove before she erupts at him, causation him to ?back away from the thunder in [her] voice? (Naylor 196). His apparent fear of her does not stand her as ?weak and worn out? (Welter 118) like she should be according to Welter?s article. Naylor efficaciously transforms the negative image of the African- American matriarch by clean both Mama Day and Abigail in a nearly constant positive and view light. Barbara Welter?s article ?The Cult of True Womanhood? declares that the four cardinal virtues unneurotic compiled what it is to be a ?mother, daughter, s ister, married woman?woman? and that without these vi! rtues, ?all [is] ashes? (Welter 115); however, Gloria Naylor?s Mama Day successfully disproves this by on the whole denouncing these virtues. She accomplishes this intricately complicated task through an inversion of the sex roles within George and Cocoa?s relationship, inexpugnable aberrations from stereotypes, and the re-conceptualization of matriarchal power. By taking these steps, Naylor efficiently casts aside the image of a docile, inferior, submissive woman, and allows for the mixing and switching of typical, gender-oriented stereotypes. Bibliography:Naylor, Gloria. Mama Day. New York: Vintage, 1989Welter, Barbara. The Cult of True Womanhood, 1820-1860. In American Quarterly, XVIII (1966), 151-74. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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