Times and scenes like that put Janie to thinking about the inside state of her marriage. Time came when she fought back with her tongue as best she could, but it didn’t do her any good. It just made Joe do more. He wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it. So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush. The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor. It was there to shake hands whenever company came to visit, but it never went back inside the bedroom again. So she put something in there to represent the spirit like a Virgin Mary image in a church. The bed was no longer a daisy-field for her and Joe to play in. It was a place where she went and laid down when she was sleepy and tired. She wasn’t petal-open anymore with him.Zora Neale Hurston
About This Quote
This quote is a reimagining of a passage from the novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". In the original passage, the girl describes how her father's promiscuity has forced her to grow up too quickly. In this version, Janie describes the ways in which she is forced to grow up too quickly because of her marriage. She works hard to keep up an appearance of being a happy wife, but that's not really who she is. This quote reflects a shift in attitude that takes place when a woman is married, and it reflects the shift in attitude that takes place when a woman is married.
Source: Their Eyes Were Watching God
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