The Portrayal of Men in Female Authored Texts by Maxine Hong Kingston, and Zora Neale Hurston

The novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston are two works by female authors which celebrate the individuality and strength of women. In both cases, the characters portrayed in the novels are stark contrasts to both the typical females and males depicted in both early and contemporary works by many male authors. In the two pieces of literature, women struggle to remain firm in …

…Hurston attacks the undermining of female efficacy as invalid and unnecessary, while Kingston portrays women and girls who could be strong in themselves, but nevertheless adhere to the unyielding and dangerous guidance of mankind. Although both authors shine a considerably more negative light on the influence of males in the lives of women, they do succeed in opening the door for a more critical, and perhaps even more accurate representation of males in contemporary literature.