The Significance of The Blue Dress in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watchin

The Significance of The Blue Dress in Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the SuwaneeTheir Eyes Were Watching GodJanie (talking to cinque about Tea Cake) He do taught me de maiden language all over. Wait till you see de new blue satin Tea Cake done picked out for me tuh stand up wid him in. High heel slippers, necklace, earrings, everything he wants tuh see me in. Some of dese mornins and it wont be long, you gointuh wake up callin me and Ahll be gone. (pp. 109-10) Seraph on the SuwaneeOver her mothers outraged protests, Arvay put on the blue mull dress the next day. She thought that it was very becoming to her looks. She was give away ahead of time, but ate no dinner. She was excited and curious about this buggy ride, and besides her corset was laced very wealthy. She put on the new leghorn-intention hat with the big pink rose on the floppy brim and waited. (pp. 47-8) Two impatient brides-to-be, puttin on the blue dress but what dissimilar wedding nights and ma rriages await them. From the moment Janie and Tea Cake meet in Chapter 10, they delight in each others company and conversation. By Chapter 12, Janie joyfully acknowledges him as her partner and her teacher. His lessons consist not of imparting new information, but of reinstructing Janie all over again in something that she formerly possessed de maiden language. This sound out recalls the biblical origins of the world (In the beginning, there was the Word), suggesting that through her relationship with Tea Cake, Janies own world and even her relation to the cosmos are being reordered. Language also refers to the verbal delight that Janie and Tea Cake take in each other. In contrast with Arvay and Jim, whose communi... ...e can, however, signal her virginal military position by dressing in a way that represents its equivalent as a southern belle. In addition to her low-cut blue dress, with its feminine, puffed sleeves, Arvay wears a floppy-brimmed leghorn-intention (straw hat), decorated with a big pink rose (suggestive of reproduction). Most tellingly, we are told that she is wearing a corset that is laced very tight so tight that she cannot eat her dinner. Corsets hold in the flesh and nip in the waistline to an attractively small diameter. By narrowing the waist, they emphasize the swellings of the hips and breasts, a contrast mean to stimulate sexual arousal. Thus Arvays wedding/reception attire emphasizes her fragility and innocence while highlighting her desirability. The clothing signs her as an object for consumption, instead than celebrates her as a beautiful companion.