A Woman's Voice in Literature

It is possible to have power without having a voice, but it is not possible to have a voice and remain powerless. The two are not wholly interrelated however, many literary works regarding a character’s assumption of power uses that character’s newfound voice as an avenue to that power. A character’s voice can be either a literal proclamation of values, intentions or self-worth as depicted in Anne Sexton’s "In Celebration of My Uterus," or it can be a conscious decision made by the character to remain silent or unwilling to intervene as seen in both Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, and "Sweat," by Zora Neale Hurston. By giving attention to the author's’ word choice, and the exposition of the story, one can deduce that voice itself is multilateral, as well as a popular medium for character empowerment in Literature.

Traditionally, the definitive use of the word voice pertains to the sound produced by somebody’s larynx in either song or speech; however, a less literal use of the word voice is the usage meant to denote the opposite of being silenced--the deliberate act of defying oppression. An expression of voice can very well be audible--or understood as such--like in Anne Sexton’s poem, "In Celebration of My Uterus," where the speaker uses her voice to express that she, and women both similar and dissimilar to her are more than just procreators sent to earth for men. While Sexton’s speaker is not using her voice-box to utter audible sounds and noises, her words, language, sentence structure, punctuation and repetition are areas that her tone of voice are demonstrated. A less obvious example of voice would be Deila’s use of voice while she stands by waywardly as her vile husband dies a most fitting death in Zora Neale Hurston’s "Sweat,". Deila’s conscious decision not to intervene was an expression of her voice, as she was finally putting her own needs before her husband’s, even though that goes against tradition in that setting. Finally, an example of voice can seem completely opposite of that at first appearance, such as the example from Susan Glaspell’s short play Trifles, where Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters exert their voice by keeping completely quiet about incriminating findings toward Mrs. Wright in an attempt to save her from being rightfully convicted for killing her husband. A character’s expression of their voice is seen in a multitude of ways and is evident in a multitude of areas throughout these riveting works by some gifted women in literature.

Compared to all of the factors that go into writing a literary work such as plot or conflict or punctuation, perhaps the most deliberate factor is an author’s word choice. A composition teacher I had my freshman year of college always said, “Mark Twain always said to choose the exact word you want, not its first cousin,” and while I don’t believe Twain ever actually said that, I find this quote particularly expressive of word choice’s importance. From Sexton’s deliberate choice to use the word ‘woman’ in her poem rather than gal or lady or girl, to her choice to refer to her womb as “singing like a schoolgirl,” word choice plays a pivotal role in casting the proper tone of this poem (line 9). Sexton’s use of the word ‘woman’ instead of the other words that denote a female gives off a sense of empowerment because girl depicts innocence, lady; obedience and gal is a bit too colloquial. Her decision to refer to her once-thought as ill womb as a singing school girl was to deliberately convey merriment, and merriment, coupled with empowerment of womanhood gives the reader a perfect concept of the tone Sexton intends to convey. In addition to conveying tone, word choice can also demonstrate a growing realization of power, as seen in Trifles. Soon after the ladies discover that someone had wrung the bird’s neck, the men enter the room asking if the ladies had figured out if what Mrs. Wright had been sewing , asking if it was going to be quilted or knotted. Glaspell’s excellent word choice conveys dramatic irony when Mrs. Peters answers that they figured Mrs. Wright was planning to knot it. The irony lies with the audience as the concept of knotting something is twisting and turning it--much the same way the bird’s neck was wrung by Mr. Wright or the rope was around his neck in consequence to that. Once again, Glaspell’s use of word choice shows that both Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are sympathetic to Mrs. Wright when Mrs. Peters proclaims that the way in which Mr. Wright was killed was awful, “slipping a rope around his neck that choked the life out of him,” and Mrs. Hale answers back with repetition of the same phrase, “His neck. Choked the life out him.” (Glaspell 103). Another perfect example of word choice playing a role in conveying a character’s rise to voice is Deila’s monologue in Sweat, shortly before her husband’s final encounter with the snake. Unexpectedly, Deila stands up to her husband with, “Ah hates you, Sykes,” and in the story, it says that she spoke these words calmly (Hurston 55). Hurston’s deliberate choice to present these words calmly leads to the realization of the reader that she truly means it, and it isn’t just the heat of the moment. But, more importantly, Deila is beginning to realize her strength against this man. Her initial knowledge of her strength is what keeps her from coming to his rescue at the end of his life.

A significant part of a story’s exposition are certain cues like foreshadowing that hint to the reader that something significant is going to happen involving whatever is being foreshadowed. In regards to a character gaining a sense of power during the use of foreshadowing, Deila grows increasingly vocal about her anger toward Sykes when she mistakes his bull whip for a snake in the beginning of "Sweat,". In Glaspell’s, Trifles, evidence of power through voice is most closely related to the element of exposition. Because these women find their voice through the deliberate act of silencing themselves, and the nature of this work is a dramatic play, the scene notes are full of evidence of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters’ assumption of power. In regards to the plays physical setting, having the women in the main room of the house and the men wandering the property searching for evidence is key to these women finding and eventually concealing the truth; however, the scene-by-scene exposition of the characters and their demeanors is where we see these women’s choice to be dishonest arise. Early on in the story, the audience realizes that these scene cues are an important part of demonstrating the women’s power over the men when Mr. Hale proclaims, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” and the scene cue explains that the two women move a little closer together (Glaspell 95). There is no indication that there was any practical reason for the two women to huddle--they were not in the way of anything, nor were they about to embrace or leave the room. This compliments the eventual banning together of these women against their own husbands, Mr. Wright and men as a whole by covering up what they know about the guilty Mrs. Wright. With this setup in place the audience will pay added attention to these scene cues as a means of discovering the women’s intentions and realization of power. Later in the story, upon discovering the dead bird the scene cue denotes that the woman gaze at each other with, “a growing comprehension of horror” as the two women are now faced with a crux--to tell their husbands or protect Mrs. Wright (102). Finally, and going back to the original exposition of the women commanding the main room for this play, we learn with the women that Mrs. Wright never owned a cat, but once the men have come back in the scene and asked about the empty birdcage, Mrs. Hale answers back, “We think the--cat got it,” as a means of keeping the men in the dark (103). If the women hadn’t been alone or had been within earshot of the men, the entire structure of the story--including the women’s gain of power through their omission--would be lost.

Even though these works of fiction are all seemingly different, the common theme of voice expression is seen in all of them clearly even if each character expresses their voice different from the next. For the characters in these stories and the speaker of Sexton’s poem, finding a sense of voice was the avenue they used to gain a sense of empowerment, which is one reason I can see for these works to continue to be read today.

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