Hurston’s heroine in Sweat is a strong Negro woman of noble character who has managed to rise above her circumstances due to her being diligent in washing the clothes of White people in her community (Hurston 1). Most of the story takes place in the house she owns (1). However, the oppressive heat of a sleepy backwater town in 1920s Florida provides a fitting atmosphere for the turmoil she endures (Zora Neale Hurston Digital Archive, Bibliography).
When Sweat was written most people believed that a woman was obligated stay married to a man, no matter how he treated her. This was clearly how her fellow townspeople felt, because despite the entire town knowing that her husband was being unfaithful and beating her, no one told her to at least separate from him (3-4). Delia was also in a rather unique …show more content…
Delia’s primary source of discrimination is her own Black husband. Sykes criticizes and demeans her because she washes “white folks’ clothes” (2). Yet, he does not appear to work himself, he is actually living from the “sweat” of her brow (2, 3 - 4)! He is the prototypical lazy male stereotype who makes excuses for why he isn’t successful, and criticizes those who are. He possesses a foolish sort of pride that prevents him from appreciating what he has (Delia) and from doing any labor that he feels is beneath him