Remembering the goddess within: The functioning of fairy tale and mythic motifs in the novels of Hurston, Walker, Morrison, and Shange

Using African-American oral tradition and folk culture as the backbone of their novels, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Ntozake Shange overturn the myths about beauty and worth promulgated by standard fairy tales and celebrate women and womanhood in their novels. Their characters are searching for beauty in their blackness and in their inner selves by rejecting the idea that beauty depends on the lightness of one's skin and on blonde hair and blue eyes. Although treated differently in each novel, the development of the archetypal and fairy tale motifs show an increasing experimentation with the mythic and with magic. All examine African-American women and their role in American society. Characters who grow into strong, self-assured women depend upon their inner sense of self and not on the approval or disapproval of men. They grow strong not only without, but often in spite of the men in their lives. The strong characters also gain in self-esteem in spite of society's views and ideals. Those who reject their inner beauty and accept society's ideals fail, and often end up either dying or going mad. All four novelists are concerned with the discovery of the Goddess or Earth Mother within all women, a discovery which leads to a sense of self-identification, and an acceptance of each woman's "true and ancient properties."...