Women’s Struggle for Freedom in Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory

Abstract

Edwidge Dantiacat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory explores women’s struggle for freedom from patriarchal violence. Sophie, the major character of the novel tries her best to oppose her forceful virginity test, thereby resisting her exploitation by patriarchal culture and its hegemony. Patriarchy creates the ideology of virginity to keep women under its domination. If the girl looses their virginity, they are not easily accepted for marriage. Mothers are responsible for their girl's purity. Martine forcefully tests Sophie's virginity to be sure about her purity. Sophie becomes victim of Virginity test by her mother and sexually exploited by her own husband because her husband forcefully have sexual contact with her though, she is unable to have sex because she is wounded by spice pestle to break her virginity. It gives her mental and physical pain. So, she wants to struggle against these acts. She takes action to break patriarchal bondage. She deliberately breaks her own virginity with the help of spice pestle to escape from virginity test. It shows her act of struggle against patriarchal domination. She elopes with Joseph. While Joseph tries to have sexual intercourse in her first wedding night without her interest, she hates him because she does not like undesired sexual contact. In Haitian patriarchal society, there is belief that if the married girl bleeds in the first wedding night she is considered virgin girl, if not, she is a bad girl. For the reputation of male in the patriarchal society, they accept virgin girl for marriage and neglect bad girl. So, Sophie violates the traditional belief, cultural custom and patriarchal ideology because she doesn’t live under the shadow of patriarchal hegemony; rather, she struggles against it. She fights for identity, right and freedom in patriarchal society.