Women in Song of Solomon

Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon explores the complex status of women in multiple aspects of the world. With the characters of Ruth, Pilate, Reba, Hagar, First Corinthians, and Magdalene called Lena, readers witness the oppression of women within their families, the broader community, and society as a whole. Morrison approaches gender by incorporating characters that not only face sexism but also break societal expectations of females. Ruth for example is expected to be a home keeper, yet has absolutely no domestic skills. Milkman believes his mom is not happy because she is too serious. Perhaps it is his selfishness or naiveté (and maybe partly his Y-chromosome), but it does not occur to Milkman that the reason his mother is depressed could be because she is trapped in an unhappy marriage with an abusive husband and forced to cook, clean, and care for a family that treats her as though she does not exist. While Pilate is not expected to keep a home in the traditional sense like Ruth, she also faces oppression from the community. Throughout history, older, unmarried women are treated as taboo. They often are characterized as witch-like. Pilate has this same magical sense to her. She has no naval and because of this, many people are scared of her. Society is threatened by women who do not have a “dominant” force in their life. Pilate has no man that she is expected to be submissive to. This freedom scares many of the male characters in the novel. I wonder how the novel and the characters’ feelings and treatment towards Pilate would change if she were a male? Would she still be an outsider and treated poorly by the townspeople, or would her eccentricities simply be accepted as part of her character?