s cook, clean and tend to the children. Albert was taught that this was the way to a successful life. Albert fell in love with Shug, but because of the control of his father they did not marry. His father wouldn't allow his son to marry Shug. His father didn't want him to actually love, because he never loved himself. He fell in love again with Nettie, but she was not allowed to marry him. Albert was forced to find a quick replacement for Annie Julia, his wife from his first marriage and mother of his children who was killed by her estranged boyfriend. So instead he married Celie. In the marriage of Celie and Albert there was no love or devotion. They were just stuck with each other. Celie married Albert because her stepfather told her to, and Albert married Celie because he wanted a full time maid. Celie was thought of as an item that Albert purchased, like cattle, and once he had purchased her she was his and no one else's. She was to obey him and only him, she was to be with only him, he could be with anyone else he wanted. They just went one day to the next with Albert giving the orders and Celie carrying out these orders. It was like boss and employ, except Celie was anything but rewarded for carrying out the orders. Celie was like a slave bought and branded for life to Albert. "He does his business on top of me." This is a quote that Celie wrote in her journal. This shows that having sex wasn't to deal with love or even passion, it was just Albert doing what he had to do. Through all these traumatizing events, Celie lost respect for herself and forgot how to love. Celie who has been forced into the role of the submissive partner, experiences a mock death in order to survive and ultimately to discover herself. In discussing similar loss of control experienced by the battered wife, Stacie Hankinson states:The battered wife has been at the mercy of someone else’s mood fluctuations and predictable or unpredictable temper to...
