Sexuality and Marriage Theme Analysis

Sexuality within Joe and Missie May’s relationship is a lively, creative force, reflected in the beauty of their home, the playfulness of their interactions, and in Joe’s desire for parenthood. At the same time, Hurston portrays sexuality as corrupting when expressed outside of appropriate channels—namely, marriage. Marriage, Hurston suggests, provides an environment within which sexuality is healthy rather than a source of temptation. Above all, Hurston argues that sexuality is at once a creative and destructive act, one that is natural and beautiful when expressed within the bond of a meaningful relationship yet deeply destructive when treated as a transactional exchange.

Hurston paints a vivid picture of marital love and desire expressed through everyday life. She opens the story by describing a light-filled, orderly, and appealing home environment. Immediately thereafter, she introduces Missie May as a sexually attractive, fertile young woman, whose “breasts thrust forward aggressively” as she bathes. Hurston ties Missie May’s youthful beauty to the loveliness of the home she and Joe have built together, setting the tone for the positive role of sexuality within the Banks’ marriage. Hurston further characterizes the dynamic between husband and wife as “a furious mass of male and female energy.” The mood of their marriage is one of joyful, mischievous teasing, laden with sexual tension. Their affection continues to be expressed within the context of happy domestic routines and a cheerful give-and-take. A delicious dinner is marked by “banter that…flaunted” mutual affection, and their shared physical attraction is repeatedly affirmed as Joe “[toys] with Missie May’s ear” and the couple exchanges kisses at the table. At the midpoint of the story, as Joe walks home from work, the sight of the moon “made him yearn painfully for Missie May,” and he dreams of children; in fact, “creation obsessed him.” Joe’s attentiveness to natural beauty and desire to have a baby underscores the healthy potential of sexuality. Hurston thus initially portrays sexuality as a vibrant force that both nourishes the marital bond and is nourished by it. It can also lead to new life, both literally and within struggling relationships.

At the same time, Hurston suggests that, wrongly acted upon, sexuality has the potential to cause great harm. Slemmons embodies a sexual mystique of his own. The stranger first notices Missie May’s beauty, passing and tipping his hat to her while she scours steps. Relating this to Joe, Missie May comments, “Ah thought Ah never seen him befo’.” Already, Slemmons is characterized by a sense of intrigue. Joe seems to recognize this. When he describes Slemmons to his wife, he can’t let go of the subject of Slemmons’ prowess with women, even when Missie May interjects with kisses and spirited arguments.

Parading Missie May at Slemmons’ parlor becomes a fixed part of the couple’s weekly routine. This public display of his wife’s beauty brings Joe great satisfaction—it helps make up “the best part of life.” Yet Hurston follows Joe’s reflections with the revelation of Missie May’s adultery, suggesting that the weekly “parading” has helped undermine the very possessiveness Joe prizes. Joe’s longings for his wife and for procreation are then abruptly thrown off course when he arrives home and discovers Missie May’s adultery. The threat posed by extramarital sexuality becomes explicit, as Joe strikes Slemmons in fury and Slemmons flees in disgrace.

When Joe and Missie May later sleep together for the first time since the latter’s infidelity, the marital act is impersonally described (the narrator states simply that “youth triumphed”) and is punctuated by the coldness of Joe’s gesture when he leaves the gilded coin, the symbol of Missie May’s transgression, in “payment”—thereby likening his wife to a prostitute. After months of little to no sexual contact, however, procreation opens a path to the restoration of the Banks’ troubled marriage. Missie May becomes pregnant, and despite Joe’s unspoken doubts about the child’s paternity, he ultimately acknowledges the baby as his son. Furthermore, his mother’s approving comments—that Missie May is “gointer have plenty mo’ [children]”—signal not only her newfound respect for Missie May, but of hope for their marriage going forward.

Hurston paints a complex picture of sexual desire in “The Gilded Six-Bits.” It nourishes the most beautiful aspects of the Banks’ relationship and bears the potential for children, yet proves dangerous when flaunted outside of marriage. Joe’s insecurity leads him to show off his wife’s beauty in public, which in turn leads to Missie May’s betrayal of her husband—leaving them with “not the substance of marriage [but] the outside show.” Even when the couple reunites sexually, sex alone is not sufficient to heal this breach; it must be wedded to the “substance”—restored trust and enduring affection—in order to fulfill the life-giving potential Hurston celebrates.