In the 1900s' the relationship between men and women is clearly defined. Men are the breadwinners and the heads of the families. Women stay at home to take care of the children and the housework.
The story starts off as Celie being a young fourteen year old girl describing the physical and sexual abuse in which she has to endure by her step farther. Taking place in the Southern United States during the early 1900s to mid-1930s, the movie tells the life of a poor black woman, Celie whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her father . He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces Celie to marry a local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as "Mister" (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's sister Nettie comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived, however; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before running away, Nettie promises to write to Celie. Both women were in a loveless married who wanted their freedom and at the end of the story both women got what the wanted.