...Derek Rotz 1/21/16 HUM2052 Phedre illustrates the attitude of men toward women in the Age of Reason and political Absolutism, in which men represent logic, order, and strength while women represent emotions, weakness, and disorder. Using evidence from the play, discuss how Racine’s Phedre reinforces the stereotype of woman as a destructive force in nature, known as a femme fatale. When looking at Phedre , women are depicted as weak but Phedre is displayed throughout the play as a destructive force or femme fatale not only to herself but to men. She is the queen of Athens and is married to the King Theseus. Theseus has a son Hippolytus but it is not Phedres son and she finds herself falling for him. Since she cannot seem to control herself she creates her own world of chaos. Since she is acting the way she is it causes the King to have issues and he ends up sending away his own son. It was Phedras fault she was despising Hippolytus and was causing tension so Theseus sent him away. After Theseus banished his son Hippolytus it was told to Phedre that Theseus was killed. In her relief she had decided to not kill herself but to try and run off with her dead husbands son. She was going to try and put her own son on the throne and run away with Hippolytus. This plan all fails after it is learned that Theseus is actually alive. Phedre then thinks she needs to kill herself again but Oenone then comes up with the lie. Phedre had told Theseus that Hippolytus was in love with her....
Words: 564 - Pages: 3
...that portion, there is much that can be inferred about her character. She is the vehicle for enlightenment as she provides insight into the deceitful nature of the show business. I purposely did this because it would allow Patrick to relate with Riley, and he would be convinced that Riley would want to take park in his plan. Also, I have no real reason why I chose to make Riley a French woman, but I do have a reason as to why her leotard is red. The decision to make her leotard red was fueled by the genre convention of Noir films’ inclusion of the color red. Many femme fatales in works of Noir present red in any sort of fashion whether it is through her lipstick or an article of clothing. Her red leotard presents the audience with an obvious hint that she is the femme fatale. Also, John Blaser, a contemporary writer, states in his article, No Place for a Woman: The Family in Film Noir, that “she [the femme fatale] remains fiercely independent even when faced with her own destruction,”. Her inability to show any sort emotion of surprise when Patrick provides the suggestion of murdering the lead trapeze artists shows her independence as it is notable that she is more willing to murder them [trapeze artist] than Patrick, and could possibly conduct the plan herself...
Words: 1703 - Pages: 7
...perfection in their eyes. Where does one derive this perfection from? According to Media activist Jean Kilbourne, she concludes that women sign themselves up to be on a perpetual diet by the media (both magazines and television programs). What we watch and read is bound to make us feel anxious about the way we look (http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm, viewed 21 June) A 1997 survey done at the Commonwealth Fund with adolescent girls shows that their main source of information about women’s health issues comes from the media (http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/nedaDir/files/documents/handouts/MediaBI.pdf, viewed 21 June). Familiar stereotypes of women include the femme fatale, the supermom, the sex kitten, the nasty corporate climber. The similarity of all these stereotyped images are women who are typically white, thin, and dressed up to the nines with not a hair out of place and make-up all intact. Media has portrayed their version of beauty and attractiveness of women through countless ads and articles found in women’s magazines. Women are viewed through their physical appearance as beautiful objects, more so than men (Unger, and Crawford, 127). Hence it is no surprise that women’s bodies are the target of sexual desires especially for men (Butcher, Coward, Evaristi, Garber, and Harrison, 27). With Singapore’s growing exposure to the western world, we are fast becoming westernized in many aspects, thus...
Words: 415 - Pages: 2
...This new femme fatale was smarter and less restrained sexually. And this time, she didn’t need a man to do her dirty work. Reflecting the new wave of feminism, these femme fatales didn’t need to rely on men for anything. The confidence these women had in themselves was often demonstrated in how they gazed at themselves in the mirror. These “mirror shots” are a common film technique used in film noir and reveal the woman’s self-absorbed nature (Synder 7). Another example of this self-confidence which borders on self-obsession is Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and the countless pictures of herself she has scattered all over her mansion. Instead of always gazing at men and looking to them to fulfill their needs, femme fatales were looking...
Words: 1215 - Pages: 5
...Film Noir A Culture of Seductive Crime Somewhere along a dark alley in the shattered shadowy streets of Hollywood a part of history lies in the tragically neglected culture known as “Film Noir.” An introduction similar to any number of introductions found in any Noir themed novel or film’s initial dawning. Aristocrat or plebeian does not come into account in this culture; those who are iconic to the startup have come from many different backgrounds and even belong to many different cultures. Film Noir culture is undoubtedly a culture that can share its members concurrently with indiscriminate amounts of other cultures. Film Noir is more than just pessimistic crime dramas starring cynical men and dangerous “femme fatale” siren like women. It is a style and an American culture. With the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 came the great depression. From this time leading up to WWII the current benign dramas unquestionably left more to be desired. Their lackluster presentations were turning off audiences who where seeing so much more turmoil and danger in the world around them, leaving them to find the films boring and detached from any sense of connectivity. With this came the onset of Film Noir. In “Hollywood Genres and Post-War America: Masculinity, Family and Nation in Popular Movies and Film Noir” Mike Chopra-Gant writes, “Noir is seen as more than a trend in film production; it is regarded as emblematic not only of the cinematic culture, but also as the tone of...
Words: 1796 - Pages: 8
...describing how romance and the many varying types of love appear in Film Noir, it is important to understand the different gender roles each character plays. The male protagonist paired with a femme fatale is the usual leading roles in a Film Noir, but that isn’t a hard set rule. Men can play the male victim, damaged men, a private eye, a psychopath, or a homme fatal, (Spicer 85). Women can also play a variety of roles such as the nurturer, the good-bad girl, the female victim, or a femme fatale, (Spicer 90). Male victims can be a protagonist who just gets trapped in the web of lies weaved by a beautiful woman, a femme fatale. The damaged man is usually a veteran who has a hard time adjusting to society after war or a police officer who loses control. After seeing so much violence it is hard for some men to see the world as a happy place. These men are usually paired with a nurturing female character. A private eye appears in many police procedural Film Noirs where he can also be trapped by the femme fatale. The private eye may be a protagonist, male victims, or a damaged man also. A psychopath is usually a male criminal that deceives everyone. Humphrey Bogart’s Dixon Steele appearing in In a Lonely Place, comes to mind as an example. The homme fatale is exactly like a femme fatale, except he is man....
Words: 4967 - Pages: 20
...with different females and see Fred Astaire going solo while Rita Hayworth danced the Seven veil tease dance. As you can see the dancers have their careers, their fashions, and their talents. First of all, the careers of the dancers are different between the males and the females. For instance, Gene Kelly can be seen playing a sailor, a painter, and a movie star in some of his best roles. While Fred Astaire can be seen playing a supposed playboy and a famous dancing performer and a brother to a princess to be. Also sometimes men were more successful than women and made all the money for their cloths and food. On the contrary, the careers are different for females than males. For example, Rita Hayworth can be seen playing a Femme Fatale in Gilda, The romantic version of Salome, and a gypsy. On the other hand, Ann miller could be seen playing an ex-dancing partner of Fred Astaire, Bianca in Kiss me Kate and a female professor in On The Town. Also women were often able to have only minor careers and able afford things because the men especially if they were actors were kings of the hills. Secondly, the styles of male dancers are different from the female dancers. For instance, Gene Kelly could be seen wearing a variety of athletic suits and cloths. While Fred Astaire could be seen wearing tuxedos and top hats and tails. Furthermore, female dancers styles are different then the males styles. For instance, Rita Hayworth often wore gowns made of gold lame and black satin...
Words: 437 - Pages: 2
...Inman loves the excitement he gets from adventure. It's clear he loves to explore the world. He can not be held down for any reason not even for love, just like Odysseus. Odysseus takes off and leaves his wife Penelope and his son behind. He leaves for what seems like forever, comes back and leaves. Although Inman does not leave and comes back then leaves like Odysseus he still leaves Ada and their possible future behind. The scene at Juniors home, the women walking around tempting the men and the drinking are simile to the sirens scene. Sirens were creatures who were said to sing the most beautiful song on the earth, but those who heard it became so enchanted that they died. Odysseus ties himself to the boat just so he could give in to the temptation of the song and not die. Just like him, Inman too was giving into temptation. Although it wasn't a song that lured him in, but the forceful sexual temptation from Lila. He tried not to give in to her, the more he resisted the harder she forced herself onto him. If he had given in fully to her temptation just like the soldiers with the sirens, he would have died. Another similar scene between both Odysseus and Inman would be the scene where Inman and his friend were drugged and almost turned in for a reward. A man and his wife had drugged Inman and tried to seduce him so that they could make a living like they always do. This is similar to the Lotus eaters Scene. Odysseus and his men arrive at the most beautiful island they...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
...CASE |CASE|"Boris, I understand your concern about the risks involved with expansion, but if we're ever going to realise our dreams and the | |STUD|potential of this business, we have to believe that we will succeed! Sure, the industry is fickle - one year you're on top while the| |Y |next year no one wants your designs. We've had some good years and we've had some bad years, but we survived everything the market | | |threw at us and we learned from our mistakes. I honestly think I now understand just what the market wants; with this knowledge we | | |should really be able to take off - if only we can improve quality control and shorten the delivery time. The expansion should take | | |care of these problems and enable us to attract a major market segment we are now only barely touching. You have the financial | | |training and know-how to analyse the economics of the project, and I'm not disputing that the analysis shows it to be risky. But | | |sometimes you must have the faith to look beyond the numbers - I vote that we go ahead with the expansion and never look back! It | | |will succeed; I just know it will!" | | | | | |Natasha Martini, who expressed the above sentiments, had worked for just two years...
Words: 2288 - Pages: 10
...FLST 3160 02 F2 2015 Topics in Film Studies Film Noir Colin Taylor Out of the Past Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by French director Jacques Tourneur from the source novel, “Build My Gallows High” by Daniel Mainwaring and using a script by the author but with hefty additions from the author of The Maltese Falcon, James M Cain as well Frank Fenton, a B-movie writer who rumour has it was responsible for many of the films great one liners. As the AMC film site has it, “The downbeat screenplay was based on Geoffrey Homes' (a pseudonym - his real name was Daniel Mainwaring) 1946 novel Build My Gallows High, a book that consciously imitated Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon (1941). (An uncredited James M. Cain wrote some of the script.)” Tourneur was an established director whose oeuvre was predominantly what we should call B Movies but all of which had a striking visual style. His three most famous movies before Out of the Past, Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie and The Leopard Man are all about transformation, the night, perversion, the corrosive effects of evil, and the powerful link between violence and sex. Both he and Mainwaring were unapologetic left wingers (Mainwaring had to operate under a pseudonym during the McCarthy witch hunts) who saw evil in greed. Mainwaring’s most famous film script was the “reds under the bed” masterpiece The Invasion of the Body snatchers, another film about changes in people. Out of the Past is such a rich visual and...
Words: 3027 - Pages: 13
