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How Women Are Presented in 'in Cold Blood'

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Through Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’ we observe 1950’s America where society was predominantly patriarchal with women expected to fulfil domesticated roles; this entailed staying at home to look after the family and women who did work were expected to do maternal jobs such as nursing and teaching.
Capote presents some females as conformists to such a society which is seen through the lives of Nancy and Bonnie; conforming to 1950s America proves to be detrimental to their lives. Nancy Clutter is intellectual and driven yet is shown to be confined by cultural ideals of gender roles at the time. Bonnie Clutter is presented as a fragile, damaged individual who was once happy and prospective. During her domestic role she is deeply depressed; this shows how such a life can affect oneself. Capote presents Flo Buckskin as a woman who conformed to some female ideals in 1950s Modern America but similarly negatively affected by the culture in which she existed. Through her, Capote presents how heritage can cause a lack of opportunity , especially for a woman during this time.
Nancy Clutter is presented as a girl with many prospects. He uses an asyndetic list of concrete noun phrase to show the reader her accomplishments ‘a straight A student, the president of her class’ and the honorifics such as ‘president’ and ‘leader’ imply that even at such a young age she was successful. Capote also presents how Nancy fulfilled her gender role of the time by servicing others; this is seen in the way she ‘would willingly have taught Jolene’, the adverb ‘willingly’ before the proper noun phrase highlights her conformity to the female ideal. The abstract noun phrase ‘felt it her duty to be available’ again emphasises her self-effacing sense of duty to others. We see how in Modern America her own freedom and desires are presented as less important than her need to be ‘available’.
Nancy

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