Female Roles And Sacrifice In Political Drama And Film A Comparative Study Of Death And Maiden And The Father From A Feminist Perspective

The growing interest in gender issues, relationships, family constructs etcrncan be seen in academia and elsewhere. The power of literary texts, plays,rnfilms and dramas in the formation and perception of women’s images isrnimmense. These perceptions change with time and ideology. Change inrnideology, always mark a paradigm shift in the way we understand andrninterpret social, economic and political agendas. The introduction of Marxistrnideology in a society is an example.rnThe theoretical feminist framework is established in the second chapter. Itrncovers core issues like the concept of women as the ‘other’, the underlyingrnmechanism of patriarchy inherent in society, and radical feminism. Anrnemphasis is further made on Marxist as well as Black/African feministrnthought. These two aspects of feminism add a class and race element to thernissues raised.rnFeminist literary criticism attempts to explain how representations in literaryrntexts are at odds with women’s experiences. The ‘images of women’ school ofrnthought, by analyzing and dissecting literary works explains how the actualrnlives and experiences of women is lacking. Gynocritcism, on the other handrnsuggests that women’s writing should be the central concern for criticalrnanalysis. Feminist film theory is also concerned with the contradictoryrnrepresentations of the actual lives of women versus what is presented inrncinema. Psychological and Marxist feminist theory attempts an explanation tornthe how and why of this disparity.rnThis research focuses on two genres, a film and a play to show how they arernused in the portrayal of men and women within a socialist setting. The filmrnchosen is the ‘Father’ and the play is “Death and the Maiden’. A central issuernin both of them is the issue of sexual abuse and rape. The power relationshiprnbetween men and women as portrayed in the two media is examined. Usingrnfeminist as well as film theories as theoretical tools an attempt is made tornexamine, the roles and sacrifice of men and women in societies that are goingrnthrough a transition.

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