COURSEWORK PLAN
Compare and contrast the ways in which female power is presented in the texts you have studied.
(INTRO- )
Women’s Power in Language-
Cleopatra-
v manipulation + blackmail ‘never has there been a Queen so mightily betrayed’, ‘if he is sad say I am dancing; if in mirth, report I am sudden sick’
-Cleopatra’s speech dominates that of others, language used to describe her makes her powerful- ‘Isis’, ‘Egypt’, goddess, barge scene- Controls nature. Symbolism- Silver, female power. –(SEXING THE CHERRY- 12 dancing princesses, dominating strong females who drown out Jordan’s voice with their stories.)
v (Both women Cleo+Jean are very changeable in nature- they change themselves to become a personality that fits each situation best so they maintain their power) Cleo- pretends to be weak for Antony when he breaks in order to make him take control and rise into a more powerful role once more. (QUOTE)
v Uses flattery to make the man feel more powerful-
Jean Muir-
v manipulative- faints to get attention and make herself appear weak + vulnerable. ‘slid from her seat and lay before the startled listeners, as white and rigid as if struck with death’ (SEXING THE CHERRY- ‘women have a private language. A language not dependant on the constructions of men but structured by signs and expressions, and the uses ordinary words as code-words meaning some other’- Jean talks differently + confidently to herself than in front of others. Also puts on a ‘pretty Scotch accent’ to soften her outside act)
v -Jean changeable ‘shook her clenched hand as if menacing some unseen enemy. Next she laughed and shrugged her shoulders…’
v Using flattery to make men feel comfortable and empowered ‘I was going to say, I love him. I will say it, for he is an old man, and one cannot help loving virtue and bravery’
Women’s Power through gender representation/sexuality-
Jean Muir
v Laura Mulvey- woman maintain + use their sexuality to hold power over men. It is their only means to power. We see this with Jean Muir- can only gain her status and security in marriage through seduction, without this she is powerless
v Judith Butler- gender performance. Jean performs role to give herself most power ‘Come…the curtain is down, so I may be myself for a few hours, if actresses are ever themselves.’
v Cleopatra- uses this to control Antony, too, ‘now my Lord is Antony, I shall be Cleopatra’ – Cleopatra is just an act? Shaped to fit different situations and to ease out what she wants from different people.
v SEXING THE CHERRY- ‘The self is not contained in any moment or any place, but it is only in the intersection of moment and place that the self might, for a moment, be seen vanishing through a door, which disappears at once.
v The women in power- semiotics- masculine. Connotations of masculinity from them. Becoming like men? Women are no longer victims of sex? Cleopatra ‘I drank him to his bed…’, also when she attacks messenger ‘draws a knife….strikes him down’ violent, strong, male traits. Barge scene , beauty symbolism, silver- feminine power. Music, her hypnotic power, a lure to all. Perfumes. Jean Muir also uses music in a similar way, women do not need words to seduce hypnotic power also ‘she charmed them all by the magic of this spell’ Dog Woman- too large to be touched by sex, unable to be a victim- overpowers men by their lack of ability to do anything to her. Dog woman uses sexuality for power as she is so large and unattractive that she is immune to sex and the potential weakness and dominance it plays both men and women into. She is powerful through a neutral stance to sexuality.
Women’s Power Roles in love, how it is achieved-
v Dog Woman – sheer size and physical power. Man-like, Breaks connotations of women being small and weak especially to men. Role-reversal. Role- mother. Maternal love- powerful, instinctual like her. Role as mother- (self sacrifice. Idea of woman as food, used as a tool to promote male growth before being useless when their task is complete) ‘when Jordan was a baby he sat on top of me much as a fly rests on a hill of dung. And I nourished him as a hill of dung nourishes a fly, and when he had eaten his fill he left me’ women are powerful as they are providers. Without them the men would not grow strong enough to leave in time. However women suppress this power and choose to share it out of love. The men do not.
v Cleopatra- powerful with how she uses language. Seduction for power. Role- lover. Sexual love- shallow power-struggle. Egotistic. ‘he will return to his Egyptian dish’ materialised. Just a basic need for a man but not that he cares about. Food- lower order pleasure. Cleopatra and Dog Woman’s roles are antithesis of each other.
v Jean Muir- powerful by pretending to be weak, weak role of governess. Role- governess. But powerful as she creates whatever role she wants to play. Multiple roles. Governess, seductive, meek etc.
