Film Review Of Camila

In analyzing portrayals of women, it is appropriate to begin with the character of Margarita. For, within the text, she embodies the traditionally masculine traits of bravery, resilience, and violence as a means of liberating herself from an existence of abuse and victimhood. Even more, the woman plays upon stereotypes of femininity in order to mask her true nature. The reader witnesses this clever deception in a scene where the character endures a “wholesome thrashing” from her huge, violent, and grizzly bear-like husband, Guerra (81). Although Margarita “[submits] to the infliction with great apparent humility,” her husband is found “stone-dead” the next morning (81). Here, diction such as “submits” and “humility” relate to the traits of weakness, subservience and inferiority that are so commonly expected of women, especially in their relationships with men. Yet, when one

In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.

This essay will be discussing how gender is portrayed in the films Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) and Tacones Lejanos (High Heels), both directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The use of the theatre and performance, along with the audiences that come with it, enables these films to explore the manner in which gender is unstable. Gwynne Edwards writes that Almodóvar often pays tribute to the stage . Almodóvar dedicates All About My Mother “to all the actresses who have played actresses, to all women who act, to men who act and become women” , which is also relevant to High Heels. He uses the stage setting as a platform to show the instability of gender, not only on a physical stage but also in the characters’ lives: “The dialogue of his films has the cut and thrust, and very often wit, of stage plays. There are also soliloquies, and one of them – in All About My Mother – is even delivered to the audience from the stage of a theatre” . Russell Jackson suggests that this is done as a method for the characters to “find the sometimes onerous ability to deal with and describe their past, and to create a future in the face of death and desertion.” The character ‘La Agrado’ in All About My Mother as well High Heels’ Femme Letal (Letal), will be considered - both the manner in which they carry themselves throughout the film, as well as the their performances on stage. In the following paragraphs, I will illustrate how performance and the stage are vital in Almodóvar’s exploration

La Lengua de las Mariposas, directed by José Luis Cuerda, is a marvelous and powerful film that explores Spain’s past through the lens of education. Cuerda does this by exhibiting the contrast between the 1931-1936 Republic and the dictatorships that ruled the country just before and after the Spanish Civil War through the relationship between Moncho, a young boy, and Don Gregorio, his teacher. The film depicts the Republic’s aims for a liberal education and the pressures this produced within the more conservative region of society. Overall this film portrays both the freedom of this short period in Spain’s history and the beginning of Franco’s oppressive dictatorship.

In El Laberinto del Fauno, Guillermo del Toro uses the theme of obedience to illustrate and condemn two repressive components of fascism: patriarchy and the coercion of free will. This essay will look at two examples of obedience in the film which reveal the abhorrent nature of these aspects of fascism and the importance of resisting them. These are, respectively, the relationship between Captain Vidal and Mercedes and Ofelia’s refusal to compromise her own integrity.

This essay will be going through the different types of love, and the power that they wield. Throughout the novel, different characters hold different powers of love. First, Clara’s love towards Ferula and Pedro Segundo will be discussed. And second, Esteban’s obsessiveness with Clara will be looked at closer. The bonds of love are stronger in relationships that aren’t acceptable compared to relationships that are acceptable in society.

Clara married Esteban Trueba, a man who was harsh, quick to react. During the patriarchal society, women were a man’s possession. They had few rights and were exploited and sometimes rejected by men (Metzger). Clara doesn’t put up with disrespect from any man and when her husband, Esteban, hits her during a fight, Clara never speak a word to him again (Allende 223). With this act of cruelty on his part it allowed Clara to escape to her own world of solitude, a spiritual world where Esteban cannot follow her. This world is without rules, without structure, no subordinate to men, no patriarchy, no boundaries (Metzger). These is a gift Clara can give to her daughter, Blanca.

Cisneros presents the loneliness that Rafaela feels because of her husband’s continuous imprisonment of her. Rafael’s beauty is used as an excuse in order to avoid the truth, male dominance in a woman’s home. Esperanza explains that, "Rafaela who is still young gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at." (79). Thanks to these women, Esperanza is able to avoid problems that come with a marriage. She is young and does not want to "look out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow" (11). Unlike most of the women in the book her escape is no longer the window. "But that night he comes back and sends a big rock through the window"(85), shattering her glass hopes [???] and making her turn to poetry as an escape. "Minerva is only a little bit older than me but already she has too kids and a husband who left." (83) She is a perfect example of a woman who is subjected to the consequence of suffering because of marriage She "writes… on little pieces of paper that she holds in her hand for a long time" (84). Like unhappily married women, she always takes him back even after the incessant beatings. "She has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left her and keeps on

At this moment Patria makes an emotional connection between the boy and her own son. It is the boy’s wonder combined with his adolescent figure that causes her replace his image with the thought of her own child. This thought develops the situation into a more personal level causing her to feel passion for him. The passion Patria feels for the boy’s death is a result caused directly from the rebellion within society. Moreover, the emotion of passion caused by society, becomes the catalyst for her to take action against Trujillo and the

Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban tells the story about three generations of a Cuban family and their different views provoked by the Cuban revolution. Though part of the same family, an outsider might classify them as adversaries judging by relationships between one another, the exiled family members, and the differentiations between political views. Although all of these central themes reoccur over and over throughout the narrative, family relationships lie at the heart of the tale. The relationships between these Cuban family members are for the most part ruptured by any or a combination of the above themes.

Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these

It is my intention to compare the book, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos, to its modern movie version, Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. I intend to examine how the original French text was modified in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes. I also plan to discuss how these transformations change the meaning of the story and reflect different cultural/historical contexts. There are some major differences between these two works, if only because of when they were written.

She engages extensive social theories in her analysis of everyday life. There is a an elaborate discussion of Cultural production theory, feminist theorizing on the body and resistance, Michel Foucault’s theories of power, Mikhail Bahktin’s theories on carnival, and Patricia Hill Collins’s theories about controlling images and the matrix of domination are employed to develop the theoretical relevance of the everyday lives of Gloria, her family, and her neighbours. Wherever there is a gap that the existing theory could not fill, she points them out and suggests a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of lived experience. This is especially true in her discussion of the “carnivalization of desire” and women’s ambivalent relationship to the “sex-positive” atmosphere of Brazil. The ethnographic and theoretical richness of the text is supplemented by a brief political history of Brazil that helps to contextualize the current scenario within a history of slavery and

1. Hook: Olive and the TV beauty pageant, Dwayne's vow of silence, parent's personalities, Frank's personality, etc. The family structure in general indicates an upcoming mess.

Through this character Camus challenges the reader to look through this lenses to see aspects of our culture that exemplify Clamence’s observations. These observations project back to the reader alienation from culture, conflictions, needs and wants. This could also lead back to Camus’s absurdist ideas because it represents a balancing of our pleasure and guilt. We can feel on top of the world with our privileged lives but how could we be happy when we know that others in the world are less fortunate?