The Long Goodbye: Typical Images Of Women In The Noir World

In Black Widow’s Wardrobe, Gloria Damasco as a Chicana detective transgresses into a traditional masculine profession proving that women are capable to do an equal or better job than men. Historically most protagonists of the detective novels have been male, while female characters are portrayed ether as hysterical or as the damsel in

To analyze the impact of women in the picture, one must examine Philip Marlowe, the hero and epitome of masculinity. Throughout the novel, Marlowe displays the admirable qualities of a man: intelligence, strength and justice. Additionally, Marlowe’s role as the hero of the film creates an example to which all men should strive. He represents the goals and desires of men, and as such his behavior helps define the position of women. Women constantly throw themselves at Marlowe, allowing him to pick from a fairly wide selection. His choice of Vivian holds considerable weight in determining the traits that make a woman popular. Marlowe’s interactions with all women help reveal the complexities of 1940s feminine attraction.

Women are primarily objects of sexual pleasure for the male protagonists. Their characters are always filtered through the men's perspective, with the exception of the maid Bertha, Charlie’s maid, who at times makes fun at either of the brothers. (Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard, Year Unknown).

In The Big Sleep, Marlowe, a white man, shows his personality as he describes the stained-glass panel that shows a “knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree” and the knight was not really trying to rescue the lady. Marlowe is a knight in his society and as any good knight, he is very chivalrous not like the dark knight (other ethnicities) on the panel. He says that he needs to “climb up there and help” the knight to rescue the lady, showing how chivalrous he really is and how others need the help of a white man. In Murder Is My Business, Marino is a lesbian detective with a damsel in distress syndrome. However, she is cautious and smart enough to know that Mrs. Hunnicut’s story “smelled as rotten as a bonito left out in the sun,” but her attraction to Mrs. Hunnicut and her syndrome to help everyone drives her to help Mrs. Hunnicut anyway. In this story the typical white detective is changed, giving a woman the main role and thus the white people’s power. In Devil in a Blue Dress, the detective, Rawlins, is an African American who is fully aware of the racial discrimination that exists towards African Americans. He is captivated or even being manipulated by Daphne, a white girl. Changing the detectives’ ethnicity reveals the position that their ethnicity represents on

The concept of femininity and masculinity is mentioned many times throughout the essay to highlight it

She shows a female character doing what previously only men had done; directly committing herself to the criminal underworld, walking dangerous streets at night, boldly trespassing into perilous areas and defending herself- all the things that only men would do in conventional versions of the genre. On the very first page, Day introduces this concept of ironic mockery by creating confusion as to the gender of the character. A tough voice that fills the requirements of hard-boiled school men is established, and only after turning the page does the reader realize that the terribly hung-over narrator is a female private-eye and the blonde in the bed is a good-looking male.

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

The term film noir was coined by French critics for 1940s-50s American films that shared a dark sensibility and a dark lighting style, such as Double Indemnity (1944), Out of the Past (1947), and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Many theorists related the common noir attributes and aesthetic elements to a post war society characterised by insecurity about gender roles, the economy, changing definitions of race, and nuclear technology. One of the cultural problems the term genre attempts to address is the gender question. The familiarity of the femme fatale character across film noir is the predominant cause for discussion amongst feminist theorists. Feminist theorists became, and still remain, interested in the woman's portrayal in

“A Jury of Her Peers” is a short story written by Susan Glaspell in 1917 illustrates early feminist literature. The two female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, is able to solve the mystery of who the murderer of John Wright while their male counterparts could not. This short story had been adapted from Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles written the previous year. The play consists of the same characters and plotline as the story. In both works, Glaspell depicts how the men, Sheriff Peters and Mr. Hale, disregard the most important area in the house, the kitchen, when it comes to their investigation. In the end, the women are the ones who find clues that lead to the conclusion of Minnie Wright, John Wright’s wife, is the one who murdered him. Both of Glaspell’s female characters illustrate the ability to step into a male dominated profession by taking on the role of detective. According to Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, written by Lois Tyson, a reader-response critique “focuses on readers’ response to literary texts” and it’s a diverse area (169). Through a reader-response criticism from a feminist lens, we are able to analyze how “A Jury of Her Peers” and Trifles depict how a patriarchal society oppresses women in the early twentieth century, gender stereotypes confined both men and women and the emergence of the New Woman is illustrated.

To analyze the impact of women in the picture, one must examine Philip Marlowe, the hero and epitome of masculinity. Throughout the

Phillip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), P.I, is hired by the rich General Sternwood to out a blackmailer, but quickly finds himself tangled in the Sternwood family’s dirty laundry — it’s the classic film noir narrative. At the center of it all seems to be Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall), a Sternwood daughter, and the woman attempting to cover up the murder at the bottom of Marlowe’s case. I used Vivian’s tidy adherence to the femme fatale archetype to dig deeper into its true message about women’s nature, beyond the mysterious façade.

Most stories, even in today’s times, women have less lines and are more of a description. For example, they are described as beautiful with long, flowy hair. There are also books that follow this example like “The Great Gatsby”. The book is about a man who falls in love with a women. However, we never really get to see how Daisy, the main love interest, really feels. She is just an image to a man’s eye. That is not all a women is, they have opinions, thoughts which should be

Throughout motion picture history, women have experienced more transition in their roles, as a result of changing societal norms, than any other class. At first, both society and the movie industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in the home, in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. As time passed and attitudes changed, women were beginning to be depicted as strong willed, independent minded characters, who were eager to break away from convention. The genre of the crime film represents such a change in the roles handed to women. Two films that can be contrasted, in order to support this view, are: The Public Enemy by William Wellman (1931) and Bonnie

There is a theme in the story of a woman's work not having an equality to a mans at the time. The woman's work being a mere trifle, a symbolism of unimportance in the story. I think the closing demonstrates the intelligence and depth of the story.  The men do not consider what the woman find of any importance though they uncover the motive and hide it in secrecy because they can understand and relate to the

The New Wave French cinema (or Nouvelle Vague) borrowed a lot of major themes from the American Noir genre but also took some sharp turns in the depictions of gender, especially concerning women. The Big Sleep is fundamentally very similar to Breathless in that they use the male gaze being from the point of view of both protagonists as macho chain-smoking men. Women however, are depicted quite differently in the film and novel. Concerning the more prominent characters in each, Vivien and Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep are “spoiled” according to her father and could be considered antagonistic characters towards the detective, Marlowe. Vivien is dependent on her father and falls for Marlowe although he has no concrete feelings for her. Patricia on the other hand, has her own job at the New York Herald Tribune and withholds falling for Michel despite his constant pressing. Thus her independence. The differences in the portrayal of gender also are present in minor characters as well. I will be comparing the endings of Breathless and The Big Sleep and how it effects the portrayal of gender as well as how the characterization of the female characters effects the endings.