The movie "Mrs. Macbeth" tells the story of Catherine, the protagonist who was treated as an accessory of male power and married into a "loveless" marriage that was not respected. people's stories. From the perspective of feminism, the film creates a female image that subverts the traditional definition of female image, in order to satisfy her own desires and needs, she desperately fights against male-dominated society etiquette and customs, and achieves self-liberation and self-redemption in a destructive way. I think the film achieves this feminist image of self-liberation and self-redemption in the following ways:
The use of metaphors and contrasts
From the title to the screen, the film reflects a strong metaphor.
The heroine of the film has nothing to do with "Macbeth" in either her birth or her husband's surname, but the film is named "Mrs. Macbeth". It can be seen that the title is a metaphor for the protagonist's "Mrs. Macbeth"-like quality and destiny. Lady Macbeth was originally an ambitious, cruel, indifferent and adventurous female character created by Shakespeare. It can be seen that when the director named the film "Mrs. Macbeth", he had attached "Macbeth" to the protagonist. The characteristics of "Mrs.", that is, female wisdom, cruelty and indifference in self-defense, etc., this female image undoubtedly subverts the definition and requirements of women in the traditional patriarchal society, so from the title, this film can be defined as subverting women Feminist protest films with traditional images.
From the picture point of view, the film is mainly based on fixed camera positions and fixed shots. The "minimalist" picture and sound reflect an indifferent narrative. The protagonist Catherine sits on the sofa and looks out of the window in a "reproducible montage". "appears many times. The indifference and suffocation conveyed by this very simple lens is a metaphor for the oppression and darkness of women's lives in a patriarchal society, and the despairing background of women's living conditions. The picture of the protagonist Catherine sitting on the sofa in the living room as a puppet is in contrast to the picture looking out the window, which is a metaphor for the protagonist's rigid and lifeless life in a cage and his inner desire to break free from the cage, pursue himself, and liberate his personality.
The metaphors in the film convey to us the feelings of the repressed female living environment and the female self-rescue in the patriarchal society.
The film also reflects the contrast of the characters.
The first is the comparison of two different female images of Catherine and the maid Anna. At first, Catherine, like Anna, was actually regarded as an accessory in male power. It was just that Catherine and Anna played different accessory roles, so they were treated differently. But in essence, in the ownership of male power. They do not have the right to own themselves.
Anna agrees with the oppression of her and her own status in the patriarchal society. When Catherine asked her about her family's birth, Anna was vague about all this, so it can be seen that she is a person without "roots", from the very beginning. She was influenced by the patriarchal society. Under this influence, she completely regarded herself as an appendage of the patriarchal society. This ideological identification with the patriarchal culture led her to deeply believe that she should be A low-status maid sent by others, she has no ego, no thoughts of her own, just like a tool to complete the work she should do, she thinks that all the slavery and disrespect she has been subjected to is deserved, even if it is a groom, etc. Insults have to be swallowed up, she is a walking corpse and lives without a soul.
But Catherine is different. She has thoughts, ego, needs of her own desires, and longing for love. She is angry at the contempt she receives. She has her own pursuit of happiness, so when the groom appears, her desire is satisfied. When she was in need of love, she began to resist the shackles of the patriarchal society, and she would do anything to achieve it.
The biggest difference between Anna and Catherine is not the difference in their status, but that one has an ego and the other has no ego. The endings that Catherine and Anna obtained are also very different. Catherine's father-in-law said when insulting Anna: "If you act like an animal, then I will treat you like an animal." This sentence can be understood as a woman without self, in the eyes of masculinists and animals There is no difference, and Catherine resisted this patriarchal bondage to her, and she won. It can be seen that in women's liberation, women must first liberate themselves and work hard for it.
Second is Katherine's personality as a woman, compared to the other men in the film. Except for the underage boys, the main men in the film are Catherine's father-in-law, husband and lover. Catherine's father-in-law abides by the morality of patriarchal society, her husband is indifferent and loves face, and her lover is not cowardly and does not take responsibility, and from this Among the three men, we can see the defects of male character. When Catherine challenged the male power represented by them, when Catherine a woman, regardless of the degree of strategy, courage and cruelty, defeated the three men. She is more independent than her father-in-law, husband and lover, which means that men and women are equal in personality, and men also have human weaknesses. In women’s patriarchal society, those women are not given the strength, and it is not impossible to challenge male power. , not too difficult.
The comparison of the characters in the film tells us that the liberation of women first comes from the liberation of women's self, and that women's liberation should not be given or even given by men's power. deprived, and therefore only liberation that women themselves strive for can be true liberation.
2. The liberation of the body portrayed with bold "sex" expresses the struggle against male power
According to the standard of a male-dominated society, the enjoyment of "sex" is unique to male power. Men can have three wives and four concubines. The "sex" entertainment venues have always been set up only for men, and women must obey the three obedience and four virtues. A tool to create "sexual" pleasure for men, without giving women the right to demand pleasure in "sex". In "Lady Macbeth", the self-liberation of the protagonist Catherine begins with the self-liberation of "sex". Catherine's derailment with her lover stems from the unsatisfied self-desire. For the natural self-liberation and satisfaction, she walks out It is the first step that a male-dominated society demands of women - chastity.
After being discovered by the maid Anna for the first time, Catherine smiled without any fear or shame. It can be seen that Catherine's smile is not only a smile of self-satisfaction, but also a challenge to women's requirements in a patriarchal society. ,break in. In the first part of the film, Catherine exists in her husband's home as an appendage of patriarchal power, in the form of property. Whether it is her husband's indifference to her or her father-in-law's various etiquette requirements, it can be seen that Catherine is not affected by it. Respectful, in a male-dominated society, she was not given the right to own her own self. The first cheating was a challenge to the restraint of this male-dominated society. In this challenge, she gained a "victory" self. Liberation and self-satisfaction, like a general who is victorious in battle. The self-satisfaction obtained in the first challenge of patriarchy and her physical and psychological need for love and desire as a young woman prompted her to carry out a series of struggles and destructions for patriarchy.
The film has a large number of "sex" pictures. This kind of "sex" pictures, aside from the moral concept of society, intuitively presents the most basic and primitive needs of the protagonist Catherine for "sex", fight for it, and enjoy it. After being discovered by her father-in-law, she had no guilt and fear, and did not hesitate to poison her father-in-law to death. After being discovered by her husband, she even tried to have sex with her lover in front of her husband, showing a naked provocation of patriarchal status and a love for women. The demands of ethical conduct fell on deaf ears. If the image of Catherine is described as a labelled female definition, it is lewd, unchaste, unselfish, and most poisonous to women's hearts, etc. The film ignores or even subverts social morality and ethics, and intuitively pursues the satisfaction of women's personal desires. , in order to achieve women's physical and spiritual self-redemption and self-liberation.
3. Fighting in a destructive way presents the determination to break the shackles of patriarchy and realize the self-liberation of women
Catherine is resolute. She can destroy the stumbling blocks that hinder her in a destructive way in order to satisfy her own desires and strive for the life she aspires to in the future. Her father-in-law, husband, and children were all killed by her without exception. In the novel, she shows no hesitation and unease, showing the indifference, cruelty and determination that a woman should not have in the understanding of women in the patriarchal society.
Catherine's approach can actually be seen as a framing of the traditional image of women, the constraints imposed on women in the patriarchal society, and how women should be broken. Women can be gentle, skilled, or cruel. , Indifferent, can be desperate to pursue their own life, what a woman is, there is no so-called should, but depends on the woman herself.
In the film, Catherine's life was originally a stagnant pool, as if you could see at a glance that the rest of her life was imprisoned at home as an item of her husband's family and lived a day-to-day life without any turbulence. Catherine broke her prisoner-like life with the power of destruction. Her life freed herself, and all those who hindered Catherine were killed by Catherine without exception. In the film, Catherine's self-liberation is not by escaping from the established tragedy, but by the direct destruction of the tragedy, which conveys a view that "everything that hinders the liberation of women will be overcome", which reflects the face of patriarchal shackles and a thorough A resolute attitude to struggle.
4. Anti-label behavior and unconventional endings
Usually the audience supports the plot of a passionate struggle for justice that conforms to social conventions and morals, but the film does not have the background of "struggling for justice or anti-exploitation", nor does it have the heroine of "White Lotus", let alone everyone's imagination. should be punished by law.
Catherine is not a traditionally "labeled" female image. She is cruel, selfish, and shameless. She will do whatever she can to achieve her goals, and she has the courage to challenge morality and the patriarchal society, and her unscrupulous challenges are all rewarded to her with a triumphant ending. , which breaks the traditional concept of male-dominated society, the behavior of women is the price that women should pay when they violate this framing behavior, and conveys the director's questioning and breaking of the established moral system for women, and moral rules. The reinvention of women's liberation.
In many films and literary works, women pursue love, often sacrifice themselves for their lover, and give everything for love. In this case, women usually embed their life and even life in it and become a puppet of love. If you lose it, you cannot survive. This is the case with Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's writings, no matter how ruthless she is in her pursuit of power, she is the woman behind her husband after all. She herself, she also regards herself as an appendage of her husband, she thinks that what her husband gets is equal to what she gets, compared to her husband, she is cruel and resourceful, but she has no self, so when the two of them are born. When she is separated and loses her husband's love, she can't live anymore. This is the ending of many film and television works. No matter how strong a woman is, once she loses her love, she will destroy herself.
Catherine is also a woman who pursues love and longs to live an ordinary life of being loved. Unlike the conventional ending, when her lover betrays her, she can quickly and calmly push her lover to hell without hesitation. , On this level, women are no longer accessories of love, on the contrary, love is the accessories of people. Love is what Catherine pursues, but it is not the grave of her life. Just like she wants to get an apple, she has worked hard to get this apple, but when she gets it, the apple rots, so she chooses to abandon it. This apple, instead of abandoning yourself for a rotten apple.
In traditional film and television or literary works, love is regarded as the spiritual food provided by men to women, and the dominance lies with men. It can be said that love is the root of the fatal tragedy that men's rights endow women. In fact, if you want to pursue true equal love, It is necessary to break patriarchy, because in a patriarchal society, the status of women has always been suppressed. In order to defend the status of patriarchy, a patriarchal society habitually puts women in the position of the weak, and women should be controlled by men. Yes, women can't be stronger than men. Catherine lost her lover because of this. Catherine's cruelty exceeds the recognition and requirements of a society for women, and even exceeds that of men, which makes his lover feel disillusioned with her. Such a woman It was something he couldn't control, and it was also the fear of her own patriarchal status being shaken. At the end of the film, Catherine did not hesitate to abandon her lover and love, and when she chose to live on her own, she actually broke free from the greatest shackles that patriarchy brought to women. --love
To sum up, the film creates an image of a woman who breaks the traditional view of morality and ethics, and fights at all costs in order to break free from the shackles of patriarchy, satisfy her own desires, and achieve self-happiness, which reflects women's efforts to break the definition and constraints of patriarchal society. To achieve self-liberation and self-redemption.
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