Sign In
Not register? Register Now!
Essay Available:
Pages:
3 pages/≈825 words
Sources:
No Sources
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Literature & Language
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 10.8
Topic:

Problems of Women’s Status in Chinese Society

Essay Instructions:

Write an essay (750-1150 words, 2-3 pages double-spaced) based on ONE of the following
topics. In the essay, you must integrate an analysis of two or three film scenes to support your
argument.
3. In her canonical essay titled “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Laura Mulvey
studies the “male gaze” in Hollywood films to expose the patriarchal values in society.
Similarly, in what way does the male gaze in Yimou Zhang’s Raise the Red Lantern
demonstrate problems of women’s status in Chinese society? Why?
Notes:
1. In your analysis, use and apply the terms that you have learned from Ed Sikov’s
introduction to film studies and reference the assigned journal article.
2. Don’t summarize the film or state the facts of the film scenes. Instead, provide an indepth analysis of the chosen scenes critically.
3. The only sources allowed in the assignment are the film and the assigned scholarly
article. Internet sources such as Wikipedia or online news websites are not acceptable.
4. Begin your analysis with a short summary of the scene. Two or three sentences will do.
Include a picture (or pictures) of the film scene if it helps with your analysis. The pictures
will not count towards the length requirement of this assignment.

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Students Name
Professors Name
Course Code and Name
Date
Problems of Women’s Status in Chinese Society
Zhang Yimou's film "Raise the Red Lantern" is a sinister tale of the young concubine of a wealthy man finds herself mad after being trapped in the power struggle with the rest of the man's concubines (Tong 2000). In addition, Songlian is educated, but the death of her father has forced her to take a different path in life of getting married to a wealthy concubine. Therefore, the film uses different elements of film making to bring out the problems of the women's status in Chinese culture resulting from the male gaze.
The film represents the pleasure in looking that in turn, leads to women in the society doubting their sexuality due to the concern of how they look in front of men. It is through such doubt that women end up being enemies of one another as they struggle to be the best in the eyes of men (Mulvey 1989). In addition, their status in society does not create a difference in the pleasure for women to be recognized as a sexual object. She even goes to the extent of faking a pregnancy for her to be recognized. The yearn for attention can result in women doing whatever it takes to be recognized without thinking much about the aftermath. The typical Chinese woman would want to be appreciated by the opposite sex. As a result, they strive so hard to have a perfect body which is easily noticed by the naked eye. The second mistress befriends Songlian and uses beauty compliments to win her trust with the aim of betraying her. The love for women being appreciated as beautiful blinds Songlian into falling for Zhuoyun’s tricks. Therefore, the film is a symbol of the beauty of a Chinese woman as regarded by the gale of the male in the society.
As well, women in Chinese culture face the problem whereby the male gaze is that men see them as sex objects. The fact that the culture allows the men to marry several women is an indication that one woman is not enough for one man. The particular examples in the film indicate that the master makes plans for the woman that he wishes to spend the night with. The concubine's room is filled with red lanterns, and she gets a foot massage. Therefore, this is an indication that a man is willing to offer favors to a woman with the aim of...
Updated on
Get the Whole Paper!
Not exactly what you need?
Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:
Order

👀 Other Visitors are Viewing These MLA Essay Samples: