Gender Roles and Values – Elizabeth, Orlando, Gender Roles Essay Example

to men to ensure security and to uphold personal status. Elizabeth’s metaphorical statement, “I am married to England,” made later in the film, can be viewed as a declaration of her trength and commitment to her monarchical position and her assertion of power over the patriarchy in pledging to never marry a man.

Elizabeth’s physical appearance and attire also symbolises and supports her development of character. In the early stages of the film and her ruling as Queen of England, Elizabeth is subjected to the contextual and stereotypical manifestations of male power that continue to suppress her even as a Queen. An extreme high angle shot is used to depict Elizabeth being confronted by an inquisition of men with strong religious prepositions which then turn to questions of her marital status.

The height of the angle consequently places Elizabeth in a smaller, more vulnerable position in comparison to the large group of men who continually yell at her in disagreement over her suggestions for the amendment of the Church representing the patriarchal disregard of femininity. Long shots of Elizabeth taken from within the crowd, that place her between the foregrounded silhouettes of men, almost completely shroud her, symbolising and supporting the verbal oppression that she is facing as a woman attempting to persuade the dominant patriarchy.

Elizabeth soon realises her limitations as a female, regardless of being a monarch and takes advantage of her need to act in a subversive manner stating, “How can I force you, Your grace? I am a woman. ” The sarcastic tone Elizabeth adopts enables her to play upon contextual patriarchal attitudes, establishing a connection with the

male majority by using their language, winning the vote for the Act of Uniformity. She manages to further demote the personal status of one man who accuses her of, “making fun of the sanctity of marriage,” by bringing into play his own marital position.

By reversing the accusation stating, “I do not think you should lecture me on that my lord. Since you, yourself have been twice divorced and are now upon your third wife,” Elizabeth is able to highlight the irony and hypocrisy of the male gender but at the same time win them over with humour more commonly used by men. Not only does Elizabeth’s language change, but the camera angles used to portray her also convert from those that hid her, to close ups and low angles, that now symbolise her build in confidence and development of character into a stronger woman.

Elizabeth’s challenging of conventional gender roles, continues further when she begins to compare herself to ‘princes,’ and metaphorically states, “I may be a woman but, if I choose, I have the heart of a man. ” This signifies her dramatic change in character, to a more masculine woman successfully establishing herself above the patriarchy, thus intriguing the responder, and creating a revealing and provocative text that contests traditional, contextual gender roles and values through the use of language.

Similarly, the challenging of traditional gender codes, as depicted in Kapur’s film, is mirrored and elaborated upon even in todays’ society. News article, ‘Gender Roles,’ written by Anne Taubeneck, published in the Chicago Tribune, in November, 1999, provides a realistic account of how dramatically gender codes have been altered

and challenged in modern day society.

In her article, Taubeneck explains how women, “in ‘Alcina’ and other operas, must learn to act like a man,” when dressing as the opposite sex to perform certain theatrical roles. The language used throughout the text, mostly by women, gives evidence to the extent in which gender roles are still being contested and presented, and the impact they have on today’s society. Considering not only the context but the content of the article, the headline ‘Gender Roles,’ can be interpreted as ambiguous.

This suggests that while typically, ‘gender roles’ are a set of social and behavioural norms that define masculinity and femininity, the idea that ‘Gender Roles,’ in today’s society are now perceived as just ‘roles,’ or persona’s in a performance that individuals are able to switch between with ease, having no direct moral implications, can also be construed. This idea is supported by the metaphorical statement made by soprano, Robin Blitch Wiper, when she states that after her male makeup was applied her “feminine self was wiped away completely,” signifying how readily one can adopt characteristics of the opposite gender.

Taubeneck’s use of operatic jargon, “’Trouser-roles’,” when stating that women in theatre dressing as men is, “not unusual,” further supports that gender switching is becoming a normal occurrence. Taubeneck explains in her article that scripts similar to ‘trouser roles,’ were written for ‘castrati,’ “the musical superstars of the 18th century. ” This written piece of factual information is used, much like Kapur’s use of an historical figure, to give evidence to the idea that the challenging and portrayal of gender roles has remained ever present

within our society.

Taubeneck adds that the ‘castrati,’ were said to have had “the lungs of men and voices of women,” and although being quite literal rather than metaphorical, the quote can be paralleled to Elizabeth’s, “I may be a woman but… I have the heart of a man;” further supporting the notion that opposite gender traits have been assimilated into both men and women over the ages, challenging gender codes and altering perceptions of identity. One particularly revealing aspect of Taubeneck’s article is the statements made by opera singer, Jennifer Larmore.

Larmore claims that “playing a man is “much easier than playing a woman,”” and that “playing these male roles is so much fun. ” These seemingly unconventional statements made by Larmore are examples of how women in today’s society are much more different to those in the context of ‘Elizabeth,’ however still represent how language through the spoken word can challenge gender roles. The language used by Taubeneck and her interviewees, although not specifically used by a particular gender, still provides insight into the different ways that gender roles can be challenged contextually and theatrically, creating a revealing and provocative text.

Gender switching,’ as a means to defy conventional gender codes is resonated in the writings of ‘Orlando,’ written by Virginia Woolf. In what Woolf claims to be a ‘biography,’ male protagonist ‘Orlando’ undergoes a spontaneous, biological, transformation into a woman allowing for the exploration of both the male and female gender. Throughout what can be deemed as her ‘mock biography,’ Woolf introduces her opinion on the contextual rules of gender and challenges them through her characters’ androgyny and language.