Male Gaze Gender Roles
Emily Dutton
ENGL 3311
Levay
March 14, 2017
The Shifting of a Male’s Gaze
According to the feminist literary theory “The Male Gaze”, literary texts have a tendency to portray the world and women from a masculine point of view. These texts present women in terms of stereotypes and as objects of male pleasure. This usually occurs through the way males in a novel describe, talk about, and view women. In “The Male Gaze,” there is often one character, usually male, who is more extreme in his male gaze attitudes towards women than the other characters in the novel. This character often has a notable presence around the other characters of the novel. For the novel, A Picture of Dorian Gray, this influential character was undoubtedly Lord Henry Wotton. …show more content…
Thorough out her acting career, she pretended she was in love, and now that she felt she was in “true love,” she could no longer pretend to be so. This is evident when she stated: “before I knew you [Dorian], acting was the one reality of my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived… You made me understand what love really is. My love! My love! Prince Charming… You are more to me than all art can ever be.” (Wilde 73). In other words, Sibyl was under the notion that prior to meeting Dorian she did not know what life truly was, and she found her life’s purpose through meeting Dorian. She subsequently quit her job as an actress to further pursue her relationship with …show more content…
This led to a heated conversation where Dorian said to Sibyl: “You have spoiled the romance of my life. How little you can know of love, if you say it mars your art! Without your art, you are nothing. I would have made you famous, splendid, magnificent. The world would have worshipped you, and you would have borne my name. What are you now? A third-rate actress with a pretty face" (Wilde 74). Dorian’s words were in direct contrast to his never-ending accolades of Sibyl that he mentioned prior to his talk with Lord Henry. Rather than viewing Sibyl as a beautiful woman who should be placed on a pedestal, Dorian now backtracked and deemed Sibyl as someone of little or no value without her acting
ENGL 3311
Levay
March 14, 2017
The Shifting of a Male’s Gaze
According to the feminist literary theory “The Male Gaze”, literary texts have a tendency to portray the world and women from a masculine point of view. These texts present women in terms of stereotypes and as objects of male pleasure. This usually occurs through the way males in a novel describe, talk about, and view women. In “The Male Gaze,” there is often one character, usually male, who is more extreme in his male gaze attitudes towards women than the other characters in the novel. This character often has a notable presence around the other characters of the novel. For the novel, A Picture of Dorian Gray, this influential character was undoubtedly Lord Henry Wotton. …show more content…
Thorough out her acting career, she pretended she was in love, and now that she felt she was in “true love,” she could no longer pretend to be so. This is evident when she stated: “before I knew you [Dorian], acting was the one reality of my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived… You made me understand what love really is. My love! My love! Prince Charming… You are more to me than all art can ever be.” (Wilde 73). In other words, Sibyl was under the notion that prior to meeting Dorian she did not know what life truly was, and she found her life’s purpose through meeting Dorian. She subsequently quit her job as an actress to further pursue her relationship with …show more content…
This led to a heated conversation where Dorian said to Sibyl: “You have spoiled the romance of my life. How little you can know of love, if you say it mars your art! Without your art, you are nothing. I would have made you famous, splendid, magnificent. The world would have worshipped you, and you would have borne my name. What are you now? A third-rate actress with a pretty face" (Wilde 74). Dorian’s words were in direct contrast to his never-ending accolades of Sibyl that he mentioned prior to his talk with Lord Henry. Rather than viewing Sibyl as a beautiful woman who should be placed on a pedestal, Dorian now backtracked and deemed Sibyl as someone of little or no value without her acting