Preview

The Oppression Of Women In Howard Hawks's Tragedies

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1354 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Oppression Of Women In Howard Hawks's Tragedies
Hawks could make his distinctive mark on any genre and can be easily recognized throughout his long film career, “westerns, musicals, screwball comedies, war pictures, historical epics, romantic adventures, films noir, gangster sagas, and even science fiction“(imdb, Howard Hawks). Here is just sample of classic films he has directed, Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), His Girl Friday (1940), Sergeant York (1941), Air Force (1943), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), and Rio Bravo (1959). He nearly won the Oscar in 1941 for Best Director of Sergeant York; Hawks was “nominated for Best Director only that one time, despite making some of the best films in the Hollywood canon“ (imdb, Howard Hawks). By the 1960s and 1970s the …show more content…
Before this film women were viewed as a threat and deadly to unsuspecting men entangled by their hidden motives and evil natures as mentioned by Hirsch, “The anti-woman bias that runs through American films reaches an apotheosis in noir, where beautiful spider women proliferate. There are other kinds of women in the films -- me meek wives infected with a fuddy-duddy morality, strong women like Lauren Bacall who achieve something of a parity with the men they fall for” (Hirsch 20). Marlowe and Mrs. Rutledge are one equal ground and both need each other in some capacity in order to survive the mayhem encircling them. In closing, The Big Sleep is an excellent movie with suspense, screams, intrigue, gunshots, murder mystery, lies, cover-up, gang of killers, and even romance, with atmospheric rain and thunder as our intrepid detective tries to unravel the puzzling clues he discovers mostly at night as he encounters numerous suspects along the way, making this a top rated film noir genre that
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros: Internal and External Conflicts
    • 298 Words
    • 1 Page

    "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros: Internal and External Conflicts

    "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros is a story of a wife who lives in a cycle of abuse from her husband. Cleofilas, a woman with unrealistic views of love, and Juan Pedro, her husband, move from Mexico to Seguin, Tejas, near a little arroyo called La Gritona. Cleofilas bears Juan Pedro a son, Juan Pedrito. Then one day Juan Pedro beat Cleofilas, but afterwards she was so stunned that she forgave him that "time and each." Cleofilas starts to suspect that Juan Pedro is committing adultery and that he's plotting to kill her. Therefore, before going to see the doctor about her unborn child she decided that she would ask for help. Graciela, a nurse or doctor, calls her friend to see if she could give Cleofilas a ride to the bus station in San Antonio. Felice, Graciela's friend, picks up Cleofilas and her child to take them away from their miserable life. The central idea of "Woman Hollering Creek" is that a person can escape the cycle of family violence if they want to.…

    • 298 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    In Home of Mercy How Does Harwood Highlight the Repression of Females Within Society?
    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Home of Mercy How Does Harwood Highlight the Repression of Females Within Society?

    Gwen Harwood sent a hostile message to the Bulletin Newspaper in 1961. This was a protest against, what Harwood believed to be, an inherent sexism within the journalistic sphere.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    an inspector calls - modern mortality to victorian
    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    an inspector calls - modern mortality to victorian

    A modern day audience would be very shocked by the characters behaviour and actions within the play. A modern day audience would be surprised by the strong views men held regarding women and their rights. In the Victorian times, there were various rules about jewellery, who to talk to – when and where, who to dance with, and how and when to speak. Women were expected to be submissive to men and not to speak with their own voice. Women upheld the highest morals in the Victorian times.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Women's Role In The Victorian Era
    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Women's Role In The Victorian Era

    The traditional Victorian image of the perfect woman was "the Angel in the House". Regardless of her relationship status, the Victorian women were supposed to be less than men when it comes to making choices, for she's seen as a powerless, fragile, helpless creature that is only meant…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Howard Zinn's Oppression Towards Women
    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Howard Zinn's Oppression Towards Women

    Toward this oppression and discrimination, women were and are rebelling and raising awareness through many categories such as art, books, music, proposing laws and regulations and such. Trying their best from the place they’re in to abolish this oppression toward women shows the persistence and resistance of women. The time women had come out from the cage or the house had dated back to a long ago yet they are fighting till now to get the equal treatment with men in this 21st century. Examples of how women in history fought to obtain equal treatment from society will be presented below.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Feminist Criticism: History Of Oppression Of Women
    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Feminist Criticism: History Of Oppression Of Women

    “Feminist criticism derives from a critique of a history of oppression, in this case the history of women’s inequality” (Mays 2347). Women have always been second to men in mostly everything they are competing in. Even if the man and woman have the exact same job, the man is probably making more money just because he is a man. Women barely got the chance to vote less than fifty years ago! Women still have a long way to go to catch up where the men are, because men have always had a say in how to do things, and the woman would just agree about what he had said. Feminist are here to change all of that though. With protests showing women are equally compatible to do the same thing as men can do. “One of the first disciplines…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Coquette Novel
    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Coquette Novel

    (Schweitzer 14). Schweitzer notes that during this time period women forfeited the emotional support that friendship provided once they were married. The main protagonist criticizes marriage in a letter she writes to her friend Lucy Freeman, “Marriage is the tomb of friendship. It appears to me a very selfish state” (Foster 24). It can be noted from Eliza’ view of marriage that Foster is critical of marriage because it kills friendships. Eliza writes to Mrs. Richmond, “Though not less interested in the felicity of my friend than the rest, yet the idea of a separation; perhaps, of an alienation of affection by, means of her entire devotion to another, cast an involuntary gloom over my mind” (Foster 70). Eliza’s view of her friend becoming part of a patriarchal marriage and her husband becoming her sole purpose further demonstrates what Foster thought of marriage and how unfair it was for women to give up the love and devotion she had for her friends. Schweitzer explains, “Even the eminently unromantic Lucy admits ruefully that marriage has removed her from her "native home" and its special joys” (Schweitzer 21). Schweitzer notes that even Lucy who is a character that embodies the social norm, admits that marriage takes away the freedom that a woman…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Feminism In The Scarlett Letter
    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Feminism In The Scarlett Letter

    A feminist can be defined as any person who supports the rights of women or empowers women through speech, actions, or ideas. This idea of empowerment means that a woman has the ability and strength to manage her life on her own, and does not require assistance from other people. The Scarlet Letter is in part a feminist novel in that it illustrates the strength that Hester Prynne holds to survive on her own throughout her ignominy. Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Hester as a rather strong woman who can still raise her daughter and continue on with her life despite constant mockery and humiliation. Given that female empowerment was unusual during this period of history, Hester’s character became a significant symbol of the strength within women…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Treatment of Women in Trifles
    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Treatment of Women in Trifles

    "Trifles," a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell, is a cleverly written story about a murder and more importantly, it effectively describes the treatment of women during the early 1900s. In the opening scene, we learn a great deal of information about the people of the play and of their opinions. We know that there are five main characters, three men and two women. The weather outside is frighteningly cold, and yet the men enter the warm farmhouse first. The women stand together away from the men, which immediately puts the men against the women. Mrs. Hale's and Mrs. Peters's treatment from the men in the play is reflective of the beliefs of that time. These women, aware of the powerless slot that has been made for them, manage to use their power in a way that gives them an edge. This power enables them to succeed in protecting Minnie, the accused. "Trifles" not only tells a story, it shows the demeaning view the men have for the women, the women's reaction to man's prejudice, and the women's defiance of their powerless position.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Female Abolitionists: Discrimination In The Women's Rights Movement
    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page

    Female Abolitionists: Discrimination In The Women's Rights Movement

    The women's rights movement was the offspring of abolition, and many people actively supported both reforms, including some men. Women abolitionists had already mastered the organizational skills necessary for a successful social movement. Female abolitionists sometimes faced discrimination within the movement itself, which led to their politicization on the issue of women’s rights. In addition, women working to secure freedom for African Americans began to see some legal similarities between their situation as women and the situation of enslaved black men and women. The discrimination female abolitionists faced within the movement itself led them to see that some of their own rights were being infringed upon.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Examples Of Social Norms
    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Examples Of Social Norms

    The play begins with a criminal investigation taking place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Wright was found dead in their bed with a rope around his neck, with his wife being the largest suspect. Mr. Henderson, the county attorney, Mr. Peters, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, a neighbor and friend to Mr. Wright, gather around discussing the matter, while Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale stand off to the side, patiently waiting to be a help to personal connection if the men see fit (1362). Throughout the story, the men make light of any problem or important matter that the women may have, or have to offer. They initially notice how dirty and untidy Mrs. Wrights home is, and because this is very unordinary for the women of that time period, 1916, that made Mrs. Wright that much more suspicious. The men also bring up that though Mrs. Wright is held for murder, she is too busy worrying about her perseveres, an unimportant matter to any of the men (1365). Glaspell connected her title with the theme of her story with a comment made by one of her male characters, Mr. Hale, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles". As though any problem, or worry a women may have is unimportant and exaggerated compared to any "real" issue, that a man might have. Near the end of the story, the women feel sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright for they know how it feels to be a women and they feel that perhaps her actions were justified, for her husband did strangle her beloved bird. Though they have gathered much evidence to close the case, the men do not feel as if their input will be worthy of solving the…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Feminist Analysis
    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Feminist Analysis

    Harper Lee writes To Kill A Mockingbird staying true to the sexism that took place during the period of the 1930s. At this time, how women were viewed was a paradox. While women were seen as pure, perfect, and dainty, they were also highly disrespected by men, labeled as dumb, and forced to work in the home and bear children. This paradoxical treatment of women was convenient for men who desired to control women and maintain their submissive demeanor. This mistreatment was highly integrated into society and Harper Lee gives both antagonists and protagonists moments in which they disrespect or otherwise criticize femininity. Jem, Scout’s older brother and young boy growing into adolescence, frequently comments on Scout’s gender, at one point…

    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    To Kill a Mockinbird Racism, Sexism, Social Class Conflict
    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To Kill a Mockinbird Racism, Sexism, Social Class Conflict

    "Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones."…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In The Victorian Era
    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gender Roles In The Victorian Era

    According to Dr. Askin Haluk Yildirim of Izmir Katip Celebi University in Turkey, the union of man and woman during this time was “seen to be a matter of survival for Victorian women” (Yildirim 47). Many articles investigating gender roles of this era often compare marriage to slavery. A woman was “legally the slave to her husband” and the union was one “based on power and force” (Yildirim 47; Sykes). Women were to marry older, wealthier men, to work in the home, educating and raising their children, and to be completely dependent on their husbands. It is for this reason that Victorian women sought out wealthy men. Marriage was of major importance and authors of the Victorian Era often included a marriage plot in their works. Charlotte Bronte and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are two writers who defy the expectations of Victorian women through their marriage plots. In Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Jane is almost certain that Rochester will marry Blanche. Blanche’s “rank and connections suited him [Rochester]” and the union of these two individuals would have been acceptable and predictable (Bronte 353). However, Bronte’s marriage plot does not follow the traditional Victorian path. Bronte’s characters Rochester and Jane develop a relationship one would not expect during this time period. Victorian marriage practices can be revealed in other ways…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The History Of Oppression Of Women
    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The History Of Oppression Of Women

    America was built on the idea of freedom and equality. So why it is that some are more equal than others? This comes from white supremacist groups wanting more rights and other improvements over people who are not white. America may claim to be equal to all but some are more equal for these rights than others.…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics