ApplyinG LaurA Mulvey'S TheorY...

Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ will be the key theory that I will apply to my independent study as I am focussing on the representation of women in ‘House of Flying Daggers’.

Many aspects of her theory are relevant to my study, for example, she suggests that male spectators are assumed when a text is produced; therefore women are encouraged to have qualities of being looked-at-ness, whereas the main protagonists will be male in order to allow the ‘male audience’ to identify with them. In the House of Flying Daggers, there are a various scenes where the main woman protagonist, Mei, is dressed to impress and in contrast to this there is a semi-naked scene of her bathing herself in an exotic lake; which adds a fantastical effect. Furthermore, Mei seems to be constantly revealing her shoulders (when she and Jin have sex), and this seems to be portrayed as desirable and is also a fetishished body part.

On the other hand, my text also tries to challenge this view of ‘male spectators’, as Mei is also involved in combat, where she begins to look ‘rough’ and not as appealing. This in some ways could link to Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’, where women apparently idealise men and want to interact in the ways they do; furthermore she handles daggers and swords (phallic objects) when she is contributing in the large combat in the bamboo forest, which enforces the idea of patriarchal society.