The female’s fight for liberation.

Abstract

In the great canon of literary works, The Awakening and The Bell Jar are typically read as feminist works because of the extreme measures the female protagonist take to resist the stereotypical roles expected of them because of the limitations imposed upon them by society. Similarly, one reading of the recently released film Sucker Punch offers a feminist perspective as advocated by the actresses themselves. In this thesis, we will follow the lives of three female characters, namely, Edna, Esther and Babydoll. With close reference to the medium they have chosen to exercise their freedom of agency, specifically through suicide and madness- we see that the characters cope with the stress and problems posed to them during their time period through perhaps the avenue they know best, but these outlets actually confirm stereotypes of femininity as weak and marginal because they actually concretize the already present negative stereotypes about women. The three chosen works, though set apart in many years all have one thing in common, their representation of the woman’s mind as being weaker than that of a male. Although the characters do make attempts to subvert this stereotypical identity in that they successfully assert their individuality in shocking the community into realizing the potential of a repressed female, the effects are on a personal level, on the societal level, they inadvertently affirm female stereotypes. Sucker Punch would also be used to assert the fact that the current representation of women is a result of the above mentioned actions undertaken by women.