Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on ‘Femme Fatales’ (Fatal Women) in Sir Arthur Wing Pinero’s Drama, “The Second Mrs. Tanqueray” (1893) and Oscar Wilde’s Comedy, “An Ideal Husband” (1895). Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 10 page paper which examines how rebellious femme fatales were treated in these so-called nineteenth-century society plays. Specifically discussed are what it is about these women that made them what society deemed as ‘rebellious,’ how each playwright depicted their respective femme fatales, and what the differences in these portrayals reveal about Victorian society as the century was drawing to a close. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
10 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGtanqid.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
to be the embodiment of the feminine ideal; this was a role she did not define for herself, but had rather been thrust upon her by the male patriarchy.
Women were supposed to be docile, sexually submissive (who regarded sex as only for procreation purposes and not as a source of enjoyment), and serving society either as wives and
mothers or doing good works in religious convents. As a gender, they were still very much regarded more as images instead of human beings. But as the century
was drawing to a close, a wave of social consciousness swept across Europe and North America. This was reflected in the theatrical works of the period, with socially relevant
plays by such dramatists as Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw titillating as well as scandalizing audiences. This rather dramatic shift from romanticism to realism "represents a critical response
to the ever increasing social confusions of what is called the progressive era" (Bennett 219). The society known as the Victorian era discovered that time could not stand still
forever, and the theatrical response to increasing social turmoil - mostly involving gender issues - was to introduce new characters that would come in direct conflict with conservative convention (Bennett
219). The so-called new woman became symbolic of what the Victorian Old Guard viewed as a threat to its stability (Bennett 219). This was a woman who rebelled
against oppressive social constraints. She was "educated, independent, not necessarily confined to the home" (Bennett 219). The new woman that caused such a stir among theater audiences of
the late 1800s was later dubbed a fatal woman, or more notoriously by the French term femme fatale because of her dangerous allure (not only to men but to the
...