莎柏莉娜

INTRODUCTION

Chapter I. LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter II. AN ANALYSIS OF THE FILM EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN

Chapter III. AN ANALYSIS OF THE FILM RAISE THE RED LANTERN

Chapter IV. CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABSTRACT

Lu, Pei-Pei, M.A., Drama and Communications, University of New Orleans, May 1999.  AN ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FILMS FROM FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES.  Major Professor:  Barbara B. Coleman.

     This research examines women's roles in the Chinese societies of Mainland China and Taiwan through an analysis of two films:  Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman (Taiwan) and Yimou Zhang's Raise the Red Lantern (China).  

     Since filmmaking can be used to expose problems in a society, this thesis conducts an analysis of the two films mentioned above with this goal in mind.  First the writer utilizes psychoanalysis with feminist theory to analyze the films.  Then she discusses some of the social facts associated with the oppression of Chinese women in both Taiwan and Mainland China.

     Finally, the writer makes a comparative analysis of the women's positions in these two films, and discovers that traditional Chinese norms or customs are still deeply rooted within the daily lives of the people of these two societies.  Even though feminist concepts have invaded the Chinese culture for some time now, and more Chinese women feel they can ask for their rights, the cruel truth cannot be denied:  the patriarchal system is still the equation for the Chinese social structure.

INTRODUCTION

     The electronic media are one of the main tools people use to acquire the world's latest information.  It is this writer's opinion that if one wants to learn the thoughts or ideas of people within a community or certain culture, a good place to start would be to study their electronic media.  Since television programs may have material that is influenced by other cultures, this writer prefers to begin her research with the famous films of a country with the belief that a majority of the ideas contained in a film are from one person's schemata of thoughts or ideas--the director or auteur.

     An "auteur" is a director or other creative intelligence with a recognizable and distinctive style who is considered the prime "author" of a film (Cook 960).  Auteur films are usually molded by a certain director's set of customs or traditional concepts.  Moreover, this writer believes the audience can understand what is deeply-rooted within a culture by decoding the messages that directors express in their films.

     "Film" covers a wide range of topics.  Although "women in cinema" narrows the topic in a sense to a particular type of film, at the same time it broadens it to include many other aspects such as feminism, the women's movement, and women's issues.  As one might ask, why is this writer interested in analyzing Chinese films through a feminist perspective?  The most important reason is this writer's background which influences her inner desire to conduct this research.

     In Chinese society, females are taught to be "good girls," which means they are expected to behave like Barbie dolls.  Furthermore, they are not expected to pursue things they want because "Barbie dolls" are meant to obey the social regulations made by males.

     The entire society has made this unfair situation seem reasonable as every form of media conveys the message that women are subservient and men are dominant.  For example, the media use female bodies only as sexual symbols--from the male's perspective; therefore, they must be beautiful, young, or skinny.  In Taiwanese advertisements, for instance, it is not difficult to find naked female models in advertisements, whether they are in magazines or on television, but naked male models are seldom seen promoting merchandise. 

     Furthermore, if one really pays attention to female roles in films or sitcoms, it becomes apparent that women are always portrayed as weaker characters, representing minor, subordinate, dependent, or even objects belonging to or being controlled by men.  Additionally, their lives are usually depicted as being miserable.  Men are their only hope for escape from a tragic situation.  What then is the audience's point of view?  The truth of the matter is that audiences are often moved by such stories and enjoy them.  Not only men, but also women consider it ordinary. 

     This writer will now focus on the culture of Taiwan.  Males continue to be paid more than females even though they hold the same positions.  Males have more chances to find a better job or get promoted over females that have the same abilities.  Also, men continue to have a higher status and greater power within the family to direct everything their way.  This does not mean, however, that women have fewer responsibilities in their domestic work.  Unfortunately, as time goes by, women have more and more tasks to perform. 

     In modern Taiwanese society, women are choosing to go out and earn a living in order to gain more financial independence in their lives.  Earning a living was once the man's obligation in the early history of human society.  Even though women have changed their roles from housekeepers to breadwinners, or carry both jobs, they often do more than men are expected to do.  Society in general still does not give women the opportunities to gain the same status as men.  It is this writer's belief that this problem is deeply-rooted in tradition. 

     In the past, the public was prejudiced when talking about the gender issue.  Many people believe in the nature‑born, unequal theory between men and women, especially those in Chinese societies.  The theory, basically, is that men are born to dominate and women are born to belong to men.  It is a difficult task to change people's concepts of male chauvinism; however, there are several Chinese programs with differing viewpoints on contemporary women's roles in Chinese society. 

     Since I was born and raised in Taiwan, I will begin my research paper with the Taiwanese film, Eat Drink Man Woman.  Then I will review a film from Mainland China, Raise the Red Lantern, and conduct a comparative analysis of the two films from the two different societies. 

CHAPTER I

LITERATURE REVIEW

     The analysis of women's roles in two Chinese films, Eat Drink Man Woman from Taiwan and Raise the Red Lantern from Mainland China, will be the focus of this thesis.  Having the same background, the same culture, and, more importantly, the same language are three reasons for choosing Chinese women's roles to research.  Also, the writer will use feminist film theory as the research methodology. 

     First, a study of literature on feminist film theory will be made in order to form a basic schemata and understanding of feminism.  Secondly, the writer will do a critique of both of the films using Laura Mulvey's psychoanalytical method of deconstructing the scenes, the dialogue, and the mise en scène, in an attempt to understand what the two films are trying to express to the audience.  Next, an analysis of the inner workings of the films will be conducted in order to decode any hidden symbolism or connotations that may have been implied by the directors.  Finally, a comparative analysis of the two Chinese films will be made.

     Since feminist theory is still new in Taiwan, with very little information on feminist film theories, a review of Western texts on this subject will be made.  First, the writer will review feminist theories, then feminist film theories, and ultimately feminist film criticism.

     Many variants of feminist theory tend to share three major assumptions:  (1) gender is a social construction that oppresses women more than men, (2) patriarchy (i.e., the male domination of social institutions) fashions these constructions, and (3) women's experiential knowledge best helps us to envision a future non‑sexist society.  These shared premises shape a double agenda:  the task of critique, attacking gender stereotypes, and the task of construction (sometimes called feminist praxis) or the construction of new models.  (Humm 5)

     Feminist theory particularly focuses on women's experiences of sexuality, work, and the family, inevitably challenging traditional frameworks of knowledge and putting into question many assumptions such as universalism--the view that there are biological universals (Humm 5). 

     Also, there are many different kinds of feminisms resulting from various cultures.  For example, there are French feminists who claim that the cultural and gendered binaries--man/woman, culture/nature--make women inferior, American feminists who use psychoanalysis to locate the source of male power, and Black feminists who describe discrimination as an interlocking system based on race, class, and gender (Humm 7).

     According to Deborah Knight, as borrowed from Toril Moi's Sexual/Textual Political:

     The principal objective of feminist criticism has always been political:  it seeks to expose, not to perpetuate, patriarchal practices.  (Knight 39)

Knight considers that feminist theory might be seen as mimicking or reproducing the sociological and political construction of the relationship between women and patriarchy.  Women are marginalized by patriarchy, since the presupposition from which feminist theory works, which Moi makes perfectly clear, is that women are comparatively disadvantaged by a dependence on this view (Knight 40).  Feminist theory comes from the relationship between women and patriarchy, and more examples of this will be discussed in Chapter Two.

     Feminist film theory examines the processes by which women are used as spectacles in a theatre of male scopophilic desire (a term Freud chose for the activity of looking at another as an erotic object) (Stanbury 47).  Unlike France, Germany, and Italy, where feminist film theory is developing slowly, the United States and England continue to flourish in this area.  Although Taiwan is a modern city and many messages about feminism have invaded the culture resulting in cultural conflicts, the invisible patriarchal structure continues to limit Taiwan's acceptance of women's liberation.  This is also true of the more conservative Mainland.  Since the knowledge of feminist film theory is limited abroad among the Chinese communities, the writer will review related materials from America in order to conduct research for this thesis.

     According to E. Ann Kaplan's article entitled "Feminist Film Criticism:  Current Issues and Problems," a series of events helped develop feminist film criticism:

     1.Feminist film criticism in America arose out of the Women's Liberation Movement of the late 1960s/early '70s.

     2.Activism in America had a sociological/ Marxist bent which was reflected in many of the '60s theories and across many disciplines.

     3.Kate Millett's ground‑breaking text, Sexual Politics (1969), influenced early approaches to the female image on film. 

     4.Short but densely packed articles by Britain's Claire Johnston, in 1973, and Laura Mulvey, in 1975, dramatically impacted the field on both sides of the Atlantic.  Additionally, their use of Althusserian Marxism, Saussurean semiotics (as applied by Levi‑Strauss), and, perhaps most importantly, their use of both Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis in their short essays, later shaped much of the ensuing work.

     5.Mulvey's work, which initially focused on the male spectator, provoked and explored the position of the female spectator, which, in turn, initiated a good deal of work on the text‑spectator relationship.  Furthermore, it began an examination of the melodrama form addressing women (i.e., the so‑called "woman's film").

     6.Through the influence of the feminist film journal, Camera Obscura, work by Christian Metz and Raymond Bellour began to be noticed in America.  Semiotics and psychoanalytic theory began to be more strongly developed in America in the 1980s than in England largely because of the transformation of the influential British journal, Screen.  (7‑8)

     Kaplan's article particularly focuses on essentialist and anti‑essentialist feminism.  Essentialist feminism assumes that there is a basic "truth" about women that patriarchal societies have kept hidden.  It also assumes that a particular group (women) can be separated from another group (men) in terms of an essence that exists among the first group of individuals which precedes or is outside the realm of culture and must ultimately be biological in origin.  The essential aspects of women, repressed in patriarchy, are often assumed to embody a more humane, moral mode of being, which, once brought to light, could help change society in a beneficial direction.  The essentialist feminists believe that female or feminine values should be resurrected, celebrated, revitalized, and then utilized as a weapon to remove women from oppression (Kaplan 9). 

     Anti‑essentialist feminist film critics are concerned with the processes through which female subjectivity is formed within a patriarchal culture, and do not find any "essential" feminine values behind the socially constructed subject.  In other words, the "feminine" values are not something untouched by patriarchy, but integral to it.  Analyzing the processes through which sexuality and subjectivity are formed at the same time, theorists are interested in the links between a given sex identity and the patriarchal order (Kaplan 10).  Kaplan believes that anti‑essentialist feminists were able to find resonance in the work of Laura Mulvey which was central in formulating an anti‑essentialist position. 

     The following is a look at one of Mulvey's articles‑‑"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (Penley 57‑68, Erens 28‑40). 

     Woman displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle:  from pin‑up to strip‑tease, . . ., she holds the look, play to and signifies male desire.  (Penley 62, Erens 33, Stanbury 47). 

Studies by Laura Mulvey, Mary Ann Doane, and Kaja Silverman argue that images of women in Hollywood films reify the male gaze, its lines of desire, and its materialistic equation of the visible female body with invisible male mastery (Stanbury 47).  In Pretty Women (1990), a popular American film in Taiwan, the character of Vivian (Julia Roberts) is a suitable example of this viewpoint.  Vivian, who is a prostitute, is both pretty and fortunate when she meets a very rich corporate raider named Edward (Richard Gere).  By the end of the film, Edward proposes to Vivian implying they will live happily ever after and making Pretty Woman a typical "Cinderella" story.  This story truly satisfies the Chinese audiences' imagination‑‑the male domination of the female body and the female's desire for a good marriage.  In Pretty Woman Vivian makes a dazzling transformation from rags to riches, and becomes a feast for the eyes of the audience, Edward, and for the rest of the men within the movie.  After her transformation, men walk into lampposts while watching Vivian pass them on the street, the obsequious hotel manager follows her with his eyes when she passes him in the lobby, and the peeping bellhop secretly smiles to himself when she exits the elevator to Edward's penthouse (Stanbury 48‑49). 

    According to Mulvey, mainstream cinema appeals to the scopophilic instinct.  Mulvey concludes that this gaze is male and that cinema relies on three types of gazes:  (1) the camera's gaze, which looks at women as objects and is usually operated by men, (2) the look of the male actors in a film, which is structured to make their gaze appear powerful, and (3) the gaze of the spectator, presumed to be male, who voyeuristically identifies with the camera/actor gazing at women represented in fetishistic and stereotypical ways (Humm 14).  The display of a woman's body then becomes the most important element in a film, more so in most Hollywood and Chinese films. 

     Furthermore, a phenomenon exists that women try to get a man's attention by way of their fabulous bodies or their appearance rather than their abilities and intelligence.  This phenomenon is a result of a longstanding acceptance by women that they are seen as sexual objects and must fulfill a man's visual pleasure, and this phenomenon is especially true within the Chinese community.  Why does it exist?  Because in Taiwan the belief that women are nothing more than a man's private property, there for their sexual pleasure, has been accepted and passed down from generation to generation.

     Chinese women are constantly struggling with the traditional and modern expectations that exist in their daily lives.  Under the patriarchal system, the traditional Chinese concept of women being subservient to men is molded in ideology and strongly held in people's minds.  Although there has been recent information on feminism in Taiwan encouraging women to fight for their rights, women are still concerned with the public's admiration for traditional customs. 

     According to public opinion in Taiwan, it is believed that more and more married women are being abused by their husbands.  In Jane Caputi's research regarding the behaviors of men in an abusive relationship, as seen in Sonja Peterson-Lewis's research, it is argued that in many cases the behaviors attracting women in the first phase of a relationship are firmly related to subsequent, overtly abusive behaviors that characterize the committed phase of a relationship.  For example, jealousy, which at first makes a woman feel special and cared for, can later become a catalyst for a man's physical violence.  Furthermore, a man's remarkable attention to his lover's dress or mannerisms can later manifest as obsessiveness and a need to control all aspects of a woman's appearance.  Additionally, when the man is in the role of "protector" or is willing to use violence against others, it can be seen as a precursor for the violence he will later inflict on the woman in his life.  Also, if the woman is in the role of "protege," the man may later lay a claim for the woman's undying gratitude.  (Caputi 4)

     Today more and more movies are showing scenes where women are being mistreated by men.  For example, the film Thelma and Louise (1991) has scenes where the two lead female characters, played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, are mistreated by men.  Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) shows Laura (Julia Roberts) being battered and raped by her husband, and Pretty Woman (1990) has Vivian being beaten and insulted by Philip who then tries to rape her.  These scenes fulfill a hegemonic, masculinist fantasy and identify women as victims--"masochistic fantasy instead of sexuality" (Kaplan 12).

     Mulvey's film criticism incorporates psychoanalysis and borrows several concepts from Freud.  For example, the scopophilic instinct, which refers to the pleasure one receives looking at another person as an erotic object, and ego libido, which refers to the forming of the identification process.  (Erens 38, Penly 67)

     For this writer's analysis, she will borrow from J. A. Doyle's five themes of masculinity and five cultural expectations of women as outlined in Julia T. Wood's book Gender Lives:  Communication, Gender, and Culture.  The five themes of masculinity and the five cultural expectations of women closely reflect the gender formalization and socialization in people's early lives.  It is for that reason and the similarities between these concepts and the requirements of both men and women in Taiwan, that the writer wishes to use Doyle's concepts to analyze the films Eat Drink Man Woman and Raise the Red Lantern. 

     The primary directive is "don't be female."  Doyle calls this directive the "negative touchstone" of the male's role, meaning that the most fundamental requirement for manhood is not to be womanly.  Early in most boys lives they are taught that they must not think, act, or feel like girls and women.  Because this prohibition teaches boys that girls are inferior, it is believed to be one of the reasons for the general attitude that females are inferior to males.  (Wood 79)

     The second element of the male's role is the command "to be successful" which surfaces when men discuss the concept of masculinity.  In other words, men are expected to achieve a certain status in their professions, to be successful, and to "make it."  This, therefore, means they do not have the option of staying home with their children and having their wives provide for the family finances.  The few men who do choose to stay at home are generally regarded as odd and unmanly.  (Wood 79)

     The third injunction for the male's role is to be aggressive.  From childhood on, males are taught to be aggressive--to "show what you're made of."  In discussing the importance of aggression to masculinity, Doyle calls our attention to the paradox that "aggression is both denounced as a significant social problem and applauded as a masculine attribute."  Aggression in males is justified, because men are expected to protect their rights, and to not retaliate or seek revenge when another violates their rights would appear unmanly.  Men's training in aggression seems to be linked to violence, especially violence toward and against women.  Because males are taught early on that females are inferior and aggressiveness is right, it's not surprising that some men believe they are entitled to dominate.  (Wood 79)

     A fourth element of the male's role is captured in the injunction to be sexual.  According to this edict, men should be interested in sex at anytime, and are expected to have a number of sexual partners.  Many writers have criticized men's inclination to treat women as sex objects, which clearly demeans women.  Furthermore, this tendency is encouraged by socialization that stresses sexual conquests and virility as being essential to manhood.  (Wood 80)

     Finally, Doyle says, the male role demands that men be self‑reliant.  According to this fifth edict, men are expected to be confident, independent, and autonomous--a "real man" doesn't need others, particularly women.  In order words, a man must take care of himself and rely on no one.  As noted earlier, male self‑development typically begins with differentiation from others, and, therefore, from infancy on most boys are taught to be self‑reliant and self‑contained.  Also, men are expected to be emotionally reserved--it is not manly to allow one's feelings to control oneself.  (Wood 81)

     The following are the five expectations of women as identified by Doyle.  The first theme regarding femininity is that appearance still counts.  Unfortunately, women are still judged by their looks, and must be pretty, slim, and well-dressed to be desired.  Early on, girls are induced to focus on appearance when they are given dolls and clothes to play with, both of which invite them to attend to appearance.  Women seldom feel they will be loved, respected, or accepted based on their achievements, values, or personality unless they are also attractive.  (Wood 83)

     The second cultural expectation of women is that they should be "sensitive and caring."  As part of their role, as defined by culture, girls and women are expected to care for and about others, and to be responsive, supportive, and friendly.  Furthermore, women are supposed to be nice, deferential, and helpful in general, whereas men are not held to the same requirement.  A number of studies have revealed that women do the majority of the caregiving for the entire culture.  However, females do have one advantage, as girls and women are allowed to express their feelings more openly than are boys and men.  One of the cultural views of femininity includes expressiveness, which may explain why women often seem more aware of their feelings, and more comfortable talking about them than do men.  (Wood 84)

     The third persistent theme of femininity is "negative treatment by others."  The devaluation of the feminine role as built into the Chinese culture remains true.  It is not only built into cultural views, but is typically internalized by individuals, including women.  Through communication with parents, peers, and media or education, girls learn that boys get more respect and opportunities, and it is a lesson that is retained as girls mature into womanhood.  Given this, it is no wonder that girls and women generally suffer more depression, lower self‑confidence and a belief in themselves, than men do.  In Chinese cultures, girls are taught from birth that they have less worth than their male peers.  In an article entitled "Women's Issue and Human Rights in China," Ciping Anderson-Huang, a Chinese woman who now lives in America, states:

     I love my homeland and wish it and its people well.  But it does not stop my pain of the way I was and am treated, as a woman there [in China]. . . .  My father does very good Calligraphy, . . . he sighed, "Too bad that you are not a boy.  Otherwise, I'll teach you everything I know."  He repeated that many times until the day I left China for America.  (Anderson-Huang)

Imagine how it must feel for a little girl to hear this from her father.  Unfortunately, traditions teach girls they need to tolerant and accept such treatment as their inevitable fate.  (Wood 85) 

     "Being a superwoman" is a fourth theme emerging in cultural expectations of women.  It is not enough to be just a homemaker and mother, or to just have a career, as young women now seem to feel they must do it all.  The physical and psychological tolls of trying to be "superwomen" is well documented, and the tolls continue to grow as women find that changes in the workplace are not paralleled by changes in home responsibilities.  (Wood 86)

     The final theme of femininity in the 1990s is one that reflects all of the others as well as the contradiction inherent in them--"there is no longer a single meaning for femininity."  For example, a woman who chooses to stay at home while her children are young, may be criticized by many, envied by others, respected by some, and disregarded by still others.  Currently, multiple views of femininity are vying for legitimacy which can be confusing for women.  Furthermore, there are many ways to be feminine and perhaps we can respect them all.  (Wood 87)

     After reviewing the material above, this writer has gained a better understanding of feminist theory and feminist film theory, which will be used as a blueprint for her analysis.  Since all the theories studied refer to the notion of patriarchy, or Mulvey's theory of mainstream cinema appealing to the scopophilic instinct or gaze, this writer feels it is important to analyze the films, not only from a psychological perspective, but also from a sociological perspective.  Such terms as "patriarchy," "oppression," "class," and "ideology" are often used in Marxist and feminist theories.  The theories are clarified by Catherine McCracken Vesey's master's thesis entitled The Ms. Compromise:  A Socialist Feminist Analysis of the Advertising and Editorial Relationship in Ms. Magazine From 1973 to 1989.

     In contemporary Marxist feminism, Marxist feminists adopted Marx's materialist concept of female oppression within a capitalist system.  According to Sokoloff (1980), early Marxist feminists used four major points from Marx's work to expand feminist analysis, and these points are as follows:  

     1.The exclusion of women from the social production process has led to the oppression of women.  Also, there is super‑exploitation once women enter the labor force.

     2.Women are private property within the capitalist system.  Thus, the capitalist mode of production includes both the home and the market.

     3.Patriarchy is a consequence of the institutionalization of private property.  However, as capitalism grows, the number of those who own the means of production become fewer and fewer.  This is due to women entering the labor force which elicits change within industry and deteriorates men's control at home.

     4.The system of reproduction is within the system of production.  The working class must replenish its own labor power; thus, the housewives' "daily consumption of the individual male breadwinner's wages allows for the reproduction of the working class as a whole."  (Vesey 35)

     These four aspects of Marx's theory relate private property as being the source of sexual division of labor which supports and maintains capitalism.  In general, the domestic labor provided by women helps support capitalism by enabling male workers to go to work for someone else.  Therefore, women's labors at home contribute to the profits of the capitalists since capitalists benefit by having to pay only one laborer, and yet they also reap the benefits from the unpaid labor done by women in the home.  (Vesey 36-37)

     Therefore, Marxist feminists call for the abolition of private property and the full‑scale entrance of women into the labor force as a means to liberate women.  The abolition of private property would eliminate women as the private property of men.  Furthermore, women's entrance into the labor force would eliminate women's dependence upon men which would then eradicate the sexual division of labor.  However, a weakness in Marxist feminist theory is the lack of discussion on patriarchy.  Marxist feminists do not focus as much on women and their relationship to men within the home, specifically male domination.  The Marxist feminists' main focus is on how capitalism perpetuates a lower status for women in society, thus, women are dominated first and foremost by capitalism, and only secondarily by men.  (Vesey 37)

     In Radical feminism, radical feminists also utilize the Marxist concept of class.  However, instead of focusing on the source of class distinction in relationship to production, the basis of class distinction for radical feminists is sex.  The focus of radical feminists is on gender relationships within a society, especially a patriarchal society.  One of the first radical feminists, Shulamith Firestone (1970), utilized the concepts of Marx and Engel regarding class which states that class distinction was due to the relationship of procreation which separates women and men, not production (Vesey 38).  She also redefined Marx's historical materialism theory stating that the moving power of all historic events is the "dialectic of sex."  Furthermore, radical feminists use theoretical concepts of patriarchy to approach the subject of women's oppression through their bodies.  Issues such as motherhood and reproduction, the control of women's sexuality, and male domination of women's bodies are largely the focus for radical feminists.  The latter is specifically typified by such issues as the images of women in pornography, medical procedures, the control of women's reproduction, forced heterosexuality, and violence against women through rape, harassment, and battery.  By focusing on women's bodies, radical feminists support the position that the "personal is political" where women's sexuality and bodies are political issues.  (Vesey 40)

     Radical feminists identify numerous patriarchal structures that support the subordination of women.  Women's oppression stems from their biology as women and their capacity to reproduce, and it is manifested in all male/female relationships.  Radical feminism is crucial to the development of feminist thought because of the concentration on patriarchy.  (Vesey 40)

     In summary, this writer believes the five cultural expectations of men and women, as mentioned above, form the ideology of Chinese societies, and that it gradually becomes stronger and stronger as it deeply incubates within the Chinese culture and is transmitted from one generation to the next.  Contemporary Marxist feminists focus on women's oppression within the capitalist system and refer to the injustices that exist, such as a woman being a man's private property and women being banned from entering the labor force (Vesey 35-37).  Radical feminism uses the Marxist concept of class to argue that it is the reason women are oppressed through their bodies (Vesey 40).  Radical feminists believe that society uses gender as a means to separate males and females into different classes, then it eliminates a woman's right to control her body via this process (Vesey 40). 

     In order to understand a woman's status in present day Taiwan and Mainland China, an analysis of the two Chinese films, Eat Drink Man Woman and Raise the Red Lantern, will be made using many of the aspects listed above.  The author chose Eat Drink Man Woman and Raise the Red Lantern because they are popular films in Taiwan.  Furthermore, the author feels that these films are clear examples of how Chinese women were treated in the early part of the 20th century and how they are being treated today.  The author also believes that these films, although set in different time periods, share the same concept as this thesis--that the low status of Chinese women is their inevitable fate.

CHAPTER II

AN ANALYSIS OF THE FILM EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN

     The film Eat Drink Man Woman (1991), directed by the Taiwanese director Ang Lee, is well-known within the international film industry.  The story of Eat Drink Man Woman is about the interpersonal relationships of a widowed father (Tao Chu) and his three daughters (Jia‑Jen, Jia‑Chien, and Jia‑Ning).  Chu, portrayed as Taiwan's greatest living chef and a national treasure within culinary circles, rules over the kitchens of a huge international hotel in Taipei.  While at home, Chu spends most of his time in the kitchen preparing incredible gourmet meals for the "torturous Sunday dinner" which his daughters must attend each week.

     As the film opens, it is obvious the characters are not exactly happy.  Generational conflicts and tensions resulting from traditional expectations of women, and the desire of the three young women in the family to have their freedom, are the cause of the various problems that occur in the film. 

     In Eat Drink Man Woman the patriarchal concept is clearly represented in the film.  The father, for example, expects his three daughters to participate in the "Sunday supper" because it is a way to bring all the family members together.  Refusal to attend the Sunday supper is not an option for Chu's daughters for in Taiwan daughters are expected to honor and obey their father.  It can be said, however, that this forced participation is an excuse for the father to control his three adult daughters, and it is also an attempt to draw them away from their desire for independence.  The audience member soon realizes that Chu is very powerful, whether at work or at home.  At home, he insists on a reunion with all of his daughters every Sunday.  He washes their clothes, even though they are no longer children.  He does not discuss his emotions or his health with any of them.  Furthermore, he is conservative and tries to be as tough as he can be.  According to the fifth element of the male role that Wood borrowed from Doyle, "men have to be self‑reliant and emotionally reserved, because it is not manly to allow your feeling to control yourself" (Wood 81).  The examples above from the film express this idea very well. 

     Additionally, Chu dominates in the kitchens of a famous international hotel in Taipei.  One scene that impressed the author was where it is obvious that all the cooks in the kitchen of the hotel are male, possibly implying that women can be cooks at home, but not professionally, and men are the true power holders.  If we use the Marxist perspective, this scene suggests that women are forbidden to be members of the labor force because males want to eliminate any opportunity for women to gain their independence.

     In Eat Drink Man Woman, Chef Chu's wife is deceased, which means he must also do the cooking at home.  In a scene between Chu's second daughter, Jia-Chien, and Chu's co-worker from the kitchens of the international hotel, Uncle Wen, it is clear to the audience that Chu tries to dominate or control his daughters through his cooking.  In the scene, Jia-Chien is talking to Uncle Wen about how her father never allows her to go into the kitchen to cook.  She tells Uncle Wen of her frustration with her father who never asked her about her dreams or what she wanted to do with her life.  Instead of asking about her dream, which was to follow in her father's footsteps and become a chef, Chu forced Jia-Chien to get a higher degree, believing it was the best and right thing for her life.  This is very common in the Chinese culture, and it is widely accepted that the father is the absolute authority in a family, even if it means destroying a child's talent by resisting her ambitions.

     The following are analyses of the three main female characters, Chu's three daughters:  Jia‑Jen, Jia‑Chien, and Jia‑Ning.

            Jia‑Jen, the Oldest Daughter

     Chu's oldest daughter, Jia‑Jen, is a traditional woman who does all the housework except for what her father does.  She tries to convince herself it is her duty to care for her widowed father and that she must, therefore, suppress her own desires.  Jia-Jen's only release from her invisible cage is her Christian belief.  In order to reflect the confusion women feel about what they should or should not do, the director, Ang Lee, tries to show the conflict between the traditional and modern cultures by making Jia‑Jen's character a Christian as a connotation.

     Another trait of Jia-Jen's character is that her manner of dress is always conservative and unappealing to men.  Perhaps it is because she is a high school teacher that she feels, or the Chinese public feels, that she must remain subdued in her manner of dress and personality.  Teachers are given the greatest admiration and are held in the highest esteem in the Chinese community.  Furthermore, teachers are highly respected and are expected to behave properly at all times, especially female teachers, because they are considered examples for their students.  This can be considered a sort of oppression placed on females by males.  The female teachers in Taiwan are expected to wear plain clothes or risk a public attack that they are anti‑traditional.  So as part of the melodrama in Taiwan, teachers are considered a symbol of conservatism.  As previously mentioned in the literature review, the second element of the cultural expectations of women points out that "women are thought to be sensitive and caring" (Wood 85).  It is for the above stated reason that the Chinese culture places a great deal of emphasis on the position of teacher as being suitable for women since it is a job that nurtures and helps others to absorb knowledge.  

     There are several scenes where Jia-Jen is seen receiving secret love letters at school.  Unbeknownst to her, these letters have been written by her students as part of a prank.  However, these letters make her feel special, because she never dreamed she would have a secret admirer, and, as a result, she begins dressing up for school.  In the writer's opinion, the director tried to express an accepted fact, that a woman's appearance still counts and if they want to be desired by men, it is important to look pretty. 

     In Chinese culture, women have to wait for men to choose, they cannot pursue what they want and must suppress their desires.  As mentioned earlier, Doyle states that "the male's role is captured in the injunction to be sexual" (Wood 80); therefore, men have the right to be interested in sex, but not women.  It is for this reason that Jia‑Jen has not had a boyfriend in a long time.  It is ironic that in Chinese culture a woman must wait to be pursued, but when she does not have a boyfriend, especially when she is no longer young, she is considered to have something wrong with her.  Women who are still single at a certain age are considered "old maids" and stand out, even though they may be enjoying a wonderful single life.  The irony is that tradition prevents a woman from doing the chasing, but she is the one who is ridiculed and blamed if she has no dates. 

     When Jia-Jen discovers it is her students who have sent the letters to her, she is devastated and bursts into tears.  Soon Ming-Dao, the physical education teacher, enters her classroom and pats her on the back to comfort her.  As a result, she begins to kiss him.     By the end of the movie, Jia-Jen marries Ming‑Dao and convinces him to become a Christian too.  It is ironic that the most traditional of the three daughters actually becomes aggressive once she is free from the traditional concepts of her father. 

           Jia‑Chien, the Second Daughter

     Chef Chu's second and favorite daughter, Jia‑Chien, is a successful career woman who is completely different from her two sisters.  Although Jia-Chien is an ambitious woman, a leader in her company, with a promotion to work abroad within her grasp, she loses what women are eager for--a sweet marriage. 

     Sometimes the writer wonders whether the traditional Chinese concept is contrary to what women really think about, and is only a stereotype.  It is widely accepted that humans are capable of going into a society and learning through socialization, by various methods and procedures, how to be accepted by that society.  According to the social learning and cognitive theories, children use the imitation of others as a method to process their socialization in order to behave in a proper way.  Since the patriarchal structure in the Chinese culture is steadfast, children, both boys and girls, are taught to accept that "marriage should be everything in a woman's life."  This is a common issue fought against by the feminists in Taiwan which makes it confusing for women to decide whether they should choose a career or marriage--i.e. what should their main goal be?  Should they follow the social norm and try having a wonderful marriage, or should they struggle to gain accomplishment at work?  In this film, this concept obviously appears again, and Jia‑Chien is the character that breaks away from the norm.

     The following analysis of Jia-Chien's character is made with two aspects in mind.  First, it is important in a feminist criticism to look at Jia-Chien's love life and sexual relations with men.  On the surface, Jia-Chien seems to have completely broken out of the mold of a traditional homebound female since she has succeeded in her career, and is a high ranking airline executive.  Charismatic and attractive, Jia-Chien never lacks for male suitors, but her point of view on relationships totally defies Chinese traditions.  For example, she regularly has sex with her ex‑boyfriend, Raymond, and enjoys the freedom, and lack of commitment, that comes with a purely sexual relationship.  Furthermore, she allows her passions free rein in a pseudo‑affair with Li Kai, her colleague, who is married and has a son in America.  Independent and strong‑willed, Jia‑Chien leaves Raymond feeling she is uncontrollable.  When he finally chooses to marry, Raymond marries someone who can satisfy his male chauvinism. 

     In a scene where Raymond has invited Jia‑Chien to a cafe where they have been before, he tells her he will marry another.  His reasoning behind marrying another is that he believes Jia-Chien does not want marriage since she has never asked for a commitment.  He then asks Jia-Chien if she will consider continuing their sexual relationship even though he will be a married man.  Without giving him an answer and using her busy job as an excuse, Jia-Chien immediately leaves the cafe.  Even though she has used her job as the excuse to quickly leave the cafe, it is obvious from her facial expression that she is angry and disappointed. 

     This is a good example of how women are oppressed through their bodies because Jia‑Chien is merely a sexual object to Raymond.  He wants to enjoy a purely sexual relationship with her and yet at the same time have a wonderful marriage with another.  The unfair traditional concept that men are sexual aggressors and their wives their property, may explain why men think being loyal to one's wife is not always necessary if they have other sexual partners to satisfy their desires.  The public does feel outrage when a man cheats on his wife, but the solution is to always show pity to the woman and solace her by telling her this is a little mistake of her husband.  She then forgives him and continues in their marriage, pretending nothing has happened.  In Taiwan, the public expects women to be tolerant and kind to their husbands.  The public also expects women to be the primary caregivers of the children, giving them a good life, especially when they are still too young to care for themselves.  Therefore, women suppress their anger at being betrayed and focus on maintaining their marriages in order to give their children a good life.  For a woman of Taiwan, being a good mother usually means thinking more about the family as a whole and caring less for oneself. 

     The second aspect to consider is Jia-Chien's role at home.  Although she is the most successful of the three daughters and the first one to declare her desire to move out of the family home, she actually becomes the last one to leave the house and her father.     Throughout the film, Chu and Jia-Chien's relationship is strained, appearing cool and distant, even arguing at times.  There is a scene in the film where Uncle Wen tells Jia-Chien how proud her father is of her success, which makes Jia-Chien happy.  Jia-Chien goes on to tell Uncle Wen how frustrated she feels that her father never tells her these things or allows her to help him in the kitchen to share the happiness of cooking. 

     All these plots translate how males express emotion, which is totally different from females.  It is a custom in the Chinese culture that men are not allowed to voice their affections and, therefore, should not cry in front of others.  Consequently, men repress their feelings, do things dogmatically, and pretend to be tough and cold, especially in front of their daughters. 

     There are additional examples in the film of how men repress their feelings.  For instance, when Chu goes to the hospital for a physical he does not tell his daughters.  When he cooks, it is in his own way and he does not ask how his daughters feel about it.  When he declares his second marriage, with Jia‑Jen's classmate (Jin‑Rong), he does not discuss it with his daughters first.

     Jia‑Chien is independent and strong‑willed.  She cannot be controlled and is always having fights with her father.  However, Jia-Chien and her father have a deep love for each other, more than others.  Whenever they talk about each other to their friends, their facial expressions become tender with the truth--they love each other deeply but do not know how to express their emotions.  One scene shows Jia‑Chien going to her ex‑boyfriend's place to cook him a feast.  After she finishes cooking and enjoys the supper with him, she starts telling him stories about her life.  When talking about her father, it is obvious she feels warmth and sweetness toward him, but it is also obvious that she feels frustration and anger by his oppression of something he believes is not in her best interest--cooking.  In other words, even though her entrance into the labor force has brought her a higher status and an independence from men, Jia-Chien still remains under the patriarchal system, and must obey her father's rules. 

     In the final dinner scene Jia‑Chien has made a feast at the family home before going off to the Netherlands for a job promotion, but only her father is able to come to enjoy the supper with her.  The family home has been sold, the house mostly bare, but we see a reconciliation between a willful daughter and her stern father who has softened.  At the very end of the film, they sit close together and hold each other's hands in a symbolic gesture that Chu is now more able to express his love for his daughter.  Furthermore, there is a connotation in this scene that Jia‑Chien gains her freedom from the patriarchal cage by finally being able to voice to her father her suppressed love for him. 

           Jia‑Ning, the Youngest Daughter

     The third or youngest daughter in the Chu family is Jia‑Ning, a naive college student.  Still young and immature, Jia-Ning directly causes the break‑up of her best friend and her boyfriend, Guo‑Lun, by telling Guo-Lun that true love is "being able to share everything with someone else."  After realizing his relationship with his original girlfriend only brought him pain and suffering, Guo-Lun and Jia‑Ning become closer and ultimately partners. 

     Jia-Ning obviously harbors a completely romantic notion of old‑fashioned love, and we indeed see Guo‑Lun sharing his interest in photography and his grandmother with Jia-Ning.  It is through his interests that Jia‑Ning first catches Guo‑Lun's attention, and then through tricks, takes him away from her best friend.  This is symbolic, for even though she has traditional romantic thoughts about love, she is a modern girl who knows what she wants and goes for it.  This is certainly not representative of the tradition that "girls should be conservative and should wait to be chosen by boys."

     However, the modern girl's attitude of satisfying personal desires can have consequences.  Like stereotypical irresponsible young people in modern Chinese society, Guo-Lun and Jia‑Ning have sexual relations prior to marriage with Jia-Ning becoming pregnant.  This is another result of the Western cultural invasion, because Chinese parents forbid their daughters to have premarital sex.  From a feminist perspective, however, the girls and women of Taiwan are encouraged to pursue what they want and care nothing about what others think, although they do encourage women to protect themselves should they engage in premarital sex.  Furthermore, they encourage women to make sure it is of their own free will and to know how to prevent having a baby if they are not prepared for marriage.  Jia‑Ning is a traditional girl in this respect, because she decides to marry Guo‑Lun after discovering she is pregnant rather than having an abortion or being a single parent.  For her, having a marriage is still a priority over having a job while being pregnant, because women are born to be taken care of by men; therefore, marrying a man is the only solution for her in order to raise her child. 

     Jia‑Ning is very fortunate that Guo-Lun wants to raise the child with her and agrees to marry her.  In Chinese society, if a man does not want a child and wants to end the relationship with his girlfriend due to a pregnancy, the girl will be in serious trouble.  Even though the baby's father is partly responsible for the embarrassing situation, the girl's parents will blame her for not behaving well and for casting shame on the whole family.  The public still looks down on these women, and they sometimes find it difficult to get married.  In Chinese tradition, men want their wives to be virgins before they get married.  In comparison, Jia‑Ning is completely different from her elder sister, Jia‑Jen, because Jia‑Jen wants to have sexual relations with her boyfriend, but only after they get married.  This is symbolic of the differences between traditional and modern concepts. 

     In summary, director Lee in his film Eat Drink Man Woman gives the audience a hint of the deeply rooted social norms that exist in Taiwan's society.  Traditional Chinese concepts as related to women's roles are still a steady and untouchable part of the mainstream.  Even out‑of‑date customs that are no longer suitable for a modern society continue to exist.  Borrowing from the Radical feminists, it is this writer's opinion that Chinese men (or the public in general) continue to oppress a woman's right to freedom by the way they consider women as sexual objects.  An example of this in the film Eat Drink Man Woman is when Raymond wants to continue a sexual relationship with Jia‑Chien although he will be married to another.  Borrowing from psychoanalysis perspectives, one can easily see that a woman's appearance is of the utmost importance if she wants to have a love life, for without good looks a woman's chances of finding a boyfriend become slim.  Unfortunately, even today, if a woman does not have a boyfriend, she is forced to endure malicious gossip and be considered a weird "old maid."  Why?  Because the public still believes that Chinese women should consider having a good marriage as their main goal in life.  Chinese women in Taiwan have more responsibilities than men do.  Not only are women expected to have a job as financially independent modern women, but they are expected to be caring and kind to their families, to deal with most of the housework, and to pay attention to their appearance so they may continue to attract their husbands.  Even so, Chinese women continue to abide their lower status and obey men's rules.   

CHAPTER III

AN ANALYSIS OF THE FILM RAISE THE RED LANTERN

     Raise the Red Lantern (1991), directed by Yimou Zhang, is a famous Chinese film from Mainland China.  Raise the Red Lantern is Zhang's third feature and the second one nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign film (his first was Ju Dou in 1990).  Chinese historians divide earlier filmmakers into four periods (1905‑32, 1932‑49, 1950‑60 and 1960‑80), and consider Zhang to be a Fifth Generation filmmaker.  The New Wave in Chinese film history refers to the filmmakers who broke away from producing socialist‑realist cinema in the mid-1980s.  Creating a stir within the movie world, these filmmakers used restraint, and political ambiguity, and rejected both the formula and the "look on the bright side" message attributed to official art.  It was through these filmmakers that the New Wave films broke new ground.  (Pan)

     Occurring during a relatively liberal period when innovation was permissible, New Wave films continue to stand out among the general run of movies produced today.  Of Zhang's generation, he says, "We're all quite different, but one thing we do have in common is individuality" (Pan).  As a teenager, Zhang, like many of his generation, lived and worked in a rural area when the Cultural Revolution was launched in 1966.  It was the experience of the Cultural Revolution that brought these filmmakers face-to-face with a facet of China that might otherwise have passed them by.  (Pan)

The Plot of Raise the Red Lantern

     Raise the Red Lantern is a film about sex and betrayal in 1920s Chinese society, and the tragedy of a 19-year-old college girl named Songlian.  After her father dies and leaves the family bankrupt, Songlian can no longer attend the University.  When her stepmother forces Songlian to marry an elderly rich man who already has three wives, it is the beginning of a miserable and unhappy life for her.  The other wives, with the exception of the first wife, try to cheat each other in order to find favor with their husband so they may serve him sexually for the evening.  The wife who is chosen for the evening receives special treatment and privileges (i.e. a foot massage and the right to choose the next day's menu), but the greatest advantage of being chosen is that it increases that particular wife's chances of becoming pregnant with a male child.  Subsequently, if a wife is successful in becoming pregnant and having a male child, it increases her ability to gain power within the family. 

     In the writer's opinion, director Zhang chose 1920s China as the time period for his film because it was a special era in Chinese history.  The 1920s was a turning point for the Chinese as some of the old conservative dynastic customs gave way to some of the newer more modern Western concepts.  Prior to this time period, for example, the Chinese practiced foot binding which was declared illegal by the 1920s.

     The practice of foot binding continued in China for over 1000 years until the Manchu Dynasty was toppled in 1911 and the new republic was formed.  Foot binding was then outlawed.  ("Golden Legacy Curriculum")

The writer further believes that Zhang may have chosen the 1920s time period to avoid reprisals from the Chinese government.  By setting it in 1920s China, Zhang avoided portraying the Chinese society of the 1990s in a bad light.  However, whether it be 1920s China or present day China, it is the writer's opinion that Zhang is successful in expressing what he believes to be the ills of China's society in his film, Raise the Red Lantern.

     The film opens with a long shot of a lavish ancient castle.  The gray stone of the house creates an atmosphere that is cold and unfriendly as Songlian walks toward the house.  This cold atmosphere symbolically represents how lonely and unhappy her life will become.  The opening shot also illustrates the hopelessness of her situation; she will be a prisoner in the castle, a "cruel cage," for the rest of her life. 

     The audience soon discovers that Songlian's husband is called "Master," but throughout the film the audience never sees his face.  In Chinese cultures, as reflected in the film, women accept their husbands as the masters of their family.  A Westerner may find it odd that a wife would call her husband "Master," but within the Chinese community it is not uncommon, especially for the time period of this film.      Additionally, women are expected to look up to their husbands, respect their decisions, and to serve their men as best they can.  This is taken for granted and accepted within the Chinese culture, and in order for women to be considered virtuous, women are traditionally expected to obey their fathers before getting married, obey their husbands while being married, and obey their sons after their husbands die. In other words, a woman's life is spent being virtuous, withstanding all the unfair torturous rules that are imposed upon them, and serving their husbands well.  

     From a contemporary Marxist feminist perspective, "the patriarchy is the consequence of the institutionalization of private property."  In Raise the Red Lantern this perspective is clearly represented.  In the traditional Chinese society, a woman is a man's private property, his sexual object, and birth machine.  This is one of the reasons men in Chinese cultures are taught to have more than one wife because it shows they are wealthy, successful businessmen. 

     As mentioned in Chapter I, two of the five elements of masculinity are to be aggressive and to be sexual, both of which are reflected in Raise the Red Lantern.  In the film, for example, the master has the servants secretly hang the third mistress after she is caught having an affair with the family doctor.  This act of aggression or violence against his favorite mistress is set in motion because the master feels his private property has been invaded.  When he marries his fifth mistress several months later, he shows no grief for his third mistress, but instead seems eager to find a young substitute. 

     Another example in the film of how "males have to be sexual" (Wood 80) is represented by the number of mistresses the master has.  Every night the master chooses one of his three mistresses as his sexual object.  If he is displeased or that particular mistress does not satisfy his desire, he will choose another for the next night.  "The foot massage is a good way to make women's feet comfortable and they will be healthy," the master says to Songlian in the film.  "Only when women are healthy, they may serve men well sexually" he goes on to say.  These lines leave the audience with the image that males have a greater sexual appetite than females.  Furthermore, it gives the audience the impression that there is nothing wrong with men blatantly expressing their sexual desires. 

     It is this writer's opinion that the most significant symbol in Raise the Red Lantern is the "red lantern."  In Chinese cultures the color "red" is traditionally used to represent providential good fortune or luck, such as:  weddings, having a male baby, passing the government exam, or becoming an official, etc.  Therefore, when the red lanterns appear in the film, the audiences' expectations are that something good is about to happen.  When the red lanterns appear and are lit, it is exciting and good for at least one of the mistresses, because the one who has them placed by her house will have the honor of serving her master for the evening, and the right to decide the next day's menu.  Women in Chinese society are proud when they are chosen in this fashion, because it means they have the opportunity to raise their status within the family.  Furthermore, since a woman could stabilize her position in the family even further should she become pregnant from the encounter, she cherishes the opportunity to serve her husband for the evening. 

     Many women in Chinese society do not know how to live independent, self‑confident lives.  They vie for the crumbs of power in a big family by conquering others, and never stop to consider the results.  Unfortunately, these women do not know how to treasure and care for each other against the patriarchal system, and it is a pity. 

     Therefore, the color "red" does not always mean good fortune in this film, but could be viewed as quite the opposite as this film contains betrayal, deception, conflict, and death.

The Female Characters

     In order to discuss the roles women play in Mainland China's community, this writer will analyze the major women's roles in Raise the Red Lantern, which include the master's wife and his three mistresses, Zhouyun, Meishan, and Songlian. 

The Master's Wife

     The master's wife is the only true wife of the wealthy master, and she has more power in the family than the other mistresses.  Seldom expressing her feelings in the film, she pretends she does not care whether her husband loves her or not.  Living in virtual isolation, she appears like a stranger to the others, and indulges in Buddhism in the hopes of reducing the sins of her husband and the entire family.  Out of concern for the family, she tells the mistresses "The family will be destroyed because of your rivalry to become the grace of the master."  However, because she has no real power in the big family, she can do nothing but pray. 

     The master's wife is a tragic character in the film.  Since she is no longer young and her looks have faded, the master no longer pays attention to her.  This is a good example of how a woman's appearance still counts in men's minds. 

     In early Chinese society, when a woman was no longer young or beautiful enough to attract her master, she was then forced to accept the cruel truth that her master would seek out another mistress to satisfy his sexual needs.  However, the first wife was usually the lucky one, as she is in Raise the Red Lantern, because if she has a son, her position in the family would be secure.  In Raise the Red Lantern she is not only the first wife, but she has also given the master a son and not a "cheap little girl," which prevents the mistresses from being contemptuous of her.

Zhouyun, the Second Mistress

     The second mistress, Zhouyun, is the most astute of the four women.  Since Zhouyun is the second oldest of the master's wives, she feels the need to deceive the other mistresses, in a cutthroat sort of way, in order to catch the master's eye so she may be the one to serve him. 

     Upon first meeting Songlian, the fourth mistress, Zhouyun pretends to be a kind and nice friend to the younger woman.  To gain Songlian's trust, Zhouyun gives Songlian some expensive material, suggesting she make some clothes with it.  Zhouyun treats Songlian well, like an older sister would, and expresses her sympathies to Songlian, both for being unable to finish her studies and for having to marry the master and becoming his mistress.  After gaining Songlian's trust, Zhouyun then begins to speak ill of the third mistress, Meishan, in an attempt to turn Songlian against Meishan.  Zhouyun succeeds in increasing Songlian's spite against Meishan, thus bringing her closer to thwarting Meishan's goals.

     Zhouyun hates the third mistress, not only because she is the master's favorite mistress, but because Meishan has a son whereas Zhouyun has only a daughter.  In one scene Zhouyun tells Songlian: 

     You'd better try to have a son, or you will have a terrible life through your entire life.  Now alas I have only a girl, sigh. . .  I can lay the blame on no one because it is all my fault.  (Raise the Red Lantern)

In this scene, Zhouyun's daughter is also there.  Hearing the words of "I have only a girl" coming from her mother, would be especially painful for the little girl. 

     According to the Social Learning Theory and the Cognitive Development Theory, individuals learn gender identity or behavior through interpersonal communication.  Furthermore, the person teaching the lessons about gender will also provide the models for femininity and masculinity. 

     In Chinese societies parents are very often partial to male children while showing disdain for a daughter.  Unfortunately, this may be causing women to oppress other women who have a lower status in order to affirm their own ability to control others, or it may be an attempt to fulfill their own desire for success in a patriarchal system.   

     Zhouyun also dislikes Songlian, the fourth mistress, because she is young, pretty, and the master's new favorite.  Zhouyun asks Yanr, Songlian's servant, to spy on Songlian and to use sorcery to cause Songlian's death.  Zhouyun uses Yanr in this manner because she knows Yanr likes the master and wants to be his mistress.  Yanr soon discovers evidence indicating Songlian may not be pregnant and takes it to Zhouyun, wherein Zhouyun immediately runs to the master to tell him.  When it is revealed that Songlian has lied about being pregnant, she is disgraced, which leaves Zhouyun in a more powerful position. 

     Next Zhouyun accidentally discovers that the third mistress, Meishan, is having an affair with the family doctor.  For Zhouyun, this is her best chance to eliminate another enemy.  By using subtle strategy in the game of power, Zhouyun ultimately becomes the favored mistress.

Meishan, the Third Mistress

     The third mistress, Meishan, was the master's favorite before he married Songlian.  Meishan, who is pretty and has a "golden throat" (she sings beautifully), was a famous Chinese opera singer.  However, in this very traditional family, her most important accomplishment is that she has given the master a son.  It is for this reason the master spoils her, which makes Meishan more and more arrogant.

     Meishan hates the second mistress, Zhouyun.  When Zhouyun and Meishan were both pregnant, Zhouyun attempted to have Meishan's unborn child killed by having a servant secretly put an aborticide in Meishan's food.  The irony here is that Meishan's baby was born healthy and a boy, and Zhouyun's baby was "only" a girl.

     Meishan is an attractive, self-confident, and outgoing woman.  Prior to marrying the master, Meishan was financially independent, had the freedom to go out and make friends, and was used to pursuing everything she wanted.  So why did she marry the master and give up her independence?  Perhaps the best explanation rests in the cultural expectations of women.  As stated in an earlier chapter, women are still judged by their appearance (Wood 83), and must be desirable and attractive in order to have greater opportunities for a better life.  The ultimate goal for women in 1920s China, the period during which Raise the Red Lantern takes place, was to get married.  For Meishan, it is important for her to grasp the opportunity to marry a wealthy man while she is still young, pretty, and an acclaimed opera singer rather than wait and lose the opportunity when her appearance is no longer radiant and charming.  For many Chinese women this is a popular way to gain financial security for the rest of their lives. 

     Because Meishan is used to pursuing what she wants, she enters into an affair with the family doctor, even though she knows it will cause trouble if others discover it.  When Zhouyun, the second mistress, catches Meishan in a hotel room with the doctor, Meishan is secretly hanged by the master for her sin.  In early traditional Chinese cultures, a woman being unfaithful was an unforgivable sin.  Today it is illegal to hang a woman for her indiscretion, but in early Chinese communities it is rumored to have been very common. 

     According to conservative customs, women are considered a man's property, and thus they have the absolute right to manipulate their wives with or without reason.  Today, in Mainland China, men are still dominant in the family and are able to punish their wives if they make a mistake.  Also, there is a law in Mainland China forbidding families from having more than one child.  Unfortunately, if a wife is unable to give her husband a son, her husband may divorce her and seek out someone else who can give him a son.  The writer believes this may explain why so many girl babies are often killed in Mainland China, for if a woman does not want a divorce, killing a female child would free her to have another child and another chance at having a boy. 

     How can women be expected to gain a higher status and their civil rights in a Chinese community?  Women are not easily released from the patriarchal cage of the Chinese community, because women are too afraid of the cost of transgressing the customs.  If a woman were to dare to disregard the customs, she would find herself being shunned by others in the community, and on the other end of intolerance and malicious gossip.  Although this is only an informal norm and not a formal law in the Chinese society, there can be no denying how powerful it can be in one's life.  Songlian, the fourth mistress in Raise the Red Lantern, illustrates a woman in this situation.  Songlian's desire to have a male child in order to heighten her status within the family causes Songlian to lie to the master.  When it is discovered that she has lied, she is shunned by the master which brings disgrace upon herself and the contempt of the other wives.  Further analysis of Songlian's character will following in the next section of this thesis.  

Songlian, the Fourth Mistress

     The fourth mistress, Songlian, is the main character in the film.  Formerly a university student, Songlian is a naive, self‑confident girl when she marries the wealthy old man.  Instead of a "traditional Chinese girl," however, Songlian shows the audience early on that she is different from the others.  When it is time for her to go to her new husband's home, for example, Songlian walks there and carries her own luggage rather than take the bridal sedan.  This is a very significant scene because it shows how Songlian is a girl with modern ideas who does not rely on a man's help nor the arrangements of a traditional Chinese culture.  The Chinese believe that a well‑educated lady should be elegantly served upon rather than do too much herself.  However, Songlian is different.  Songlian is smart and has a curiosity about every thing.  Rather than taking everything at face value, Songlian wants a reason before obeying a family custom.  Songlian does not want to be controlled by the invisible customs; however, she has no power to do otherwise.   

     In the beginning, the master is attracted to Songlian's good looks and naivete.  However, when the master burns her deceased father's flute, believing it to be a man's possession and belonging to one of her male classmates, Songlian becomes distraught and cannot stop crying.  Taking this outward expression of emotion as a sign of rebellion, the master becomes angry and leaves Songlian's house without showing any regret.  This scene is very symbolic of the unequal expectations of men and women.  Women are expected to repress their anger in Chinese societies and pleasure their husband with subservient kindness no matter how badly her husband treats her.  Men, on the other hand, are not expected to feel regret for their mistakes, and become angry if their mistakes are pointed out by their wives.  This double standard is exactly what occurs in the film Raise the Red Lantern when the master angrily leaves the house after destroying the flute, showing no regret for the error, but expecting quiet submission from Songlian. 

     Another double standard occurring in the film is that men are allowed to have more than one wife, but women are suppose to remain faithful to their husbands both physically and mentally.  This double standard is another example of how women are oppressed, and how they become victims under the patriarchal shadow.  In traditional Chinese cultures, it was the norm for men to marry several women to show how successful and wealthy they were.  Today the practice of having multiple wives is frowned upon and there are laws to prevent this practice.  However, it is the writer's opinion that society is still more accepting of men having affairs, but continues to be unforgiving of women who are in similar situations.  

     In order to gain control of the house and her servant Yanr's respect, Songlian schemes to have a male child as well.  To increase her chances of becoming pregnant, Songlian pretends she is already pregnant so the master will spend every night with her.  Unfortunately, before she is able to become pregnant, Yanr betrays her and she is shamed by the master.  To reflect her shame, the master orders all the lanterns in her compound to be covered by black sheathes which is the greatest punishment a wife can receive.  Under this form of censure, Songlian is considered to be in disgrace forever. 

     The ominous black sheathes covering the lanterns are also symbolic of the gradual death of Songlian sexually, emotionally, and spiritually.  As far as the master is concerned, Songlian is no more than a ghost since her body is completely useless to him.  Perhaps this is real freedom for Songlian even though her sensuality is still repressed under Chinese customs (i.e., patriarchy).

     In one of the scenes in Raise the Red Lantern Meishan and Songlian, the third and fourth mistresses respectively, are standing on the roof of the ancient castle looking out over the entire estate.  Songlian is feeling like a woman without a soul and tells Meishan:

     What do people amount to in this house?  They are like cats, dogs, or rats, but certainly not people.  It is better to hang yourself in that room.  (Raise the Red Lantern)

The above dialogue best represents how many women are treated and feel in a Chinese society.  After viewing this scene, the writer felt sorry for the Chinese women who are still in Mainland China.  Of course the director set this story in Mainland China during the 1920s and things certainly have changed since that time; however, using a macroscopic perspective, Chinese women are still at the lower end as far as status is concerned, and they continue to be strongly oppressed by men or the social structure.  Women are eager to have the freedom to govern themselves and have struggled for a very long time to gain their dignity.  However, it has been difficult, if not impossible, for women to regain their rights and some women have gradually forgotten them since they lost them centuries ago. 

     In summary, director Zhang in Raise the Red Lantern tries to show how Chinese women in Mainland China face the future with very little hope of having happy, fulfilling lives.  Not only are women bound by the patriarchal system in Mainland China, but they are also restricted by the conservative communist government.  Since the government censors new trends from the media on the Mainland, it is believed by the writer that feminist concepts are virtually unknown to the masses.  Women on the Mainland have fewer rights than the women in Taiwan, as many of the women on the Mainland still depend on their husbands for financial support.  According to local news reports in Taiwan, salaries for women in Mainland China continue to be lower than men in similar positions and employers prefer to hire men over women for jobs that are suitable for both genders.  This relates back to what Marxist feminists believe, that when opportunities for women to enter the labor force are limited or eliminated, it allows men to continue to control women's minds through their bodies (Vesey 35-40).

     Although there are many women today who hold jobs on the Mainland, the belief that marriage is a woman's everything continues to be widely accepted in conservative China.  It is the writer's opinion that this belief is what binds Chinese women to their homes as they proudly devote their lives to serving their husbands and children. 

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

     The traditional Chinese family structure is based on the patriarchal ideal, which consists of superior and subservient relationships.  In both Eat Drink Man Woman and Raise the Red Lantern the concept of man being dominant, and woman being subservient, is clear, and is the core of the two Chinese films.  In Eat Drink Man Woman, for example, it is evident that the father expects his three daughters to obey him without question.  In Raise the Red Lantern, the master is the final authority and decision-maker and the women have no choice but to obey his rules whether they are reasonable or not. 

     According to Radical feminism, as stated in Chapter I, men repress women through their bodies (Vesey 40).  Radical feminists are calling for equal rights for women because they cannot tolerate the idea that women may be thought of by some as merely sexual objects for men.  Most of the female characters in Eat Drink Man Woman and Raise the Red Lantern are victims of the patriarchal system and are repressed by men because of their gender.  In a patriarchal system, women are expected to look attractive, obey their men (or their fathers), and devote themselves to their marriages.  In the writer's opinion the two directors of these films, Ang Lee for Eat Drink Man Woman and Yimou Zhang for Raise the Red Lantern, are sympathetic to the plight of Chinese women and are attempting to influence the public into taking women's rights more seriously.  The writer further believes that these two directors, Lee and Zhang, are trying to show that even though there are many Chinese virtues and traditions that should continue to be cherished, there are several out‑of‑date concepts under the patriarchal system that need to be replaced.  Even though these two films represent two different eras, China in the 1920s and Taiwan in 1994, their viewpoints on women and the patriarchal system are similar.

     The Chinese films Eat Drink Man Woman and Raise the Red Lantern are similar in the way they express the lower status of women in Chinese societies; however, there are also differences between them.  In Raise the Red Lantern, for example, director Zhang uses many concepts that the contemporary Marxist feminists fight for--the conflicts between upper class (men) and the lower class (women).  All the female characters in Raise the Red Lantern call the husband "Master," and they follow his decision absolutely.  The women in the film, no matter whether they are mistresses or servants, are nothing but the symbol of the master's wealth and property.  As such, the master is allowed to manipulate his wives to his will, cage them and their emotions, batter them, or murder them.  Just as in earlier dynasties, the master in Raise the Red Lantern is allowed to have as many wives as he wants in order to satisfy his sexual desires and destroy his wives' free will.  The following excerpt from J. Dyer Ball's Things Chinese best describes a Chinese woman's fate:

     Woman is made to serve in China, and the bondage is often a long and bitter one:  a life of servitude to her parents; a life of submission to her parents-in-law at marriage; and the looking forward to a life of bondage to her husband, . . . and is not allowed to be properly married to another after his death.  (Ball 653)

     In Eat Drink Man Woman, however, the plot is different than in Raise the Red Lantern.  The main reason for this is that the two stories reflect two different time periods.  Even though the two films delve into stories about Chinese women in Chinese societies, the film Eat Drink Man Woman has a more contemporary perspective of Chinese women than Raise the Red Lantern.  Ang Lee, the director of Eat Drink Man Woman, shows women in modern day Taiwan having more freedom to do what they want to do than in 1920s China as reflected in Raise the Red Lantern.  Lee's film shows Chinese women being more independent, earning their own money, pursuing love interests, and having more liberal ideas about sex.  However, even though the director shows women being more independent, he still reinforces the traditional Chinese perspective that marriage is a woman's ultimate goal in life.  This concept is reflected in the way he portrays his most successful female character in the film.  In the end, Jia‑Chien, the corporate executive, is betrayed by her lover and remains unmarried, while her two sisters are happily married. 

     In the writer's opinion, many Chinese films produced today (whether they are from Mainland China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong) continue to demean or diminish the images and roles of women in modern society.  Examples of some of the images are as follows:

     1.  Female characters must be pretty in order to attract a male character's attention--a woman's appearance still counts.  An example of this occurs in the film Temptress Moon (1996), produced in Mainland China and Hong Kong.

     2.  Females are still depicted as being dependent upon a man's help--men are self‑reliant.  An example of this occurs in the film Tonight Nobody Goes Home (1996), produced in Taiwan.

     3.  Females are still depicted as being mistreated by males--women continue to endure negative treatment from others.  An example of this occurs in the film Red Sorghum (1987), produced in Mainland China.

     4.  Females cry easily--women are always more sensitive.  An example of this occurs in the film The Wedding Banquet (1993), produced in Taiwan.

The writer further believes that these images continue to support the prejudice that women are the weaker sex, which keeps them as second class citizens compared to men.  It is the writer's opinion that it is unfair to confine Chinese women under the traditional Chinese patriarchal system.  As a Chinese woman in a modern Chinese society, the writer would like to see more Chinese directors open their hearts and accept women as equals; then perhaps they would produce more films reflecting this change in attitude.  If more Chinese films reflect this attitude, then maybe public opinion would change as well, and the oppression of women through their bodies, or their free will, would no longer be accepted.  Hopefully one day all Chinese women in Chinese societies everywhere (whether it be Mainland China or Taiwan) will be free to control their destinies, and enjoy being self-confident Chinese women away from the traditional Chinese patriarchal system.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Berry, Chris, ed.  Perspectives on Chinese Cinema.  Ithaca:  Cornell University Press, 1985.

Caputi, Jane.  "Sleeping With the Enemy As Pretty Woman Part II."  Journal of Popular Film and Television 19 (Spring 1991): 2‑8.

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Gentile, Mary C.  Film Feminisms:  Theory and Practice.  Connecticut:  Greenwood Press, 1985.

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FILMOGRAPHY

Eat Drink Man Woman.  Dir. Ang Lee.  Central Motion Picture Corporation, 1994.

Pretty Woman.  Dir. Garry Marshall.  Touchstone Pictures, 1990.

Raise the Red Lantern.  Dir. Yimou Zhang.  Century Communications, Ltd., 1991.

Red Sorghum.  Dir. Yimou Zhang.  Century Communications, Ltd., 1987.

Sleeping with the Enemy.  Dir. Joseph Ruben.  20th Century-Fox, 1991.

Temptress Moon.  Dir. Kaige Chen.  Tomson "Hong Kong" Films Company, Ltd., 1996.

The Wedding Banquet.  Dir. Ang Lee.  Central Motion Picture Corporation, 1993.

Thelma and Louise.  Dir. Ridley Scott.  United International Pictures, MGM, Pathé Entertainment, 1991.

Tonight Nobody Goes Home.  Dir. Sylvia Chang.  Central Motion Picture Corporation, 1996.