“REASON HELD PASSION BY THE THROAT”
“REASON HELD PASSION BY THE THROAT”
Author(s): Barbara NelsonSubject(s): Gender Studies
Published by: Addleton Academic Publishers
Keywords: female madness; female identity; film; 19c literature
Summary/Abstract: My paper will compare Charlotte Bronte’s treatment of female identity in Jane Eyre – a work often credited with being the first to externalize the female schizophrenic split so pervasive in the Victorian era – with Darren Aronofsky’s portrayal of the identity drawn in the Black Swan. The latter, while a contemporary work, is grounded in Tchaikovsky’s nineteenth-century ballet. The film proposes a rewriting of the ballet’s underlying story which turns upon the interaction of a white swan and a black one. In a new visceral version, Aronofsky brings the two roles together in a young dancer who searches to reach artistic perfection.
Journal: Journal of Research in Gender Studies
- Issue Year: 4/2014
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 883-888
- Page Count: 6
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF