Male Gaze 22.3
Male Gaze 22.3
Male Gaze 22.3
2021/22
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Abstract
Keywords:
Abstrakt v češtině
Klíčová slova:
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Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
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Introduction
The male gaze is quite an extensive phenomenon, defined by an overlap of many
fields:- politics, sociology, as well asnd of course, art/cultural studies. Seemingly very vague,
this term has been precisely defined and discussed by many different authors and thinkers,
usually in the late 20th century. The theory of the Male gaze itself (more on in ch. 1) was coined
by Lara Mulvey in her 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema”, where she describes
the humiliated role of women in media.1 To be more precise, - the problematics issue of the
That aside, the theory is being usually brought up in relation to film studies, even although it
has many more aspects. I chose this thesis topic because I wanted to examine the expressions
of the Male gaze (which has been defined recently) in literature. Upon Through closer analysis
of the roles of women (or femininity) in a given work, one can gain insight intoon women’s
I have also chosen this topic because I have a great interest in feminist theory and its
interconnection to culture and politics (the term itself falls into the category of the “politics of
culture”)
The goal of this seminar paper is to analyse the projection of the male gaze in 19th-
century literature, as this era brought with it a great change in human society. It is a time when
the world dealts with rapid technological progress, bringing about changes in the outlook on
economy and politics – also a time of the European romantic antihero –, so it is very deserving
of our attention. Another goal is to try to interpret employ the rather recent theory of the Female
My first hypothesis is that there will be many differences (although delicate) between male
and female written characters, evident in their construction. I also think that the storytelling and
1
Mulvey Lara, „Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema”, Screen, Atumn 1975.
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writing itself might differ, I expect female written stories of the time to carry a certain
frustration, visible for example through sharp humour or the use of metaphors. I believe authors
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1 Explaining Gazes
There are mMany factors are at play when it comes to constructing an analysis ofanalysing a
work of literature, as it (or any work of art, for that matter) is a product of many influences on
the author. The historical context of the work (to be general), the author’s social status, their
personality, and societal pressures of their time are all to be considered when one wants to look
deeper into literature. AlthoughNot so often are the topics of identity and sexuality are rarely
integrated into literary analyses, although they play no little role in our society – in the cases of
stories that are not centred around sexuality, at least. The postulate that stories which we
consume, and those which we tell, are impacted by these underlying factors evolved in the late
20th century, through the waves of feminism. And it is feminist theory that first describes the
Male gaze.
The explanation of such, let’s say sociological, theories can be quite fluid, but it is
important to establish one definition of the Male gaze through which to conduct an analysis.
The expression was Ffirst used by Mulvey in her psychoanalytic essay Visual Pleasures and
Narrative Cinema, where she argues that women (in media) are being cast out as simply objects
of male attention, while they are given little autonomy of thought. 2 She adds that woman in
media is “the bearer of meaning and not the maker of meaning”3 -– due to the systematic
objectification of female bodies, their full self is being automatically suppressed by male
(patriarchal) expectation.
As is apparent, “gazing” is and has been mostly defined through visual media (probably
as it is a much more physical channel of expression). In the book “The Ways of Seeing” (1972),
2
DeLisa Leonard, „Women and Bodily Separation in Literature from the Victorian era until Today“, (MsD,
Eastern Michigan University, 2011), 3.
3
Mulvey, Lara, Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema.
https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/1021/Laura%20Mulvey,%20Visual%20Pleasure.pdf
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art critic John Berger dealt with hidden and ever presentever-present ideologies in visual art,
thus inspiring Lara Mulvey to her definition of the Male gaze 4. Berger focused on “gazing”
itself: Every image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph… Every time we look at a
photograph, we are aware, however slightly, of the photographer selecting that sight from an
infinity of other possible sights.5 In this important opening statement to his book, he lays a good
foundation for the interpretation of the act of “gazing”. (Perhaps “a way of seeing” is
replaceable with “gaze”.) He describes the way of seeing as an intention, or the creator’s
expectation of the world around them. But the modern idea of the Gaze is specific, and puts it
Returning to Mulvey: she deals with Hollywood in her work, for it is the stereotypical
patriarchal structure – a powerful, bureaucratic construct, which only reaffirms the structures
of the Male psyche.6 Psychoanalytic by her definition, it is the unconscious desires and fears
of the patriarchy which determine the narrative.7 It is systematized in our culture and has been
for a long time. To explain the Male gaze, it is best to look at it through visual art first. John
Berger devotes to this topic an extensive part of his work to this topic, focusing for example on
renaissance paintings.
“In one category of European oil painting, women were the principal, ever-reoccurring
subject. That category is nude. …We can discover some criteria and conventions by which
4
Mc Nay Michael, „John Berger orbituary“, The Guardian, January 2017.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/02/john-berger-obituary.
5
John Berger, “I,” in Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series with John Berger (London: British
Broadcasting Corp., 2012), 10.
6
Eva-Maria Jacobsson, „A Female Gaze?“,( KTH Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, 1999), 7.
7
ThereIbid.
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women have been judged as sights,”.8 Berger writes, following the claim with different Naformátováno: Písmo: není Kurzíva
Naformátováno: Písmo: není Kurzíva
instances of the Male gaze in classic art. He closes some of his arguments with a more
Naformátováno: Písmo: není Kurzíva
sociological hypothesis, to which more authors return to (more on that later): In the art-form of
the European nude the painters and spectator-owners were usually men and the persons treated
as objects, usually women. This unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that
In modern film, (for that is the main visual art of today in this context), the Male gaze
takes many forms, most of which are very well known. Other than the practical differences
between painting and film, the usage of the Male gaze is quite similar. Both media are connected
to the visual, to the physical, and the act of “gazing” is still an expected part of examining the
work. The platform where this social or cultural phenomena takes a turn is literature.
8
Berger, The Ways of Seeing, 47
9
There Ibid., 63.
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2 Male Gaze in Literature
The male gaze, as mentioned so far, has been part of the visual arts. While the exact definition
of the topic might be in this age inseparable from the film industry and visual arts scene (Mulvey
and Berger), it is also an active problematic in literature, and perhaps always has been. It is
difficult to imagine or translate the gaze into this form of art, as it is seemingly much less visual
and sensory. Literature also blends the borders between the author’s vision and reader’s
interpretation. In 1792’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 10, Mary Wollstonecraft touches
on “Writers who have rendered women objects of pity, bordering on contempt”. (Wollstonecraft
might be one of the first female writers to very openly discuss sobjectification, in the
introduction of Vindication, she refers to society, or the male society, inherently seeing women
as something other than human creatures. 11) In this chapter, she discusses points raised in essays
about women’s rights written by famous male writers of the time 12. She talks of a female
character, a fragile construction built by these writers that is very persistent in culture, which
has arisen from oppression and objectification. Wollstonecraft is one of the first to open the
The male gaze as a concept in literature is just an actual a subject as it is in visual arts-
the defining statements from page 7 (and 6?) still apply to literature. It is a working evidence,
consequence of the patriarchy, as Mulvey puts it. (“It is the unconscious desires and fears of
10
In full „A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects“ is an pioneering
essay in feminism, in which she points out oppressive behaviour of english society. Mary Wollsto necraft set out
to ensure better education for women, which is a main goal of the essay.. It is a polemic againts many male
philosophers of that time.
11
Mary Wollstonecraft, „Introduction“ in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and
Moral Subjects (1792), 53-54.
12
Wollstonecraft makes a strong point on opression being largely pushed forward by a false system of education,
gathered from the books written by men.
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the patriarchy which determine the narrative”)13 To summarize: as long as society maintains
oppressive structures and systematic prejudices, the male gaze will be ever-present in all art.
Literature differs from other art in the means to the final experience of the consumer.
Stories pierce through space-time to establish a set reality. They are a wide projection of the
author’s psyche, a micro life which lives by a plot and its characters – the two main aspects by
which one can understand the male gaze. (There is of course the purely linguistic side to literary
analysis, but it is not important to the case.) However, writing styles and plot devices change
through the ages. Knowledge of the time when the given author lived is of dubious relevance
Cultural context
(The 19th century is a time of surveillance. Rapid and unprecedented change in industry,
economy and politics brought about a shift in the way people connected and learned about each
other. BEWITCHED)
13
Jacobsson, „A Female Gaze?“, 7.
14
Britannica, „The interpretation of art“, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed December 2021,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-art/The-interpretation-of-art .
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3 A Female gaze?
A new theory is gaining popularity in gender studies- the female gaze. It is only logical that
there are multiple gazes, yet are they similar in nature and their impact on our thinking? By
Mulvey’s definition, the essence of the male gaze is the systematized stereotypes of a
patriarchal (and imperialistic) society, which root themselves into the collective subconscious. 15
The female gaze cannot exist at the same level, given that the role of a woman has never quite
been that of a gazer. Mulvey also states that “according to the principles of the ruling ideology
and the psychical structures that back it up, the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual
hasty to scratch the general hypothesis of a female gaze existing in art. Due to the uncertainty
surrounding its definition, it is best to analyse and evaluate different instances of the gaze in
literature. The first and frankly most important channel of female self-expression is their
characters. Female writers often create characters who resist some or other restriction placed
upon them through patriarchal stereotypes. 17 Female characters written by women thus might
carry another side to them, the price they have to ultimately pay to be. Whereas the male gaze
represents the patriarchal understanding of women and womanhood in relation to men, the
female gaze might represent how women define themselves and see men. 18 The female gaze is
a theory mostly up in the air, given that it does not stem from the order of society into our
unconscious in a way the male gaze does. In the following part this seminar paper will be
assessing the possible appearances of the female gaze and explaining the nature of its
manifestations.
15
Jacobsson, „A Female Gaze?“, 7
16
(Mulvey through) Ibid.
17
Leonard, Women and bodily separation, 6.
18
Sexuality
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4 Practical part
Story x book!
For the practical part of the study, I chose two pieces of fiction. A Scandal in Bohemia
short story which falls under the famous Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan
Doyle, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. These two stories, engraved in the world of
western literature, are known by their respectively male and female characters: Pride and
Prejudice is just the ideal representation for high school reading lists to carry and Sherlock
Holmes with his invested flatmate are icons of the Victorian era. Although many years apart in
date of release, the stories’ relationship to the male gaze can be compared. I want to prove that
after taking the socio-historical context and literary categories of the works into account, they
are on even ground. Interestingly enough, their genres are both fitting to feminist analysis, for
detective fiction and romance novels can offer insight into gender roles, class, race, and so on.
(More on this later.) In the following chapters, I will be interpreting the two works of literature
through the lens of feminist theory, A Scandal in Bohemia serving as an analysis of the male
gaze, Pride and Prejudice as the work of the female gaze. I will take inspiration from the
theoretical part while studying the texts, and, similarly as John Berger analyses the composition,
background, mood and models of renaissance paintings, I will be discussing such occurrences,
only literary: character of importance, writing and motifs. Although I will focus on the further
explanation of male gaze, the chapters on Jane Austen will contain the analysis of the female
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4.1 Doyle and his Holmes stories
stories, most of which were written in 1981.19 It is till today one of the most iconic case of the
mentioned detective, and that is mostly thanks to its main (and only) female character, Irene
Adler.
(The Sherlock Holmes adventures usually follow a consistent and digestible narrative
that has become very recognizable through time and has translated very well in the press, where
Important to the issue of the male gaze is the narrator, who is not omniscient or third-
person. Readers perceive the adventures through the narration of Holmes’ partner-in-crime
(solving) John Watson, who, like the author himself, sells his accounts to the newspaper21.
Much of Doyle is imprinted on the narrator: it is obvious that Watson’s identity and the stances
that he takes resonate to a high degree with Doyle.22 On the topic of women, Doyle was
considered quite a gentleman. Doyle was even the president of the Divorce Reform Union. 23
And Watson also appears as a down-to-earth gentleman in the stories, often treating other
women as equals as his time would allow, contrary to his companion, who belittles women
often.
“Watson is always attentive, gallant and tender to the women in the stories. He is more
19
Julian Wolfreys, „Introduction“ in Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
(London: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1996), 8.
20
Ibid.
22
Generally, the present observer of a narrator was popular amongst European literature of the later 19 th century,
notably Edgar Allan Poe.
23
Klára Danielová „The Women in Sherlock Holmes“,(Bcl thesis, Masaryk University, 2009), 29.
24
Ibid, 30.
13
In this light, it is fair to assume Doyle was not hatefully sexist, rather a product of the time and
Irene Adler (These headers are for me for orientation, I will maybe delete them when the SP is Okomentoval(a): [WU1]: These headers are for me for
orientation, I will maybe delete them when the SP is done.
done.): “To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman”. That is the very first sentence of the
story, and it is already very symbolic of the way the female character is treated in the text. To
start generally, SIB is a story that stands out in the Holmes canon, because it has, for the first
time, a strong female force. True to the Victorian English tradition25, already the first line treats
Irene Adler with a shocked reaction to her actions wrapped in curious admiration. “…In his
eyes, she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.” Continues the description. It is easy
to eclipse the female characters which had been only mentioned as if in passing in the previous
stories.
specificality of the male gaze. But Irene is not a saint, she not described as heart-driven and
fragile, she is objectively an independent woman and a cunning criminal. Still, she is portrayed
as a being mystical and unreadable. The evidence for this of course lies in the plot alone, starting
Descriptions of the (male) characters in Holmes stories are very thorough and to the
point, as communication to the reader, who is welcomed to jump to their own conclusion while
Holmes deduces.26 Irene Adler though, is described very little, her superb figure being one of
25
MENTION ABOVE
26 A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches at height, with the chest and limbs of a
Hercules. His dress was rich… he wore across the upper part of his face a black vizard mask, which he had
apparently adjusted that very moment… he appeared to be a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip
and long, straight chin…
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the only physical traits mentioned. She is a mystery throughout the story, and even in the
different adaptations, leaves behind an air of uncertainty. (Not because Doyle does not know
how to explore female backstories, but because Holmes himself is tricked by her.27 That of
course labels Adler as a feminist character, but it does not mean that she cannot reflect the male
gaze. (To take inspiration from Berger, Caravaggio’s portrayal of Judith, an empowering role,
slaying Holofernes is also influenced by the oppressive stereotypes of the time.28) The woman
who bested the famous detective is almost ghost-like, unrecognizing her satisfying victory. She
is an image (quite literally, for she leaves her photograph as a reminder for Holmes to keep),
still and unreadable, leaving the men (therefore the reader) guessing at her character and
presented as an autonomous human being, capable of feelings, thoughts, and actions similar to
those of the male characters; rather she is constructed as something that is not human at all…
Such theory applies to the character of Irene Adler, and offers an explanation for the
points mentioned above. Even though she is a strong female character, she still is an opposite
The case of the only woman to outsmart Holmes follows a very different formula than
other Holmes’ unsuccessful cases - does her identity naturally prevent her from being a true
27
Adriana Victoria Romero, "The Woman: Irene Adler in Literature, Media, and "A Scandal In Bohemia" (Ms
thesis, Texas A&M International University, 2021), 13.
28
Roland Keats, „The battle of the paintings of Judith & Holofernes. Caravaggio vs.Gentileschi “ (Thesis /it is a
thesis by genre, but it’s written independently „for fun“/, 2017), 20.
29
Leonard, „Women and Bodily Separation in Literature from the Victorian era until Today“, 8.
30
Ibid.
31
Romero, „The Woman“, 21.
15
The motifs(adaptations maybe): From all the tropes of the story, one specifically stands out:
the motif of disguise. It is expected in crime fiction, Sherlock himself is a “master of disguise”
and many criminals assume a different identity when escaping justice. Irene’s disguise serves
as a main plot point, and was also treated as such in many adaptations (mention BBC Sherlock
SIB?). The theme of women and costume/ disguise is almost archetypal, appearing in even
folklore tale – especially the instance of women dressing as men to hide/escape/outsmart others.
Irene Adler disguises herself as a man to slip from Sherlock Holmes, but also to tease him. “He
(Holmes) was searching for the key when someone in passing said: ‘Good night, Mr Sherlock
Holmes’.” “…The greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had hurried
by.” Adler assumes different roles throughout the plot, the main characters’ emotions changing
towards her also. She dresses as a man to blend in, which is very telling of the prejudices of the
time. “From dangerous seductress to benign wife to disguised woman, to one seeking protection
rather than mischief or gain, She functions as a sort of character chameleon that allows her to
(Love?)
32
Romero, „The Woman“, 15.
16
4.3 Jane Austen and her grand romance
Pride and Prejudice will serve an object for the interpretation of the female gaze. The book,
published in 1813, is written by Jane Austen, one of the most well-known female writers of all
time. Her works are far apart from Doyle’s- thrill and mystery do not fit into the frame of the
stories and naturally, they take place over a larger amount of time, given that Austen rarely
wrote short stories. Her work always depicts the lives of women – well, the people of the upper-
class, which is one of the commonalities between Austen and Doyle –, the essence of the stories
being encrypted in day-to-day moments. Yet, as already mentioned, the classic regency
romance genre also offers an insight into the inner workings of a whole class, offering an array
Jane Austen is a woman of the 18th century, as well as the 19th, as her thoughts and
writings are influenced by the post-French revolution and post-enlightenment era. EXPAND
most often seen as a pivotal figure, looking both backwards and forwards: but whether critics
emphasize her 18th century roots or stress her affinities in Romanticism, the big question is her
Austen’s novels and stories are not always interpreted as empowering and conscious,
sometimes being labeled conservative, author’s lack of critique towards society deemed
“cowardly” in some feminist readings. 34 One can see why- the above-mentioned upper class,
a very judgemental and convention-driven environment, is seemingly far away from feminism.
Yet, both ideas share the same point: the patriarchal structures of society is Austen’s main
subject matter.35 Although romance is often scoffed upon, Austen’s writing is influential
33
Sarah H. Morrison,. “Of Woman Borne: Male Experiences and Feminine Truth in Jane Austen’s Novels“ in Studies in the
Novel 26, no. 4 (The Johns Hopkins University Press: 1994), 337.
34 Ibid.
35
Ibid.
17
politically. She writes about femininity and class, using the motif of marriage as “a political
institution which reproduces –symbolically as well as literally- the social order.”36 The
theoretical female gaze is inherently political, and Jane Austen’s work is a representation of
it.37 To focus on Pride and Prejudice, marriage is the books important theme, with the story
going on until all the important Bennets are positively occupied with partners. But there is not
much mention of marriage itself, rather of its importance and the courting preceding it. This
highlights a journey of all the main characters, a sense of growing up and finding stable
happiness.38 The path to happiness and freedom of women is the main point of Austen’s work.
There is a wide and colourful array of characters in Pride and Prejudice, but Elizabeth Bennet
and her closest family members are the ones worth discussing. Thanks to the story being a
novel, the characters are explored in depth, each of them having a clearly defined point of view
on (in?) the story. Yet, the main character is undoubtedly Elizabeth, the second oldest child in
the family. It is mainly her story the reader follows; it is her who captures the essence of the
female gaze. Because of that fact, Elizabeth Bennet’s character is multidimensional and natural-
If Pride and Prejudice can be read as a feminist text (EXPLAIN OR REPHRASE A BIT
36
Vivien Jones „Introduction“ in Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (London: Penguin Classics, 2008), xv.
37
Ibid.
38
Ibid, xxiii.
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going against societal norms and expectations. She is defined by her family, a lively household
buzzing with several adolescent and young adult women. Mr. Bennet is the only man of the
Writing:
Austen’s humour
Pursuit of happiness
“Daughtership”, sistership x lovers
Growing up
Class
39
As in „Emma“. This trope goes hand in hand with Austen’s skilled use of irony and witty humour, as here the
author places a stern father, the epitomé of society, in a woma-dominated place wether he likes it or not.
19
Bibliography:
2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-art/The-interpretation-of-art .
Danielová, Klára. „The Women in Sherlock Holmes“, Bcl thesis, Masaryk University,
2009.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. London:
Leonard, DeLisa, „Women and Bodily Separation in Literature from the Victorian era
Jones, Vivien. „Introduction“ in Austen Jane., Pride and Prejudice, London: Penguin
Classics, 2008.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/02/john-berger-obituary
Mulvey, Lara, „Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema”, Screen, Atumn 1975.
https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/1021/Laura%20Mulvey,%20Visual%20P
leasure.pdf.
Romero, Adriana Victoria. "The Woman: Irene Adler in Literature, Media, and "A
Morrison, Sarah H. “Of Woman Borne: Male Experiences and Feminine Truth in Jane
Austen’s Novels“ in Studies in the Novel 26, no. 4. The Johns Hopkins University Press:
1994.
20
Wolfreys, Julian. „Introduction“ in Doyle Arthur Conan. , The Adventures and Memoirs
? Roland Keats, „The battle of the paintings of Judith & Holofernes. Caravaggio
vs.Gentileschi“ (Thesis /it is a thesis by genre, but it’s written independently „for fun“/,
2017), 20.?
21