Throughout American history, there have been many inspirational stories about young adults who have grown from an unstable childhood to a world famous actor or actress. These individuals have the most inspiring stories of how he or she overcame the loss of love from parents, or struggle from a hard life in fostercare to become a world famous icon. The story of Marilyn Monroe embraces this. Marilyn’s life story tells of how she grew from a childhood of lost love from both parents to become one of the biggest sex symbols alive.
Marilyn was born as Norma Jeane Baker on June 1 1926 (“Marilyn Monroe” Bio online) to Gladys Pearl Baker who was a film technician (“Marilyn” Scribner online). Marliyn never completely knew either of her parents as a young child. Marilyn’s mother Gladys suffered from extreme mental illnesses and couldn’t parent Marilyn as she should (Peterson online). Glady’s also never had a close bond to Marilyn’s father C. Stanley Gifford (Marilyn Grolier 170), therefore, Marilyn was never introduced to her real father (“Marilyn Bio online).”
Due to her mother suffering from a severe mental illness and the lack of attention from her real father, Marilyn spent many years with an alternate family. “Shortly after birth Norma Jeane (Marilyn Monroe) was sent 16 miles away to foster care” (Peterson online). From the time she was sent away to foster care Marilyn had believed “that her mother did not want her and that she always got in the way” (Woog 7). After years in foster care Marilyn went to live with her mother in 1933. (Woog 8).
Throughout her life, Marilyn went through many marriages and many divorces. Marilyn attended Van Nuys High School but dropped out at the early age 14 to marry (“Marilyn” Scribner online). Afte...
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...e.” Goodreads 2014. Goodreads Inc. 31 January 2014 . Path: Marilyn Monroe.
“Marilyn Monroe.” Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures 2003. Biography in Context. Gale. North Miami Community Schools. 14 January 2014 . Path: Marilyn Monroe.
“Marilyn Monroe.” The Grolier Library of North American Biographies. Danbury: Grolier Educational Corporation, 1994. 170-171.
Petersen, Jennifer B. “Marilyn Monroe.” 2005: 1-2. Mas Ultra – School Edition. EBSCOhost. North Miami Community Schools. 15 January 2014 . Path: Marilyn Monroe.
Rudnick, Paul. “Marilyn Monroe.” Time 14 June 1999, Vol. 153 Issue 23: 128. Middle Search Plus. EBSCOhost. North Miami Community Schools. 15 January 2014 . Path: Marilyn Monroe.
Woog, Adam. Marilyn Monroe. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1997.
Some Like It Hot, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, and The Seven Year Itch are just a few of the movies that the actress Marilyn Monroe is known for. However the life of the movie star was cut short when she died at age 36 from an acute barbiturate poisoning. It was suspected that Marilyn took her own life, however she could have just as easily been taken out by the Kennedy family to prevent her from spilling all the dirty secrets she knew because of her alleged affairs with John and Robert Kennedy. Monroe was murdered by the Kennedy family in order to keep her from revealing government secrets that she gained knowledge of during the affairs she has with John and Robert Kennedy, which she threatened to make public after both
Specific Stages of Erik Erickson’s Stage Theory greatly exemplify the deeply confused individual of Marilyn Monroe. The most predominant features of Marilyn Monroe’s personality can be explained by Erikson’s psychosocial stages of “Identity versus Role Confusion”, “Intimacy versus Isolation”, and “Generativity versus Stagnation” (Howard & Shustack, 2009, p. 134-139). During Marilyn Monroe’s most critical period of her life, childhood, she was neither exposed to a stable mother and father figure, nor a balanced environment. Those who did love her did not remain for long enough periods to have a substantial effect on Marilyn’s life. The closest mother-type present in her life, Grace McKee, did not possess the resources needed to raise a child and thus had to withdraw as permanent stature in Marilyn’s life (Learning, 1998, p. 64-76). Aside from Grace, Marilyn also never experienced the protection and love of a father figure, or arbitrary male in her life.
Saari, Peggy, ed. Prominent Women of the 20th Century. Volume 4. New York: International Thompson Publishing Company, 1996.
Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco on December 14, 1916, a year prior to the U.S. entering World War I. It was a very tumultuous time in the world and especially influential in Ms. Jackson’s life as she developed through childhood. Events of the time that may have influenced Ms. Jackson’s view of society when growing up included the introduction of prohibition, the Roaring 20’s, women’s suffrage, and the advent of the Great Depression. Women were beginning to exercise their independence and more exciting opportunities to develop creativity as a female finally seemed a real possibility.
Arthur Miller’s experiences with women are depicted through their roles in his plays. He is quoted as saying “I like the company of women. Life is boring without them”. This is fitting because he married one of the most interesting women in American history. Marilyn Monroe is a notorious sex symbol because she was objectified during her time as an actress. Her blond hair and pretty face easil...
Also, Marilyn was mostly famous for playing a funny dumb blonde in her movies.{wikipedia.org} Some movies she was famous for are “Some like it hot”,[1959] “Monkey Business”[1952], “How to Marry a Millionaire”[1953] and “Gentlemen prefer Blondes”[1953] .To begin, Marilyn Monroe won a golden globe for playing a role in “Some like it hot” [1959]. Marilyn Monroe won the Golden Globe Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite Female in 1953. {google.com/site/monroetheicon/awards-and-achievements} Marilyn was nominated for the golden globe award for playing the character Sugar Cane in “Some like it hot”. Also, Marilyn Monroe often struggled with depression. {marilyn monroe and her struggle with depression} Many people think she struggled with depression because of her three failed marriages and 2 miscarriages. Joe Dimaggio was one of Marilyn’s husbands. When they divorced in 1954, Marilyn accused him of “mental cruelty”. She also married Arthur Miller, a famous playwright, but sadly their marriage ended in 1961. Which left her in a fragile state. Some people also believe that her depression came from her mother’s illness. She had many Achievements but marilyn monroe still did have many struggles in her
Among the large array of sex symbols that our country has been introduced to, Marilyn Monroe has remained as the most prominent provocative figure of the twentieth century. Born Norma Jean, the aspiring movie star, singer and actress lead an evasive life, one which author Fred Lawrence Guiles demystifies in his biography Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe. The author takes his audience through the struggles and successes that Monroe faced, beginning with her early years and up until her final years filled with havoc, and ultimately death. Guiles especially depicts Marilyn’s dependence on others, as well as her inability to be alone throughout her life and as she reaches the height of her fame during the 1950’s and 60’s. Although flawed, this portrayal offers insight into the life of a very troubled yet unique woman.
Marilyn Monroe was liked by many, society liked her for the sheer fact that she never portrayed herself as famous, but as a human. She was the epiphany of Hollywoods misguided. She created this noble character that people admired, they also admired her f...
Rollyson, Carl E. Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress. Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1986.
Murder in the First Degree: The Tragedy of Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe, one of Hollywood’s most sought-after women, was a famous actress and model. Betty Richardson, author of “Marilyn Monroe,” explains that Monroe was an orphan for most of her childhood and lived in many abusive foster homes; yet, she rose to fame after catching a photographer’s attention in 1945. She created a controversy due to the extremely modest values in the 1900’s. As Richardson writes, her non-conservative attire and sexually explicit photos lead to “contradicting attitudes of Americans toward female sexuality.”
Think about the obstacles of a woman to become successful in the 1950s. I want to find an answer whether it was the media, which created Monroe’s sexy image or Monroe, whom herself used her sexy image to become famous. I am going to study the background of the time period, and learn if the current events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War, had any impact on Monroe's life, or whether Monroe herself had any influences politics in mid-20th century. I will also explore on how Monroe’s image influenced and redefined the feminism in the 21st century. I believe Marilyn Monroe was a clever, confident, and independent woman who was very brave and smart. Her spirit is what the girls in the new century needed. I also would like to study why Marilyn Monroe is still relevant and even famous in the 21st century to show the power of female charisma.
Marilyn Monroe was a deeply troubled woman and I believe that in applying a Psychoanalytic Perspective to her life, the first theorist that comes to mind is Erik Erickson and his stage theory of personality. In applying his theory we see that we can assess Marilyn’s personality through Erickson’s psychosocial stages of “Identity vs. Role Confusion” and “Intimacy vs. Isolation” (Friedman & Schustack 133-134). Marilyn’s childhood, the most critical time in any child’s life when any and all relationships are crucial to their healthy development proved to be the catalyst for her later problems in life as evident by the lack of any solid and
He explores ideas of Monroe in terms of feminist thinking – examining the debate on whether she was an exploited woman, or a rebel who took control of her own sexuality. Monroe had a clearly complex relationship with her status as a sex symbol. She didn’t want to receive that label from the outside, acted and dressed in a manner that arguably objectified herself, but admitting that if she had to be a symbol, sex wasn’t a bad one to be. He also examined, in detail, the degree of control that Monroe had over her own image and how she was portrayed, and the influence of her sex symbol status over the roles she played, and how it is constructed, breaking down Bus Stop shot-by-shot, teasing her sexuality only to reveal that, unsurprisingly to anyone who’s put one on, getting into a leotard isn’t exactly sexy business
A re-emerging image in Hollywood is that of the sex symbol, represented by Marilyn Monroe in the 1950's. Monroe is Hollywood's classic sex symbol, where the cultural phenomena she creates, instigates her immortal and legendary status. The first ever issue of Playboy magazine features Marilyn Monroe as the “cover girl”. By decoding meaning from this magazine cover, the visual and written text becomes a communicator for both obvious and subtle meaning conveyed through her image.
Kashner, S. (2005, November 15). Marilyn and Her Monsters. Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/11/marilyn-monroe-201011