Themes In Blackrock

866 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles in 20th century literature

There are many ideas, experiences, values and beliefs in the play Blackrock by Nick Enright. The play is based on a true story and is set in late November to early January in an Industrial city and its beachside suburb of Blackrock. It is about a girl called Tracy aged 15 who was raped and murdered at a teenage party and the effects of it on the locals and community. Three main ideas explored in the play that challenged and confirmed my own beliefs include “Disrespect toward women”, “Victim blaming” and “Double standards”. “Disrespect towards women” occurs many times during the play. In my opinion, women should not be disrespected just as much as men shouldn’t and especially not the way that they show this in the play. One case of disrespect …show more content…

This is seen in act sixteen and act twenty-three. In act sixteen Glenys (Diane’s sister and Cherie’s mother) blames Tracy for what had happened to her. In act twenty-three Jared blames Tracy for dressing down and dancing suggestively, which lead to the death of Ricko. In my opinion, if people dress down then they deserve people getting the wrong idea but they don’t deserve being raped and murdered. They deserve this as when females dress down they are trying to attract attention mostly of the opposite sex anyway. However when it comes to dancing suggestively, it really depends how they dance and if they are dancing for themselves or to try to look attractive. The final concept of “Double standards” is also shown in the play. In my opinion double standards are used mostly to protect people (usually parents and children) however in the play double standards are used with males and females. One instance that this is shown through is different genders and their sexual activity, which is shown in act six. In act six Ricko, Scott and Davo sleep with multiple women however when Shana sleeps with multiple partners she gets called

Show More
Related

  • Blackrock Themes

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    Blackrock written by Australian playwright Nick Enright is a dramatic play created to challenge a dominant social belief of twentieth century Australian youth. Blackrock, being inspired by the real-life rape and murder of schoolgirl Leigh Leigh (in Stockton, near Newcastle, Australia on 3 November 1989), provides powerful criticism of a society of dominant Australian male youth culture, and highlights how outwardly harmless attitudes and ideologies can lead to the death of a young women. Many aspects of Australian cultural identity are seen in this drama play, including emphasis on physical achievement opposed to mental, the concept of mateship, and the role of violence, each encourage the reader to question the overall moral justice, logic and wisdom of Australian society. Enright uses Blackrock as a representation of Australian society, and through his creation of such realistic characters enables the teenage audience the ease to identify with the themes and ideas. Enright suggest the flawed value of marginalisation of women, which in my opinion is the biggest issue in the play.

    Read More

  • Act One of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    The play also highlights the position of women in Elizabethan times. At the beginning of Act One we are introduced to Sampson and Gregory who are servants of the Capulet's and they are in the market place of Verona. They are messing around joking to each other and in the process puns are used such as collier, choler and collar. In the time this play was shown, this would have being considered very funny to the audience.

    Read More

  • King Lear Misogynist Analysis

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    The name of the self-entitled play, King Lear, by William Shakespeare is evidence that it has misogynistic viewpoints. In fact, the play opens with a discussion of a father, Gloucester, about having an illegitimate child, Edmund. In this discussion, Gloucester does not acknowledge the son, insulting him and expresses prejudice against his mother in the process. Throughout the story, there are countless accounts of men cursing women and belittling women, and most importantly there are lack of women. There are only three women in the play; all of whom meet unfortunate endings. The women are the daughters of the king, two of which inherits his kingdom. The powers that are given to the daughters, and to Edmund was not likely to be granted. There

    Read More

  • Trifles and A Dollhouse

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.

    Read More

  • Honour and Fidelity Varies for Men and Women in the play Much Ado about Nothing

    1995 Words  | 4 Pages

    The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.

    Read More

  • Double Standards and Gender Roles in Society

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    A lot of the times what women wear is sexualized, just because a girl is dressed a certain way doesn 't mean that she wants to hook-up with someone or that she is “asking for it”. The way a girl dresses doesn 't have to have a hidden meaning behind it, maybe that 's just what she feels comfortable in. Women are expected to dress respectfully at all times while men can wear whatever they want and there would be no problem with it. Pictures that are posted on social media get different reactions depending on which gender posted it, while there are some things that should not be uploaded for everyone to see, it does not change the fact that we cannot control the reaction that is received. “The idea is that women should look nice and well put-together without turning anyone on, or reminding anyone of sex.” (Throwbridge) We can 't control what others think of when they see us, if their thoughts automatically jump to something sexual we are not to blame. If a guy is wearing shorts with no shirt doesn 't mean there is a hidden meaning behind his choice of clothing, it is in they way you interpret it. Even then, you should not act on your thoughts, just because you believe something does not mean that it is right. As a nation, we need to take the step to stop

    Read More

  • Shakespeare’s Interpretation of Men in Taming of the Shrew

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    in this play, women are used as a symbol of male power, or lack of it.

    Read More

  • hamlet

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, through the lens of Gender theory and examination, this play not only portrays women in a degrading manner, but definitely makes the male characters overshadow the female characters. As shown through two female characters whose parts are both subordinate and very compliant. Both women act like they are suppose to and do not even the slightest but challenge the male characters. Both women by the end of the play have completely lost their identities and have conformed to what society made them into, nothing but a puppet controlled by men. Hamlet is a play that has a clear distinction between male and female roles. The male roles are powerful, dominating, and controlling while the female characters are obedient, fractured and frail. "

    Read More

  • Theme Of Violence In Blackrock

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    Blackrock was first performed in 1995. The play explores the causes of violence by individuals as well as ideas surrounding mateship and gender. The representations of mateship, masculinity and violence portray Australian culture in Blackrock as dangerous, homophobic and one that is accustomed to gender inequality. Dramatic conventions are employed by Nicholas Enright to challenge the reader or viewer’s view towards mateship, reinforce the idea of masculinity and challenge the idea that Australian culture is safe.

    Read More

  • Power Of Women In Othello

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.

    Read More

  • How Does Egeus Present Misogyny In A Midnight Night's Dream

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fie,Demetrius! Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex. We cannot fight for love, as men may do. We should be wooed and were not made to woo.” In this part of the play helena speaks out about how women are treated differently than men. As you can see, Helena says that when a man chases after a woman then he’s okay, but when it's the other way around the woman is deemed unladylike. This support my main claim because it shows how the women are treated differently kind of like today's society. I say this because in today's society women are looked at as fast if they have a baby at a young age whereas the boy is looked at as the man because he knocked some little girl

    Read More

  • The Deception of Trifles: Gender Roles in the Play by Glaspell

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 19th Century, women had different roles and treated differently compared to today’s women in American society. In the past, men expected women to carry out the duties of a homemaker, which consisted of cleaning and cooking. In earlier years, men did not allow women to have opinions or carry on a job outside of the household. As today’s societies, women leave the house to carry on jobs that allow them to speak their minds and carry on roles that men carried out in earlier years. In the 19th Century, men stereotyped women to be insignificant, not think with their minds about issues outside of the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer portrays how women in earlier years have no rights and men treat women like dirt. Trifles is based on real life events of a murder that Susan Glaspell covered during her work as a newspaper reporter in Des Moines and the play is based off of Susan Glaspell’s earlier writing, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The play is about a wife of a farmer that appears to be cold and filled with silence. After many years of the husband treating the wife terrible, the farmer’s wife snaps and murders her husband. In addition, the play portrays how men and women may stick together in same sex roles in certain situations. The men in the play are busy looking for evidence of proof to show Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. As for the women in the play, they stick together by hiding evidence to prove Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. Although men felt they were smarter than women in the earlier days, the play describes how women are expected of too much in their roles, which could cause a woman to emotionally snap, but leads to women banding together to prove that women can be...

    Read More

  • representation of women in much ado about nothing

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Elizabethan society in which Shakespeare lived during his life held a misogynistic ideology in high esteem. ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ was written in 1598-9, during a time when women were second class citizens compared to males and were considered to be inferior to males in every way. As soon as she was born, a female was her father's property until she was married off by her family when she then became her husband's property. A woman was expected to be seen and not heard, she was to be chaste and submissive. Women were uneducated and undervalued, they were not their own person.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Reading of the Tempest

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s The Tempest provides dialogue that portrays the social expectations and stereotypes imposed upon women in Elizabethan times. Even though the play has only one primary female character, Miranda, the play also includes another women; Sycorax, although she does not play as large a roll. During many scenes, the play illustrates the characteristics that represent the ideal woman within Elizabethan society. These characteristics support the fact that men considered women as a mere object that they had the luxury of owning and were nowhere near equal to them. Feminists can interpret the play as a depiction of the sexist treatment of women and would disagree with many of the characteristics and expectations that make Miranda the ideal woman. From this perspective, The Tempest can be used to objectify the common expectations and treatment of women within the 16th and 17th Centuries and compare and contrast to those of today.

    Read More

  • A Patriarchic Society in Aphra Behn's The Rover

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    By placing an emphasis on the man who uses women as sex objects by titling her play after him; by having almost all the female characters in the play treated horribly, used, and manipulated; and having the female characters barely putting up a fight, Aphra Behn suggests the heavily patriarchic society that exists is too extensive and is dangerous for the women in it.

    Read More

More about Themes In Blackrock

Open Document