The Scream

The Scream (1893)

Through the Lens of Existentialism

“The Scream” is an iconic art by Edvard Munch. It is widely accepted that this artwork is actually an autobiography of Munch. Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter. His works revolved around psychological themes. As we as that, his artworks can fall under various other movements - expressionism, modernism, symbolism, and impressionism.

 

"The Scream" is widely regarded as an expressionist painting. Expressionism was part of modernism. Expressionism in art is distinguished by its expression of subjective emotions rather than objects as it can be seen from the paining above. For the purpose of this analysis, however, we will look at Edvard Munch's "the Scream" from an existential point of view.

Existentialism is a wave in European philosophy which emphasized on “lived human existence.” It became popular in mid-20^th century. Existentialism suggests that we as human beings have no given essence. Rather, we must create our own meanings in this “meaningless world of existence.” Because we can make choices, we can either face the angst or anguish of this responsibility, or escape it by abiding to convention (Baldick, 2015).

Description of the painting:

We see a skull-like figure with his hands on his ears. He is screaming. We can see two figures at the back who are walking away from the skull-like figure. At the background we see nature – sea, land, sky. By the choice of color for the sky, we can see that it is during the sunset. Now, the reason why the figure is screaming is because he is going through an existential crisis. Munch himself described it:

"I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous infinite scream of nature."

(Excerpt taken from http://legomenon.com/meaning-of-the-scream-1893-painting-by-edvard-munch.html)

 

Thus, we can see that the painting is actually an expression of Munch's inner emotions. He had a moment of panic attack. Through the "scream", Munch expressed the frustration and anguish he went through. As we have pointed out earlier, experiencing anguish of the responsibility of having to make choices in life is a part of existential crisis.

 

References:

Baldick, C. (2015). The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Shabi, K. (2013, June 12). Meaning of The Scream (1893) Painting by Edvard Munch: Art Analysis. Retrieved from Legomenon: http://legomenon.com/meaning-of-the-scream-1893-painting-by-edvard-munch.html

The Kling Kling Woman

The Kling Kling Woman by K.S Maniam

Feminist Perspective 

“The Kling Kling Woman” brings the audience back to the British colonial era of Malaysia where the Indian, Chinese, and immigrants from other South East Asian countries were imported as labourers because they were considered as “more controllable” compared to the indigenous Malay. Unlike most of the female protagonists in the Modern Malay literature, this short story features a strong independent Indian woman who fights her way towards creating her own destiny, going against the traditional expectations of women in her culture. The story revolves around the protagonist who struggles with issues such as exploitation of manual labourers in the railroad and sexual objectification of women. This analysis will be viewed from a perspective of feminism that highlights exploitation of women at work place and the sexual objectification of women in general.

 Modern Malay literature has been criticized for its weak representation of female protagonist. The heroine in Maniam’s story, however, is a powerful woman who paradoxically takes control of her own destiny within the confinement of tradition. Due to traditional double standard, it is common in the modern Southeast Asian fiction, that women were portrayed as weak which makes Maniam’s story relevant to be analysed under the light of feminism. Therefore, it is important to first understand the definition of feminism and its origin.

 Women have always been considered as the second lead after man in society. Feminism highlights the inequality between man and woman. Feminists opposed the tendency of society in downgrading women and giving unequal treatment to them. Even though feminism has many types, the people who practise this ideology identify themselves generally as ‘feminists’. It began to take place even before the 21^st century that indicates the justification of treating women has long ago existed and that this topic is not something new. 
 There are several types of feminism but all types of feminism definitely have one thing in common although they have different ways of practising their understanding on this issue and vary in terms of the methods they use to address this problem and its solution. The similarity that is generally shared by all feminist would be that they all are seeking justice for women and fight for their rights. Eliminating gender stratification would be one of the key elements in feminism as they oppose the limit and restriction of education, income and job opportunities of women. In the Kling Kling Women for example, women were confined to their tradition and customs, therefore they were expected to only act and behave in certain ways. For instance, the story shows the audience that women and girls should only stay at home, do the cooking and cleaning, and after they have grown up, they should all get married, and serve their husbands for the rest of their life, even if they do not love him. Also mentioned in the story was the horrible practice of preserving the husband’s honor by pretending not to starve when there is nothing to eat.

The protagonist in this story which was not named and only known as Sumathi’s great grandmother, however, chose to break out from the tradition and go out to work on the railroad. She went through horrendous journey and faced many challenges before she could finally live the life that she had always wanted. This shows that the role of a woman back in the days was so limited that it actually prevented them from finding their true potential and exploring their passion. In feminism, women are equal to men. Therefore, they have every right to choose whether to work or not to work, and the same goes for marriages and every other thing.

Emma Watson once quoted, “Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It’s about freedom, it’s about liberation, it’s about equality”.

 

    Another important element that is highlighted in the story is the sexual objectification of women and sexual violence committed against them. As mentioned in the short story, the Kling Kling Women, the women working in the railroad are no strangers to lewd remarks and sexual harassment by the male railroad workers. It was stated that the men fantasize about the women in an obscene manner, which means that they saw the women as a sexual object or the object of pleasure rather than an actual person. This explains why they thought of women as inferior to them which in reality is false and distorted. They even went so far as to follow the women into the forest, just so that they could peek on them and even harass them and see it as a normal and acceptable action.

     

 

       

      

References:

Denmark, F., Rabinowitz, V., Sechzer J. (2004). Endering Psychology. Women and gender

revisited. United States: Pearson Education.

Hague, R. (2014). Political Studies Review. Between the Waves: Currents in Contemporary

Feminist Thought. p1-2. doi: 10.1111/1478-9302.12047             

Hewitt, N. A. (2010). No permanent waves: Recasting histories of U.S. feminism. New

Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Holland, K. J. & Cortina, L. M. (2013). When Sexism and Feminism Collide: The Sexual

Harassment of Feminist Working Women. 37(2). p194-195

Mitchell, J. & Oakley, A. (1986). What is feminism? United States: Pantheon Books.

Pasque, P. A. & Wimmer, B. (2011). An introduction: Feminist perpectives.UK.

            Retrieved on 16 May from <https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/05/emma-watson-vanity-fair-cover-feminism>

Tong, R. (2009). Feminist thought: A more comprehensive introduction. Philadelphia, PA:

Westview Press.

 

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

By T. S. Eliot
From a Modernist Perspective

To read the poem, please click here.

We will look at T. S. Eliot’s “The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” from a modernist point of view. Before that, it would be a good idea to define modernism.

Modernism in literature refers to “the wide range of experimental and avant-garde trends in the literature of the 20^th century.” One of the main characteristics of modernist literature is the rejection of 19^th century traditions. Many modernist poets rejected the traditional metres and instead used free verse. Eliot, being one of those poets, used fragmentations, free verse and complex allusions in his poems.

Now that we are acquainted with modernism, let us take a modernist approach to “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

Summary of the Poem:

Prufrock invites his audience to take a walk with him through the city. He then gives a description of the city such as “half-deserted streets,” “cheap hotels,” “sawdust restaurants,” “yellow fog” and “yellow smoke.” He then mentions women in a room who talk about Michelangelo, a Renaissance artist. He then goes through moments of existential crisis. He also feels insecure about his appearance and he feels that the women will judge him. Towards the end, the setting of the poem changes from city to a beach. Here, Prufrock describes “mermaids singing, each to each.” However, he again goes through that moment of insecurity as he thinks that the mermaids will not sing to him.

Analysis from Modernist Point of View:

One of the characteristics that make this poem a modernist poem is its urban setting. Descriptions such as “cheap hotels”, “sawdust restaurants”, “yellow fog” and “yellow smoke” suggest an urban setting. Many modernist writers used urban areas as their setting as opposed to Romantic writers who used nature as the settings of their literary works. The urban setting is meant to show one aspect of the modern life. Through stream of consciousness technique, Eliot expresses the hustle of a modern life.

 

The narrator in the poem also questions himself several times. The question of self is another characteristic of modernist work. In this poem, the narrator asks, “Do I dare disturb the universe?” and thus wonder about his existence. He also asks questions that indicate his insecurity. He asks, "Do I dare to eat a peach?" This random question actually reflects Prufrock's lack of confidence. He has lost confidence to the extent that he needs to ask if he should eat peach or not. Also, towards the end of the poem Prufrock talks about mermaids singing but he does not think that they will sing to him. Thus, this poem shows identity crisis and insecurity - some aspects of modernist experience.

 

Modernist works also included “collages of fragmentary images.” These fragmentations are supposed to express chaos of modern life and psychological discontinuity. This characteristic is apparent in this poem because it does not have one concrete form or flow. Rather, we see various thoughts, questions, and settings described by Prufrock. The poem begins with descriptions of a city but suddenly we are exposed to some women who are "talking of Michelangelo." Then again we go back to the urban setting. Then we go through the existential questions of Prufrock and towards the end of the poem we are exposed to a beach. Thus, we can see that the poem does not have one concrete form or one flow. Various settings and thoughts are collaged together.

With all its modernist elements, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" reflects the dilemma of a modern life. Through Prufrock we see that it is difficult to live a meaningful life in a modern world.

References:

Baldick, C. (2015). The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

   

Sweeney Todd; Demon Barber of Fleet Street

An Analysis of Sweeney Todd using Marxist Theory 

 

Movie production by Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd; Demon Barber of Fleet Street is situated around 17th century London, where the social hierarchy of classes were divided into three: upper class, middle class and lower class. During this period, society dwelled themselves based on social status; their class in society gives them and justifies their rights reflected by their stands in the social hierarchy. From here the movie will be viewed from the lens of Marxism on how social class applies in society.

 

           

     Movie poster of Sweeney Todd: Demon                                  Cast Members of the movie

                Barber of Fleet Street.

 

The movie tells the tale of a Barber; Benjamin Barker, who was falsely accused by Judge Turpin, and was sentenced imprisonment to Australia for a crime he did not commit – Leaving his wife; Lucy, and his daughter. 15 years later he returns to London; knowing not only did his wife died but his daughter has been “adopted” by Judge Turpin and has been held captive in his house like a canary in a cage.

                              

Every social class has its pros and cons. Often pros for the high class which is represented by Judge Turpin, the man with power, money and position that could make a rich man into a lower class slave. Evidence is shown through the conflict of Benjamin Baker with Judge Turpin in obtaining Lucy as a source of lust and obsession of Judge Turpin to obtain something that he could not own. Yet, he abused his power and position by sentencing Benjamin to Australia for no reason but to fulfil his lust for Lucy. Other than that, his position defines his power and influence to the society. His words are absolute and those who disobey it will face consequences, which was shown in the scene where Johanna planned an escape with Anthony; the sailor of the ship, to escape from the Judge but was exposed during his trip to Sweeney Todd’s Barber Shop.

 

                  

But, every powerful man has an enemy. Sweeney Todd labels the Judge as ‘corrupted’ for his law making decision were based on his desire to control and shape the town the way he wanted it to be. Judge Turpin was often reflected as someone who sees himself as pure compared to other people in the story as if he is innocent and only others commit sins which again is seen during the escape plan of Johanna from the house. While Beadle Bamfords is also reflected as one of the high class person but plays not only as escort to the Judge and trusty sidekick, he also plays a role to the Judge as the whisper of the devil - reassuring him that his wrong doings are righteous.

Opposite to the higher class is the lower class society; prostitutes, beggars, slaves, labor workers and those who live in the slumps with no food, money, home and shelter. It is represented by Tobias (known as Toby) who was introduced as Adolfo Pirelli’s slave who does all the work of his business and all the profit goes to him. Toby’s position in society gives him no rights in society because he lacks material possession which gives him the disadvantage of being abused by his master and his means in the working force to do manual labor as an exchange for food and shelter. Being mocked, disrespected in an inhumane way by the society because of his position in society as the lowest of the lowest gives him no rights to pretty much a lot in life.

 

    

 

His role is only to obey the order of his owner but later changed when he was given love and care by Mrs.Lovett who did not see him as a slave but as a child in need. Soon Toby developed a sense of love towards Mrs.Lovett that in the musical scene "Not While I’m Around" as he expresses his feelings for Mrs.Lovett to do everything to protect her from Sweeney Todd; whom he refers as demons with a smile and in the line “I will never hide a thing for you, like some…” in the song (refer to https://youtu.be/LssWKaDF9bk ). By the end of the movie, Toby was driven to madness once Sweeney Todd threw Mrs.Lovett into the oven and burned her alive.

The middle class is presented by Benjamin Barker before he became Sweeney Todd. His role since then was always a barber but even a middle class man can be robbed from his rights by the higher class just as the lower class. Other than that, Mrs. Lovett can also be identified as someone from middle class society as a women that works and owns the meat pie shop. Being middle class does not mean she has the rights to obtain what she need as she also described that meat was expensive because meat can only be acquired by the higher class society and they are left with leftovers or pest off the streets such as rats and cats which she used for her meat pie. But just as the lower class, they are not given lawful rights in society if they do not obey the higher class people - giving an unjust life to them as not only their material possession is taken away but family as well, that dragged Sweeney Todd to get vengeance to the Judge (refer to https://youtu.be/8y7JwZ64Nc8).

 

The Razor shaver owned by Sweeney Todd is a symbol of the voice of his consciousness; as he refers to it as his friend. Unlike the higher class, the middle and lower class are shown as more humane but both classes can be driven to the corner when their happiness is taken away from them, which can be related realistically. It is proven that he is aware of right and wrong of his decision in the musical scene "Johanna" (refer to https://youtu.be/Bu3YqyZnfOY).

 

Each social class has its advantage and disadvantage in the social structure, but all in all they are all humans and humans are not perfect as they have flaws which can drag them into madness once their beloved is taken apart from their life; possibly murderous action to regain justice as people say, a life for a life.

Halfway Road, Penang

 

 

An Analysis of a Malaysian Play using Feminist Literary Criticism:

The Reality of Representation of Malaysian Women Post-riot May 1969 in

Halfway Road, Penang

Let us first define feminist literary criticism. Feminist literary criticism is a political approach and this ideology questions the relationships of men and women and their roles in society. This literary criticism invokes an awareness of the power imbalances between men in women. Hence, the marginalization of women happens in patriarchal society. Therefore, feminist theories invoke an awareness to the patterns of thought, the values, behaviour, and power in men and women and their relationships as portrayed in literature. Appleman (2007) highlights the objective of feminist literary criticism which reflect the concern with the silencing women as they live in patriarchal culture,

Feminist literary critics remind us that literary values, conventions, and even the production of literature, have themselves been historically shaped by men. They … ask us to consider viewing familiar literature through a feminist perspective.

This analysis will discuss patriarchal society in Malaysia after this country gains its independence from British imperialism in 1957 through Halfway Road, Penang. This dramatic work is included in Malay canon and this work is categorized as high literature as this dramatic work reflects the reality of Malaysian society after May 1969. The intermarriage theme between two major races in Malaysia portrayed in this dramatic work is a symbol of  the situation of Malaysian multicultural society. However, the marriage turns into a failure and this can be interpreted as the situation of the various races in Malaysia and their inability to reach a mutual understanding. Moreover, female characters in this dramatic work is expected to obey the patriarchal society instead of being independent women as patriarchal culture is deep rooted with their custom and religion. This analysis will discuss the patriarchal society in Malaysian society as depicted in Halfway Road, Penang.

Summary of Halfway Road, Penang

Halfway Road, Penang is a dramatic work written by Professor Ghulam Sarwar Yousof. This dramatic work highlights the interracial issues in Malaysian society after a race riot which happened on May 13, 1969. Two main characters in this dramatic work, Rosnah who belongs to Malay race and Krishnamoorthy is Indian, have decided to marry each other despite the racial tension among races in Malaysia after the May 1969 riots.

However, their plan to marry each other face harsh opposition from their family. Krishnamoorthy is born and raised in modern Malaysia. Thus, he has a sense of being a loyal Malaysian as he witnesses different races live together in this country. Therefore, he is unable to understand his parent’s divided loyalties to India and to Malaysia. As Krishnamoorthy’s mother, Letchumi has a sense of being Indian in India instead of Malaysia as she mentions that their family may need to return to India. She upholds strong Indian tradition as she reminisces the superiority of her family’s class, Brahmin India.

In order to marry Rosnah, Krishnamoorthy announces his intention to become a Muslim. Krishnamoorthy’s intention to give up his ancestral religion in order to marry a Malay woman causes a negative response from both of his parents. This is because his parents believe that Krishnamoorthy giving up his superior Brahmin status is a great sin. Moreover, Krishnamoorthy’s parents are still worried about the racial concern after May 1969 riots. Hence, Krishnamoorthy’s involvement with other race will cause negative outcome in term of race and religion. Hence, both of his parents use various means to obviate Krishnamoorthy’s decision to marry Rosnah.

However, all of their efforts are unfruitful as Krishnamoorthy and Rosnah get married. Later, their marriage fails as Krishnamoorthy is unable to support Rosnah and he is subconsciously still attached to his old ancestral religion despite being a Muslim after marrying Rosnah. Due to the failure of their marriage, Rosnah decides to leave Krishnamoorthy. Krishnamoorthy tries to win her back, however, his effort is unfruitful. At the end of this play, Krishnamoorthy is left without a sense of direction (Ackermann, 1974).

An Analysis on Gender Issue in Halfway Road, Penang

The men in Halfway Road  have a better opportunity to further their studies compared to the women. Nalini who is Krishnamoorthy’s match from India is an illiterate woman. Nalini is expected to become Krishnamoorthy’s future wife. Krishnamoorthy’s mother, Letchumi views that Nalini possesses the skill to become an ideal housewife and this seems to be more important compared with Nalini’s level of education. As Letchumi mentions that, ‘…Nalini is a good cook and she sews – so our relatives in India have informed us. And even if she doesn’t speak English what does it matter? Tamil is good enough for us’ (pp. 29 – 30). Living in patriarchal society, Letchumi is unable to understand the importance of education for women. Rengasamy’s and Letchumi’s daughter, Rani who is about 16 years old will get married once she finishes her examination. Rani has possessed the skill to run a house in order to fulfil the criteria of being an ideal housewife to his future husband. As Rengasamy states his decision to marry her daughter to a wealthy man so that she could live a good life,

Rengasamy: …She’ll [Rani] be completing her Form Five this year at the Convent.

Kuppusamy: And then, she’ll be going on into the H.S.C. ah?

Rengasamy: No.. lah. There’s no need for that, really. Girls don’t have to be highly educated, you know. Letchumi has given her all the training she will ever need to run a house. We’re looking to see if we can get her married off after the exams in December.

Kuppusamy: That’s a good idea. She’s been engaged already-ah?

Rengasamy: Yes. After a few months you left for India.

Kuppusamy: To?

Rengasamy: To the second son of Narayanaswamy. You know, the Narayanaswamy of Ulu Pinang Estate?

Kuppusamy: Oh yes. Oh yes. I’ve heard of him. Very good family. Very wealthy.

Rengasamy: We’re fortunate of that, Kuppusamy. Good families with money are hard to come by. I really don’t believe we should keep daughters at home any longer than is absolutely necessary. Letchumi agrees with me in this (pp. 34 – 35).

While male characters in Halfway Road have better opportunity to further higher education compare to the female, as both Rengasamy’s and Nalini’s sons, Krishnamoorthy and Gopal are given an opportunity to further their education. In Act Two, Letchumi mentions that Gopal pursues his study in medical college in Bombay. However, Gopal did not do well in his studies in medicine. While Krishnamoorthy was given an opportunity to study in Further Education Classes. Later, Krishnamoorthy failed Further Education Classes. In short, the level of education for women is of no importance for Malaysian society, as long as these women possess the skill to run a house in order to fit the society’s expectation of being an ideal housewife for their husband.
 

Malay women are expected to become a housewife, as well. Instead of being given freedom to choose their career, ideal Malay women are expected to get married. Hence, his husband will become the sole breadwinner for their family and he would support their parents in term of financial matter. In Act One, Salleh is ashamed with his step daughter’s profession as a bar waitress. Thus, he suggests Halimah that their daughter, Rosnah should get married,

Let Rosnah get married so that her husband can contribute to our family’s income, or at least be able to support Rosnah, so that she can stay at home like a good Muslim woman should. After all, a woman’s place is in the home (p. 9).

Clearly, women in Halfway Road, Penang could not enjoy the same benefit as men. Women are lacking access to further their education. Female are raised to become an ideal housewife. Society upholds an expectation toward women to become a good housewife instead of being an independent woman.

The patriarchal society in Malaysia as depicted in Halfway Road, Penang leads to negative consequences to women as these women become dependent on their husband in term of financial matter. Hence, these women face financial crisis when their husbands neglect their responsibility. This situation is portrayed in Halimah’s situation after his husband left him. In order to support her family as a single mother to her family, she works as a bar waitress. Later, Halimah’s daughter, Rosnah faces the same situation as her marriage with Krishnamoorthy fails when Krishnamoorthy neglects her. Hence, this situation leads Rosnah to continue her profession as a bar waitress in Hibiscus Bar. In Act Two, Rosnah’s husband, Krishnamoorthy tries to win her. However, both Rosnah and Krishnamoorthy argue with each in their unexpected reunion. As Rosnah expresses her disappointment towards Krishnamoorthy,

Yes, all your money goes into these slimy bars and brothels. You stink of Halfway Road. You came back home every night drunk, only after a few weeks of marriage. What did you expect me to do without money, huh? When did you ever give me anything? And how did you expect me to run the house? (p. 58).

In short, the patriarchal society as depicted in Halfway Road, Penang causes adversity to women due to the lack of opportunity for them to become independent by pursuing higher education and choosing their career. However, Rosnah challenges the patriarchal system by leaving her undutiful husband and she becomes an independent woman by supporting herself financially. Hence, Rosnah deviates from the expectation of patriarchal society as this society expects housewife to become a submissive person to her husband.

Patriarchal culture depicted in Halfway Road, Penang creates an adversity of women because patriarchal society shapes women to become dependent on man. Moreover, female character in Halfway Road, Penang such as Letchumi unable to see the importance of woman to pursue higher education and become an independent person. Hence, this situation shows women themselves are lacking the awareness on patriarchal culture that marginalize their power. However, the presence of female protagonist in this dramatic work who challenges patriarchal culture which deep rooted in custom and religion depicts that women should break away from the stereotype of female powerlessness. Hopefully, the equality of privilege between men and women can be created in order to change the patriarchal culture which marginalizes women power.

 

References 

Ackermann, J. M. (1974, Jun 1). 'Halfway Road' is milestone for CLI grantee. Retrieved from Scholar Space: https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17420/1/Culture_LanguageLearningNewsletter_1974_v2_n5%5Bpdfa%5D.pdf

Appleman, D. (2007). Through Rose-Colored Glasses:. Retrieved from Carleton College: https://apps.carleton.edu/people/appleman/talksworkshops/workshop_handouts/rose_colored/

Yousof, G. S. (1971). Halfway Road, Penang. Gelugor: The Asian Centre.