Well, Venus in Fur was quite an interesting play. As I read, the play escalated quite quickly and I was surprised at how seamlessly David Ives transformed the actual lives of Vanda and Thomas into the roles of their characters. It also amazed me at how each of their characters sort of emulated the opposite gender role. Vanda was extremely strong, outspoken and confident while Thomas, although smart and sophisticated, was still quiet and reserved. Normally, our society thinks of men and women in the opposite way.
Therefore, I was quite shocked at Thomas' willingness to allow Vanda to manipulate him in such ways. Obviously his life paralleled that of his characters'. He is subdued when it comes to women and allows his significant other Stacy to constantly call him. It is so interesting to me that he is extremely obedient to Stacy and yet completely follows everything Vanda says. It somewhat reminded me of Gallimard from M. Butterfly. The moment that a random woman desired him, he was subjected to her. And that is reflected in his relationship with Song as well. Both Thomas and Gallimard want to be controlled by another person in a relationship. And even if that isn't their number one priority within a relationship, it still seems to subconsciously come about.
Through it all, it seems that power is completely challenged within the concept of S&M. Vanda is certainly into and even lies about her knowledge upon the subject in order to use it against Thomas later. By acting innocent and "dumb" as a woman per se, she was able to shockingly overwhelm and control Thomas as the play progressed. Sex, class and gender is definitely challenged by the ideals of Vanda in this wild play.
2 comments:
I love the correlation you made between M. Butterfly and Venus in Fur. I hadn't thought about that! It's very true, Galliamard and Thomas reflect each other in many aspects. It seems that the actual identity of the object of their affections is not the important aspect of the relationship. Both of their ideal women are just fantasies, whether it be Butterfly or Vanda.
Your comment about women acting as dumb or innocent as a tactic to gain power of males was intriguing. It reminded me a great deal of a piece of performance art we recently discussed in class. The woman performing it explored the use of sexuality by women to interrogate men. I feel that both the play and the art piece explore stereotypes thrust upon woman in society, such as sexuality and innocence, and how they can be used to our advantage. However, I also see this critique as a negative one; pointing out that women have to use their body or fein unintelligence to achieve what they want because that is the stereotype society dictates.
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