Saturday, 8 November 2008
Mrs Chater: Randy Old Tart or Feminist Icon
Some of you, in your essays, commented on the relevance of Mrs Chater in the scene, albeit by proxy; I am interested in her function, considering she never physically materialises. Are we supposed to view her as a wanton sexual predator, void of morals and self-serving; or could we argue that she is in fact a prototype 21st Century woman, in command of her sexuality and independence, striving to free herself of the shackles of Regency society? Over to you...
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6 comments:
Randy Old Tart most definitely!
I'm going to sway to randy old tart too, but there are some feminist ideas too I think! Although women were starting to gain more sexual rights and recognised for actually having sexual pleasure of their own at this time, Mrs Chater is obviously the "property" of many a man- and the fact she never actually materialises in the novel, almost dehumanises her, and makes her seem void of any human characteristics or desires- therfore simply makes her seem like a "piece of meat" which acts in "carnal embrace".
:D
I think she's more of a plot device, a way of showing Septimus' sexual experience in comparison to Thomasina's sexual naïvety, as well as acting as a source of comedy in scene one, allowing Stoppard to demonstrate his skill at writing in the style of an Austen novel whilst talking about something that would never appear in one in a million years. It is the juxtaposition of the highly formal lexis with the somewhat racy subject matter that creates the humour in the exchange between Septimus and Chater.
I don't know - can any of the female characters be called feminist? Both Lady Croom and Mrs Chater are very formidable, but they do care about their position and reputation in society. I almost think the 19th century bit is more feminist, as in the 20th c. Chloe just panders to the whims of Bernard and Hannah seems to refuse to accept her sexuality as a woman.
the fact that Mrs Chater is never actually seen on stage may suggest that she is like a ghost of the future woman. She could symbolise how women become and be seen as a feminist icon. - Stoppard wrote the play after these epochs, so clearly he has an understanding of the modern day woman, and could easily introduce Mrs Chater into the play through dialogues as a sort of premenition of the woman of today. (of course not all women are struggling between poisition of randy old tart and feminist icon)
the fact that she never is on stage shows that this type of woman was not present during the 19th Century. Whilst Hannah seems to draw some simillarites with Mrs Chater/ or is like the feminist icon of the 20th Century characters.
Or maybe she is just an comically ironic character as she goes against the principles which society upheld almost uncaringly, which would have been looked down upon in society at this time.
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