Analysis Of Doan Tuyet, By Nhat Linh

Thus, traditional feminine norms trapped and limited women to reach their full potential. Since the colonial period, “Women are figured as property belonging to men and hence as lying, by definition outside the male contests over land, money and political power” (McClintock 31). Women are viewed as an object or a currency rather than a human beings. In the post-colonial story Doan Tuyet, written by Nhat Linh, the main female character, Loan, was described as a beautiful and educated lady. However, she was bounded by the traditional feminine values to reach her full potentials. To Loan’s mother, she was used as a form of payment to pay off the debt. To Loan’s in-law family, she was no less than a leech. In fact, Loan had a lot of potential,
Contradicted to the feminine images of Suong and Nuong, he was showed as a strong, independent, and brave character. For example, near the end of the film, after finding out how Suong was tricked to provide sexual services to the man who pretended to be a police officer, Dien went after the group of men to take revenge for Suong and eventually risked his life in the act. While female characters were portrayed as someone who accepted their fate and move on with their life, the male characters were given the abilities to fight for what they believed in even if it costs their
Although this sort of exchange is illegal in Vietnam, the rules were not strict enough to prevent the practices and was often overlook by the authorities because it brought profit and had huge impact on the economic growth. Vietnamese women were exoticized and exploited from the colonialism era to the modern world. Under French colonial, women exoticized in the form of colonial postcard which was a “representation of one culture for consumption by another” (Nguyen-Vo). They used it as a way to demonstrate the power over the colony. These postcard often had image with Vietnamese women in traditional clothings with revealing poses and seems to be inviting foreigners to