Carmen and Madame Butterfly
Carmen lives only for sensuality. She goes from one man to another. Carmen knows that she is free to stop relationships if she does not love the man anymore and that is fine, because the way she was raised allows her to act that was. She is an independent Gypsy woman. People of Gypsy culture are open-minded and willful. In the culture of the nineteenth century female Gypsies are characterized as strong, free-spirited, extraordinary, and arrogant. The romantic spirit of a Gypsy is considered absolutely apposite to what a usual European woman is supposed to be. Women in “Carmen” represented as very active members of society.
In our time Carmen is no longer viewed as an immoral and slutty female, who mercilessly destroyed the life of an innocent soldier. She is represented more as a woman, which who is murdered by a crazy and jealous lover (Fisher, 2005). “On the one hand Carmen is dishonest, unruly, promiscuous, unsentimental, brash, vicious, and callous, a woman who discards men like picked flowers, yet on the other hand, she is vivacious, energetic, enterprising resourceful, and indomitable” (Fisher, 2005). The only part of her character, which would never change is independence and love for freedom.
Carmen has unremitting passion for being independent. She enjoys her freedom, and she is always the huntress. Don Jose becomes her doomed prey in this story. They both are very different in culture, attitude, and even their jobs. Jose is more civilized and stands at a higher level in society than Carmen, but it does not stop her from being the leading figure in their relationships. She is the first to make Jose go crazy about. She made him easily fall in love with her, and then she expected him to easily leave her alone.
Butterfly is not a prima donna. She is described as a modest and sensitive person, who would do everything for her man. She is the last one to finds out everything about her lover’s unfaithfulness, and it can be justified by the blindness from
In our time Carmen is no longer viewed as an immoral and slutty female, who mercilessly destroyed the life of an innocent soldier. She is represented more as a woman, which who is murdered by a crazy and jealous lover (Fisher, 2005). “On the one hand Carmen is dishonest, unruly, promiscuous, unsentimental, brash, vicious, and callous, a woman who discards men like picked flowers, yet on the other hand, she is vivacious, energetic, enterprising resourceful, and indomitable” (Fisher, 2005). The only part of her character, which would never change is independence and love for freedom.
Carmen has unremitting passion for being independent. She enjoys her freedom, and she is always the huntress. Don Jose becomes her doomed prey in this story. They both are very different in culture, attitude, and even their jobs. Jose is more civilized and stands at a higher level in society than Carmen, but it does not stop her from being the leading figure in their relationships. She is the first to make Jose go crazy about. She made him easily fall in love with her, and then she expected him to easily leave her alone.
Butterfly is not a prima donna. She is described as a modest and sensitive person, who would do everything for her man. She is the last one to finds out everything about her lover’s unfaithfulness, and it can be justified by the blindness from
References: Fisher B. (2005, January 1). Bizet’s Carmen. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=jrO0vMPNFEkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Chan M. (1990, April 29). Asian Voices in English. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=WSx_6K2R7UAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Wisenthal J. (2006, November 6). A Vision of the Orient. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=4EZZ810WwiAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false