Orlando Gender Roles Essay

Gender Roles: A Cultural Phenomenon Gender roles have been in the spotlight lately throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but gender role issues have been a prominent problem for countless years in many different societies around the world. One work of art that highlights gender roles is the film Orlando (1992), which was directed by Sally Potter and adapted from Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando. Woolf’s Orlando was published in 1928 and tells a tale where the plot spans over 300 years to show case gender bending throughout history. While critics claim that Orlando remains the same person when he changes into a woman, he in fact develops a whole new personality and different way of seeing the world when he is female through the use of parallelism seen from Orlando living as a male versus living the life of a female.
In Orlando, there are several time changes ranging from the 1600’s up to the 1900’s within England.
There is a young man named Orlando who changes sex half way through the film (in the 1700’s) to represent how women are treated as incomplete characters that need men to fulfill their destinies, but eventually female Orlando and others find their own free will (Dowell 16).
There is one aspect of two scenes where this is demonstrated within the film; once early on in the film when Orlando is still male and once later on in the film when Orlando is female. This parallel shows how Orlando is a different person when male and female; the outcomes are both very different when seen through a male’s perspective versus a female’s perspective. Although Orlando embodies both the male and the female sex within these scenes, the meaning of the scene itself remains
constant.
At around twenty-nine minutes of the film, Orlando is officially rejected by Princess Sasha when she does not show up on the bridge at midnight to meet him like Orlando had instructed. Shortly before this scene takes place, the audience learns that Orlando is arranged to marry another women, but due to his constant flirting with Princess Sasha, his fiancée breaks off the engagement and states,” The treachery of men (Orlando).” This statement from Orlando’s ex-fiancée becomes important to the irony and parallelism seen between the different gender role relationships throughout the film. In saying that, the next few scenes show the dynamic between Princess Sasha and Orlando; he tells her that she must run away with him and that “a man must follow his heart (Orlando),” however, a woman is not so much inclined to follow her heart. Orlando had decided for the both of them what they would be doing, instead of letting Sasha have her input which shows the audience how a society in 1610 was most likely perceived as male dominated.
But, as stated earlier, Sasha defies the social norm of being completed by a male figure- whether it be a father or husband- and makes her own choice of going back to Russia for herself which in turn leaves Orlando to state, “The treachery of women.” This statement is ironic because only a few short moments earlier, Orlando’s ex-fiancée felt the same exact way when Orlando had betrayed her trust and left her for Princess Sasha, but when the tables are turned and he’s the one being left behind, it becomes an issue. This is one example of parallelism that’s seen within the film because the audience is given the same scenario but from different perspectives; one from a female’s point of view and one from a male’s point of view. This is significant because it shows the clear distinction between the gender roles of the time.
At the very end of this scene when Orlando has realized that Princess Sasha has left for good, the sky opens up and it starts pouring rain. This rain is symbolic of purity