The Image of Women in the Works of Martin Scorsese (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Bamberg, course: Der Regisseur Martin Scorsese, language: English, abstract: The goal of this work is to examine the image of women conveyed in Martin Scorsese's movies and to enter into whether women only fulfill the function of a man's accessory or if they hold a far more central position in Scorsese's works. How dominant are the female characters really?

To outline a theoretical basis the author will attend to Martin Scorsese as a film maker in general but also investigate in detail his relationship with women. In addition, the main features of a feminist film theory will be elucidated. Afterwards, the image of women respectively from "Casino" (1995) and "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) will be discussed. The development of the female as well as of the male characters will be analyzed.

Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese is known to reuse certain aesthetics, character traits and imagery in his movies. Religious symbols for instance can be found in virtually every one of his works. What also stands out is the depiction of women in Martin Scorsese pictures. Next to the usually as dominant portrayed protagonist, the female characters often times feel like an appendage to the male lead. It is portrayals like these, at least superficially, which give the impression of suppressed female figures in Scorsese's movies. Quite commonly, this suppression even manifests in violent outbursts of the protagonists. But this understanding of Scorsese's women is too trivial.