Overall analysis of The Courtship Of Mr Lyon and The Tiger's Bride

Task 1

Define -

Androgynous; partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex.
Annihilation; complete destruction or obliteration.
Exigencies; an urgent need or demand

What is Bourgeois art ?

It's not a what but a who, it is Louise Bourgeois, who was a French-American sculptor and artist. Born on the 25th December 1911 in Paris, France. She was the child of Josephine Faurlaux and Louis Bourgeois. 

It is believed that the inspiration to her work comes from her childhood experiences, in which she was very aware of her fathers affairs, also her sculptors are link to the dominant power the men had in the times she was growing up.

Some of her works included the Destruction of the Father, this was created in 1974 and is said to be 'a biographical and a psychological exploration of the power dominance of father and his offspring. The piece is a flesh-toned installation in a soft and womb-like room. Made of plaster, latex, wood, fabric, and red light, Destruction of the Father was the first piece in which she used soft materials on a large scale. Upon entering the installation, the viewer stands in the aftermath of a crime. Set in a stylized dining room (with the dual impact of a bedroom), the abstract blob-like children of an overbearing father have rebelled, murdered, and eaten him'
She is said to have many themes that run though her work 'One theme of Bourgeois's work is that of childhood trauma and hidden emotion. After Louise's mother became sick with influenza Louise's father began having affairs with other women, most notably with Sadie, Louise's English tutor. Louise was extremely watchful and aware of the situation. This was the beginning of the artists' engagement with double standards related to gender and sexuality, which was expressed in much of her work. She recalls her father saying "I love you" repeatedly to her mother, despite infidelity. "He was the wolf, and she was the rational hare, forgiving and accepting him as he was." Page text.^[30] Her 1993 work "Cell: You Better Grow Up", part of her "Cell" series, speaks directly to Louise's childhood trauma and the insecurity that surrounded her. 2002's "Give or Take" is defined by hidden emotion, representing the intense dilemma that people face throughout their lives as they attempt to balance the actions of giving and taking. This dilemma is not only represented by the shape of the sculpture, but also the heaviness of the material this piece is made of.

Architecture and memory are important components of Bourgeois' work. In numerous interviews, Louise describes architecture as a visual expression of memory, or memory as a type of architecture. The memory which is featured in much of her work is an invented memory - about the death or exorcism of her father. The imagined memory is interwoven with her real memories including; living across from a slaughterhouse, visiting her father at the front and her father's affair. To Louise her father represented injury and war, aggrandizement of himself and belittlement of others and most importantly a man who represented betrayal. Page text.^[30] Her 1993 work "Cell (Three White Marble Spheres)" speaks to fear and captivity. The mirrors within the present an altered and distorted reality.

Sexuality is undoubtedly one of the most important themes in the work of Louise Bourgeois. The link between sexuality and fragility or insecurity is also powerful. It has been argued that this stems from her childhood memories and her father's affairs. 1952's "Spiral Woman" combines Louise's focus on female sexuality and torture. The flexing leg and arm muscles indicate that the Spiral Woman is still above though she is being suffocated and hung. 1995's "In and Out" uses cold metal materials to link sexuality with anger and perhaps even captivity.'

Task 2

5 sentences 

1. Fairytale contain the parameters of dominance and obedience, women under male dominance and the patriarchal system.

2. Cater use binary opposites in the tale of beauty and the beast, an example being beauty and the beast.

3. The deconstruction masculine and feminine as social gender construction 

4. Carter exposes the sexist and stereotyped traditional construction of femininity.

5. The soul is view as masculine and the body as feminine.

5 words 

1. Patriarchal

2. Binary Opposites 

3. Deconstruction

4. Sexist

5. Masculine/ feminine 

One key phrase or idea 

Cater uses binary opposites to show the patriarchal and sexist society, as well as deconstruction the ideas of masculinity and femininity.

100 word summary

Carter texts contain the ideas of masculinity and femininity, gender stereotypes and a patriarchal ideology, this is also interwoven in to the classic fairy tales in which we tell to children.