Raise The Red Lantern

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 12th grade February 2008

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As I watched "Raise the Red Lantern" traditions and cultures were strongly emphasized on the destruction of the protagonist. I decided to write my response about "The cultural role of customs and tradition. Songlian the protagonist quits college after her father's death and sold to the Chen family by her stepmother. She enters the enormous gates and walls of the Chen household. These two structures symbolized the culture of how women would never endeavor further on of the surround walls of the Palace, supposed to protect the women from the hardship of the outside world. The women's cultural role was to satisfy and provide there husbands. The foundation of this system would be from Confucius.

"In childhood, before marriage obey your father In adulthood, during marriage, obey your husband In widowhood, after marriage, obey the son." Songlian is cared for similar to royalty with foot massages and aid of the servants.

As master Chen starts to adore Songlian's small feet and talks about how women's feet should feel more at ease to better serve the husband. Historically, the Chinese culture believed that the smaller a women's feet, the smaller her vagina. Therefore, higher class figures are attracted to women with smaller feet. Every evening, a red lantern is lit in front of the mistress' house Chen decides to sleep with. Culturally and traditionally the color "red" represents joy or festive event. As I continued watching the movie, I've noticed the master's relationship between each mistress is strictly sexual and the mistresses are constantly against among each other to attaining the master's affection. Later, Songlian figures out her true enemy is the second mistress by finding a voodoo doll in her servant's room. Songlian retaliated by announcing her pregnancy to the household. Traditionally, Women's concerns were in areas...