A Study On Female Images In Western Women's Films Under The Theme Of Revenge

The discussion about the literary images of revenging women dates back to a very early beginning. Examples abound from studies on Clytemnestra to that about the 'mad woman in the attic', from papers on traditional Hollywood movies to that about more feministic women's genres. The discussion has never dwindled, rather, it has brought in more vitality since the emergence of modern films. Under such light, the thesis is trying to examine the following relevant questions: How diversified are those women's images in different films under the theme of revenge? Is there any common archetype for these images? How does a women's film about women's revenge showcase such characters that derive from the archetype? What impact will these films bring to the overall women's images and the development of feminisms?The thesis discovers connections between these female images and the 'prisoner' in Plato's Cave Allegory. A prisoner that gets rid of the trains and bids farewell to the cave is the archetype of the women's in women's films under the theme of revenge. The film Thelma & Louise is such a representative film, and when examined under the Cave Allegory, is a feminist narrative of women who are forced to leave the cave and pledge a never-return journey. It offers an independent and non-compromising female image and a liberal feminist inspiration in the context of its birth amidst the "backlash" of the males and "postfeminism" since 1980 in western countries.