Where females were the offenders, the emotional and irrational nature of the crime were outlined whereas for males the violence was made to seem ‘normal.’ Words such as ‘unnatural’ ‘unfeminine’ and ‘sadistic’ are boldly written in newspaper headlines when describing crimes committed by females, their appearances and lifestyles, unlike their male counterparts, are also of major interest. Eric Hickey (Magma, 2002) speaks of female killers and describes them, "These are the quiet killers, every bit as lethal as their male counterparts, but we are seldom aware of them in our midst because of the low visibility of their killing." Tracie Andrews is a former glamour model that was jailed for life for stabbing her fiancé Lee Harvey with a penknife. Andrews appealed for witnesses to come forward as she insisted her partner had been the victim of a road rage incident. At the time of the murder the main focus of the newspapers were on Tracie’s physical appearance (Marsh and Melville, 2009) with headlines such as ‘former model Tracy Andrews’ and ‘blonde Tracy Andrews’ the Sun newspaper also had the headline ‘Death Quiz Tracy in Glamour Poses’ subsequent to her arrest for the murder.
These men are usually paired with a nurturing female character. A private eye appears in many police procedural Film Noirs where he can also be trapped by the femme fatale. The private eye may be a protagonist, male victims, or a damaged man also. A psychopath is usually a male criminal that deceives everyone. Humphrey Bogart’s Dixon Steele appearing in In a Lonely Place, comes to mind as an example.
This gave an impression of deception, with disguise and confusion surrounding her, which in turn making her an ambiguous figure. Also notable in the noir era was the fact that the fatale had no family and no close female friends-she was alone, she carried no baggage. At the end of all noir films, the fatale was always contained/punished in some way, but as we know, this was to change in the neo noir period, as I will explain later on. The main desire was for money “ she would deploy false promises of romantic permanence to secure a commitment to the crime from the male. Then we come to the femme fatale of the neo noir period.
"Who done it?" The persistent quest for bringing a perpetrator of a vile crime (usually involving murder) to justice has become the definition of the detective story. The question of "who done it" keeps challenging all kinds of detectives in novels, stories, and films, not to mention their audience, proving to be one of the most enduring, and most popular genres of fiction ever created. All eyes are on the detective, the main protagonist, through whom the story is told either as a first-person narrator or in the third person as portrayed by the author. We depend on him to guide us through this puzzling journey; but not all detectives use the same routes.
He has odd obsessions and habits, which in turn allows the audience to somewhat comprehend the motive for the crime. He fits the mold for the typical crime fiction criminal. * There is no formal detective, but the father (Jack), and daughter (Lindsey) take this role. * One questions the real criminal, when multiple moral crimes come to the surface. * The ‘detectives’ (Jack & Lindsey), are far from the conventional detective, and hence allows the audience to only be subconsciously aware that the text revolves around a crime and that of the crime genre.
Within the macrosystem of the police force, the qualities of power and control are aspects of patriarchal masculinity which attributes to the root cause of physical and verbal violence. This is seen in the treatment of feminine police officers and the stigma towards homosexuals both in law enforcement and
One of the most important lines in the play, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Trifles 1339) is a representation of the message which Glaspell intended to portray. That line contains the first comment which the audience sees as negative toward women. This type of degradation toward women is displayed throughout the entire play. The aforementioned line also contains irony because what the men see as “trifles”, the women use to solve the murder of Mr. Wright. Glaspell creates more irony by using the men’s degrading remarks towards the women; for example, the county attorney makes the comment that “a sheriff’s wife is married to the law” (1344).
Both of these writers includ women as an element of their Gothic fiction, but they are used in contrasting fashions. In the Gothic genre, women are often times portrayed as either oppressed by a tyrannical masculine character, or in a forced position to make a tough decision. The former is the case in “The Black Cat,” although the beginning of the story makes it seem otherwise. This is exemplified by the narrator when he states, I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife.
A phrase that is often associated with serial murderers is "cold-hearted," yet Aileen Wuornos was anything but. In fact, it was her quest for the love that had eluded her all of her life that led to her commit her undeniably horrendous acts. One can spend countless hours searching for and ruminating on possible reasons that led Aileen to the achieved status of "serial murderer." Though one may
It is inevitable as death. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is no exception to this rancid portrayal of women. Though they may seem ignorant of all the corruption around them, women are still responsible for the corruption throughout the play. Gertrude and Ophelia are both manipulative characters that entice men around them and ultimately become the motivation for all of the tragic events throughout the play. Despite the general opinion that “Hamlet” contains the weakest women in Shakespeare’s works, the unraveling of the main plot can only be attributed to them.