The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)

The Pygmalion myth as told by Ovid gave rise to a literary tradition that cinema sought to eternalize in films such as Pygmalion et Galathée (Méliès, 1898), Funny Face (Donen, 1957), etc. In these, normally the female is submissive to the male. The same premise may also be indirectly found in Anton...

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Main Author: Sílvia Catarina Pereira Diogo
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Universidade da Madeira (UMa) 2024-11-01
Series:Cinema & Território
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Online Access:https://ct-journal.uma.pt/article/view/34875
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author Sílvia Catarina Pereira Diogo
author_facet Sílvia Catarina Pereira Diogo
author_sort Sílvia Catarina Pereira Diogo
collection DOAJ
description The Pygmalion myth as told by Ovid gave rise to a literary tradition that cinema sought to eternalize in films such as Pygmalion et Galathée (Méliès, 1898), Funny Face (Donen, 1957), etc. In these, normally the female is submissive to the male. The same premise may also be indirectly found in Antonioni’s Identificazione di una Donna (1982), but under a different concoction. Instead of adopting a submissive stance towards Niccolò, Mavi, the ad hoc Galatea, is seen as a passive character in the way that she does behave uninterested towards loving Niccolò, the Pygmalion figure. This poise is characteristic of the typical ennui that permeates female characters in Antonioni’s films. This paper attempts to intersect the dramatis personae of the Ovidian myth with characters Niccolò and Mavi from Antonioni’s film and provide further analysis on the possibility of Mavi becoming a powerhouse for the liberation of the ivory damsel in contemporary narratives. Whilst conditioned to a specific environment of Antiquity, Ovid’s ivory jeune is set to behave according to what is expected of her — a voiceless extension of Pygmalion. Conversely, when exposed to contemporary metaliterary media, the ivory damsel can set free and rebel against a dominant male taxonomy.
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spelling doaj-art-96eb7a604dc4493dacb6f0ef162449a32025-08-20T02:06:12ZdeuUniversidade da Madeira (UMa)Cinema & Território2183-79022024-11-011910.34640/ct9uma2024diogoThe ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)Sílvia Catarina Pereira Diogo The Pygmalion myth as told by Ovid gave rise to a literary tradition that cinema sought to eternalize in films such as Pygmalion et Galathée (Méliès, 1898), Funny Face (Donen, 1957), etc. In these, normally the female is submissive to the male. The same premise may also be indirectly found in Antonioni’s Identificazione di una Donna (1982), but under a different concoction. Instead of adopting a submissive stance towards Niccolò, Mavi, the ad hoc Galatea, is seen as a passive character in the way that she does behave uninterested towards loving Niccolò, the Pygmalion figure. This poise is characteristic of the typical ennui that permeates female characters in Antonioni’s films. This paper attempts to intersect the dramatis personae of the Ovidian myth with characters Niccolò and Mavi from Antonioni’s film and provide further analysis on the possibility of Mavi becoming a powerhouse for the liberation of the ivory damsel in contemporary narratives. Whilst conditioned to a specific environment of Antiquity, Ovid’s ivory jeune is set to behave according to what is expected of her — a voiceless extension of Pygmalion. Conversely, when exposed to contemporary metaliterary media, the ivory damsel can set free and rebel against a dominant male taxonomy. https://ct-journal.uma.pt/article/view/34875Pygmalion mythMichelangelo AntonioniOvidfemale emancipation
spellingShingle Sílvia Catarina Pereira Diogo
The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)
Cinema & Território
Pygmalion myth
Michelangelo Antonioni
Ovid
female emancipation
title The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)
title_full The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)
title_fullStr The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)
title_full_unstemmed The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)
title_short The ivory damsel is bored: changing female dynamics for the Ovidian Galatea in Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Identificazione di una Donna" (1982)
title_sort ivory damsel is bored changing female dynamics for the ovidian galatea in michelangelo antonioni s identificazione di una donna 1982
topic Pygmalion myth
Michelangelo Antonioni
Ovid
female emancipation
url https://ct-journal.uma.pt/article/view/34875
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