Failures at Conventional Married Life Failures in Wooing the Feminine Women in The Tramp and One Week
Both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are often heralded as cinematiccomedic pioneers. However, in both of these comedian's short films,entitled "The Tramp" and "One Week," each comedian makes use of commonstereotypes of women, and also of common stereotypes of romanticrelationships between men and women, to illustrate their comedic creations'personality deviations from the conventional masculine roles of domesticsuccess. Both men in the two films function as failures in the domesticrealm. This parallels their failures in conventional life and successes atcomedic life. At the end of both films, rejections of conventionaldomesticity and the feminine become symbolic of these men's failures atconventional, masculine life, but also of their success in the world-upsidedown comedic, even heroic realm, of unconventional physical prowess and This is not to deny the groundbreaking efforts of both comedians.Surely, one of the seminal works of early comedy cinema is undoubtedlyCharlie Chaplin's 1915 short film "The Tramp" because of its introductionof Chaplin's famous persona, The Little Tramp. As is indicative of thefilm's title, this story sets the tone and theme of almost all of
But because of the tramp's willingness to trust he finds a morepermanent source of sustenance. Eventually the girls' fianceemakes an appearance, a man who is suited to life on the farm. However, evenafter he saves the girl again from ravaging tramps, Chaplin's characterknows he has no place on the farm and no knowledge of how to work in thepure environment of nature. He gains sustenance in the form offemale beauty and purity. Keaton's failure to adjust toa home built from a kit speaks well rather than ill of him-his inability tobe a 'Mr. The girl represents all the tramp mustreject because of his essential nature-food, love, and the comforts ofhome. However, Keaton draws the audience's sympathy as well because of theunattractive nature of his wife and of the unequal relationship between thecouple. Ultimately, although one female emerges as idealized and the otherdeflated, both women in both short films exist not as characters, but asways of stressing the more attractive elements of the male protagonist'scomedic creations at the woman's expense. She is not abad girl and never makes a promise of love and devotion to the tramp. He cannot milk a cow and make food. Just as Chaplain's farm girl acts as a foil for all the tramplacks in his life, Keaton's wife is a foil whom highlights the commodifiednature of modern women and modern domesticity-the woman who wants everyconvenience and subjects her husband to all sorts of indignities in doingso. First of all, she begins the film not as aninnocent virgin, but as a married woman, married to the centralprotagonist. The girl really has no identity and desire of her own. The film "One Week," like "The Tramp," revolves around the theme ofdomesticity and building a home.
Common topics in this essay:
Tramp Week,
Little Tramp,
Unlike Chaplin's,
Buster Keaton's,
Charlie Chaplin's,
Buster Keaton,
Week Tramp,
failures conventional,
sandwich brick,
sandwich brick tramp,
life farm,
farm girl,
conventional masculine,
film week,
audience's sympathy,
chaplin's tramp,
represents tramp,
chaplin's character,
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Acceptance Essays
