earticle

영어

As the early 20th century in America was on the revolution in sex and morals, the traditional Victorian feminity and masculinity had been redefined newly. In these environments, E. M. Hull's romance novel, The Sheik(1919) and the movie which was named after the novel(1921) represented a new cultural phenomenon. Rudolph valentino, an immigrant from Italy, featured in the movie, which made him an popular matinee idol. Varied and enthusiastic responses of American society to the novel and the movie showed that gender, sexuality and race had been disturbed and reconstructed in this era. Especially, the narrative of some primitive and romantic love leading to happy marriage meant that the concept of more egalitarian and heterosexual marriage was made up and admitted in the 20th century American society. Therefore, it is necessarg to examine the novel and the movie as important cultural texts and representations showing dynamics of gender and sexuality in the era. The genre of romance has been supported by lots of women from the 18th century when the ideal of love marriage emerged in the Western culture. It is not conclusive that the romance brings the instant equality and freedom to women because of its complicated and contradictory messages. However, the romance embodies some subversive desire to rearrange the existing patriarchy and exercise some power inside the system of women. The love story made consistently and newly in the specific historical conditions reflects slow but clear changes although it seems to offer women fleeting rest and fantasy.