May 5, 2011

  • Revisiting Revolutionary Road

    A friend of mine asked me to describe Winslet's character in light of Nora in the Play A Doll's House.   

    http://polymath.xanga.com/697660232/about-revolutionary-road-spoilers/

    They are very different characters, as Nora begins the tale as a matron and responsible stakeholder in the household she lives in - she takes responsibility, and is blamed for her actions.  She illustrates a noble soul in an ignoble condition and circumstance - and that is the intent of the play-write; to illustrate the state of women in such an unhappy circumstance, drawing out the ignominy by using a moderately (yet not extremely) heinous man as a foil to show her character and fortitude - to illustrate the metamorphosis as she escapes the prison that her marriage and culture have created - a cage that might outwardly appear gilded, yet inwardly stultifying.
    Contrast:
    Winslet's character enters the tale as a woman with dreams - she desires to be an actress and live a life of glamour and freedom - fame and celebrity.  It is in the wake of her failure to ignite the stage that she and di Caprio begin a family that becomes increasingly founded on his success as a Sales/Marketing executive.  She becomes gradually stifled in the midst of her role as a housewife - mother - no longer able to dream with diCaprio of a life that they both enjoy - he becomes attached to the rank and rewards of a stable job and a role at work.
    They are both with their flaws... his heart isn't devoted to her, and neither is her heart to him...  They are growing apart - but it's different from the apart that is shown in a Doll's House.  This is the apart from diverging values - diverging dreams and desires.  He wants status quo and stability - with perhaps a dash of infidelity's "spice".  
     
    She wants a return to the dreams of youth - perhaps of a life where she is cherished, and not just a part of diCaprio's life.  
    She is, thus, a very different character from Nora - really, undergoing a period where she wants something else and wants to redefine her life - and to return to something she once sought - as opposed to Nora, who is forced by the pressures of her situation, is, in a sense, forced to reassess what drives her.
     
    Both characters share that metamorphosis; but Winslet's character leaves me with the sense of willfulness - of a pressured caprice - whereas Nora leaves me more of a sense of "I've had enough"... the resolution of a matron, not a girl.

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