Women are always suppressed in the patriarchal society. No matter what stages of life they are in, they have to live under authority. Before marriage, they have to strictly follow the words of their fathers, the head of the family. After marriage, they become the belongings of their husbands. Men have supreme power over women. Women don’t have freedom to choose their own way of life. As a matter of fact, not only their actions are bound by tradition but also thoughts. For those traditional women, they dare not think of gaining freedom. Unlike traditional women, New Woman, tend to free from the convention and pursue their goals in life. In this essay, I will examine the portrayal of New Woman image in the film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

To Jen, domestic life represents a prison. Her expressing of the identical everyday life to Shu Lien shows her disappointment and unwillingness to remain in the same state for a whole life. Jen, as a New Woman, is suppressed in the patriarchal society. This can be easily seen from the conversation between Jen and Shu Lien. Jen’s chatting with Shu lien in their first meeting can partially reveal boredom and lack of chances to air. Jen looks for her self in reading novels. Her reading novels about fighters intensifies her passion to gain freedom which has been deprived since she was born. Jen’s wanting to get rid of boring life and her seeking of excitement that the patriarchal society almost never provides become her driving force to break the chains in the contemporary society. Jen’s attitude towards people is apathetic. Yet, owing to Shu Lien’s identity of a member of the Giang Hu world; Jen treats her well. Her matching of the plot from the novels to the experience of Shu Lien in Giang Hu can explain Jen’s behavior. Her wanting to actualize the dreams of becoming the heroines es who are always very free in the novels makes her close to Shu Lien. To Jen, Shu Lien is her friend but more importantly; the source of information about Giang Hu world where she longs for entering. Apart from getting the idea of freedom from novels, Jen obtains them from her master, Jade Fox. Her transmitting of message about the freedom and excitement of Giang Hu lifestyle stimulates Jen. It also makes Jen long for doing whatever she wants and going to wherever she likes in Giang Hu.

An individual and significance of the contemporary society is a formative influence on one’s life .Jade Fox’s persuading Jen not to waste life as being the wife of some bureaucrats will deny her talent helps seduce Jen to run away from home and escape from marriage. Jen’s thirst for entering the Giang Hu underworld partially lies in the Giang Hu tale from Jade Fox. In fact, her dreaming to enter the Giang Hu underworld which, she thinks, are without rules can reveal her vigorous desire to escape from the constraints in the patriarchal society. Jen’s dream world is a place where there is free of rules. As a New Woman, she aspires after freedom and waits for the chances to actualize her dream.

Jen has to hide her own self in the patriarchal society. Jen’s hidden, yet genuine deposition is revealed when she is away from home or not under the supervision of her parents. Jen is a rebellious bone. She is wild in nature. Her fighting with Mu Bai, a famous warrior and her chasing of Lo, a bandit in a desert and her beating down a gang of male fighters show her pride and willingness to triumph over men. Unlike the traditional women, Jen, as a New Woman, believes that women can be brighter than men who are not required to prove that they are fit to be trusted with absolute power. Jen searches for a place in the patriarchal society. Her knowing of Mu Bai’s power doesn’t make her admit that she is inferior to him since it is against her philosophy that women can be stronger than men. Instead, she continues challenging Mu Bai and even claims that Mu Bai is defeated by her. Jen’s dressing in man like to enter the Giang Hu underworld reveals that she understands that Giang Hu is, in fact, also a man dominated world. Only if she is in disguise, she can avoid troubles. Giang Hu where Jen thinks that is free of rules, in fact, has plethora of rules: friendship, trust, integrity. Jen’s neglecting of the rules brings her many troubles.

Her indifference towards the members of Giang Hu and her despising of them anger the people. In the fighting between tens of male fighters and Jen, Jen’s long suppressed discontent towards male; in fact, the structure of and the sex discrimination in the patriarchal society as a whole, is released. Her beating down of all males inside the inn shows that her ability is much higher than men. The faint of Jen’s mother and Jens’ chasing of Lo shows a great contrast between a weak traditional woman and a strong New Woman.

Her chasing of Lo for getting back the comb can be a rigid proof that she never wants to be defeated by men despite the fact that she is supposed to be defeated in the patriarchal society. It also reveals that she always has an aversion to being treated unfairly. Jen’s not giving a thank to Lo for saving her life twice and her attacking Lo tells us that she will always seize the chance to get back what she, in fact, has possessed and should possess. Being governor Yu’s daughter, she can get a new comb whenever she wants. Her trying to get back the comb, actually, symbolizes that she will also do the same for gaining freedom which all human in spite of their sexes should possess. Being a New Woman, she is not afraid of man; even if they are strong men like Lo, Dark Cloud in the desert.

Jen, as a New Woman, has an open attitude towards sex. As all we know, virginity is of the utmost important to women. Only if they are married, they can have sex with men, their husbands. In the contemporary society, men and women even always avoid body contact. All of them have to observe the rules. As a New Woman, Jen has advanced thinking and thus she challenges the moral rules by having sex with Lo. Her having a chance to be drowned to death as a punishment of committed adultery doesn’t scare her. Her taking initiative of having sex with Lo suggests that even facing the one whom she loves; she wants to be active but not passive. It also suggests that she doesn’t want to be governed by anyone or anything. She dreams to be the master of her own life.

Jen, as a New Woman, has different attitude towards love and marriage. Jen has independent thinking which can hardly be seen from traditional women. Her will of choosing her own lover, her own way of life makes the New Woman image more explicit. To traditional women like Shu Lien, love is the final destination; marriage is the most important step in a woman’s life. Having chances to enter powerful noble family is fortunate to conventional women but not Jen, the New Woman. Her knowing of having the same life after marriage suggests that Jen knows that getting free from authoritarianism in the patriarchal society is difficult. Marriage only transfers her from one place to another place where rules still exist and freedom is still deprived. Jen will still be bound in the domestic sphere. Her understanding of men’s privilege of exercising power in a family deters her from getting married with Lo, the one whom she chooses and loves. Her knowing of the impossibility to escape from authority in the marriage in the patriarchal society makes her choose career, wandering in Giang Hu. Unlike the conventional women, freedom is the final destination for Jen. To Jen, freedom outweighs love and marriage.

Being a New Woman, Jen’s knowing the difficulty she will come across in a man dominated underworld drives her to steal the Green Destiny, an excellent sword again. Being a New Woman can be very difficult as people can’t accept her not observing rules. The Green Destiny is a kind of assistance to help Jen to live under adversity in the patriarchal society. This can explain why she risks her life and dives into the lake for getting back the Green Destiny which helps her defeat many males. With the Green Destiny, Jen, as a New Woman, can surpass most of the male in skills in the Giang Hu underworld. Her struggle and longing for getting a place in the patriarchal society reveals her suppression in and discontent towards the patriarchal society.

All in all, Ang Lee’s portrayal of New Woman image in this movie is very successful. The film ends with Jen’s jumping from Wudan Mountain symbolizes Jen’s seizing freedom, the way she wants.. Jen, as a New Woman, can eventually actualize her dream. Jen is free from authority, responsibility and rules. She is wild in nature and she belongs to nature. The ending scene also symbolizes hope as Jen breaks the chains of convention and can start a new life. As a New Woman, she can master her life!

(1530 words)