Daron Markarian
Professor Shahmiri
English 114B
16 April 2014
Article Quote Outline
“Heterosexual encounters like the rapes, the record store m´enage `a trois, and the mud
wrestling finale are portrayed as less erotically cathected than, for example, the fight
between Alex and his droogs and Billy Boy’s gang, or Alex’s post-Ludovico beatings”
(DeRosia 64).
McDougal is emphasizing the lack of affection shown towards women in a Clockwork Orange in
this quote. He says that the rape scenes and the those scenes which involve Alex DeLarge’s
encounters with women are praised with less significance in the film compared to Alex’s
encounters with his fellow droogs when they fight and the other harassment situations on men
that he is part of.
“Thus the film maintains an ambivalent relation to women, sustaining their presence as
objects of desire while debasing and denying them all subjectivity” (DeRosia 64).
This quote is another example of how masculinity is favored in a Clockwork Orange. McDougal
describes women as objects and reduces their dignity and significance in the story. This quote
can help me prove my point on how gender and sexuality is one of the most powerful if not the
most powerful theme in a Clockwork Orange.
“Alex’s classically masculine posture and narrative authority can only be achieved by
placing him in a room full of “lifeless” women and frozen, silent men” (DeRosia 67).
Here, McDougal suggests that the only time Alex gains authority as a narrator for the story is
when he is in the milkbar with his fellow droogs and the tables are naked women manikins. This
is significant because it seems as if in this “realm” that Alex is in seems to portray him as a man
of power. The main focus during the movie in this clip is ideally Alex and the cinematography
supports it. This could be a good quote if I were to analyze Alex DeLarge as a character in a
Clockwork Orange.
“In the second half of A Clockwork Orange, Alex is isolated, punished, and physically and
psychologically tortured during and after the Ludovicio treatment” (DeRosia 73).
Government abuse is a theme that can be explored in A Clockwork Orange and this quote can
help support it. McDougal admits that when Alex is taken in by the prison for treatment he is
tortured in all possible ways. This can also abide with the psychological conditioning theme
presented in the movie as well, since the treatment happens to have significant and disturbing
results on Alex.
“In one scene, Dr. Brannon enigmatically and menacingly explains to Alex that he feels sick
during the films because he is getting better” (DeRosia 77).
This quote can help identify the significant change in gender roles throughout the film. In the
beginning of the movie women were portrayed to be weak and just as desirable objects. As the
movie progresses a powerful character, which is a woman, Dr. Brannon appears and is one of the
main contributors to Alex’s treatment. I can use this quote to talk about feminism strives over
masculinity towards the end of the movie.
Works Cited
DeRosia, Margaret. “An Erotics of Violence: Masculinity and (Homo)Sexuality in Stanley
Kubrick’s IA Clockwork Orange” Stanley Kubrick’s a Clockwork Orange, (2003): 61-84