FEMINIST READING Thesis: a feminist reading suggests that Evey can only be free of the enslavement of sex-role stereotyping if she confronts and defeats the sexist forces arrayed against her.

Depictions of her as a submissive and weak female: Imagery Dating a man she feels she must date because he has the power (her boss). She later admits she is trapped, feeling she must obey his summons. Ironically he too is trapped by his gender and must hide his sexual preferences. In the opening scene she is a seductress seeking to appeal to a man’s desires. She is armed for “battle” using stereotypical sex role “weapons”. She is dressing for sex appeal whereas the man (V) gets his power from his intimidating costume: knives, mask, cloak.

Camera work Once she goes outside, she is immediately noticed by the authorities. They effortlessly overwhelm her sexual power by attempting to rape her, and the camera reinforces the impressions of her vulnerability She is filmed with a down-angle shot, to make her look even smaller as she huddles on the ground; he is standing and shot with an up-angle, making him seem even taller. He is filmed with light radiating out from behind him, creating a religious association as he “delivers her from evil”

Dialogue The dialogue reflects her weakness and because her circumstances are gender-specific, it is clear that her weakness and his strength are indicative of the prevailing power dynamic. His remarks when he meets her are academic, and hers are facile: he notes that she asks him a foolish question about his identity. His subsequent remarks are very stylized and cleverly crafted; she responds with mono-syllabic remarks. Her name is a derivation of Eve – the original and archetypally weak female, persuaded to give up paradise. Evey recognizes her own strength and growth as a woman not defined by gender roles.

Imagery Once she begins to define her own potential she sees and then confronts the male, gun-toting prison guard. She discovers that he is a statue: he simply looks intimidating. This guard is the embodiment of her fears: the oppression she has felt, once faced, disappears and she is free.

During the release from jail/re-birth scene she is depicted asexually: bald, tawdry clothes, but triumphant spirit. Because she is no longer afraid, she is no longer controlled by the male-dominated forces. She leaves his home even. though it is dangerous; she no longer needs a “protector”.

As he dies, we see that the roles are reversed. He is below and the victim of assault, and she is there to offer him what comfort she can.

Later, she is told by the gun-toting policeman, the archetypal male authority figure, to stop, and she says no. She is defiant and unafraid and, in the final scene, she echoes the words V spoke to her at the beginning: Just before the explosions, she asks Detective Fitch: “Do you like music?” It is she that unleashes the power that brings down the government’s symbol of power : parliament.

Notice the macabre school girl as object of deviant male desire. Even the most “innocent” male (older, priest, would-be rescuer) wants to take advantage of her. Her innocence is made manifest by her little girl costume. Evey wants the male to rescue her but when she realizes that the man not only cannot be counted on, but is a threat in his own right, she strikes him in the seat of his “maleness” and rescues herself.