or us to hang ourselves in that room..."It is not Songlian's life though that ends in "that room", but that of the vivacious third concubine, a former opera singer. She dies a violent death, and, ironically, it is Songlian who betrays her, when, under the influence of alcohol, she unintentionally gives away the secret of a love relationship between the singer and the doctor.When she is conscious again, Songlian has to accept the fact that this way to exit from an unwanted stage can't be considered either. Now she has no other choice than to escape into madness - quite a radical way to cut herself off from the life that surrounds her. In consequence, at the end of the film we just see her wandering around aimlessly, lost in an endless to-and-fro across an empty courtyard that the raised red lanterns in front of the concubines' houses illuminate senselessly.In the text Ward had quoted, I have taken a female perspective; treating women as political actors who employs strategies to achieve ends. Women’s strategies are directly related to the structure of power and authority in the domestic group and to a woman’s position with relation to the developmental cycle…Women quarrel with or dominate other women when it is n their interest to do so; they share and exchange with other women when it suits their own goals. Cooperation and conflict among women in family or in-groups cannot be understood without references to domestic power structure, to women’s place within it, and to the factors that shape the relationship between the family and the larger society. (Lamphere1972: 111)Within days of her arrival, Songlian’s relationships with her “sisters” are established. The first wife an aging woman with a grown son, does her best to ignore Songlian’s presence. The third concubine, beautiful ex-opera singer, is fiercely jealous of Songlian, worried that the master will find his new wife enticing. On...
