Cradle of Filth singer Daniel Lloyd Davey repeatedly referred to the lyrics of his texts as “dark fairy tales” in interviews. As song-titles such as “Devil Woman”, and “Nymphetamine“ or album titles, such as “Cruelty and the Beast” imply, one of the central themes in the band’s lyrics are monstrous women, often possessing supernatural powers, such as witches, nymphs, or vampires.
This paper will analyse the way women and the topic of love are presented in Cradle of Filth texts and argue that by de-humanzing women and inverting traditional gender roles, women are presented as monstrous creatures to whom men are subordinate. Love is depicted as a dependency that men cannot escape. Furthermore the paper will show in what way the dehumanisation of women operates and critically discuss to what degree this undermines or confirms patriarchal gender ideologies.
According to Eckstein, song lyrics cannot be studied without taking sonic and videographic aspects into account: "Lyrics and poetry are similar; they both employ verbal language, often using characteristic rhetorical and stylistic devices, to tell tales (in the ballad tradition), to propose ideas about life and the world, sometimes to illustrate the limits of language in negotiations between 'subject' and 'world' [...]. Yet they are also different in at least one respect: while the voice in poetry is generally perceived as an internalised one encoded in the medium of writing, the voice of lyrics is by definition external. Lyrics, this is to say, cannot be conceived outside of the context of their vocal (and musical) actualisation - i.e. their performance".
The primary material of the analysis will be the lyrics of Cradle of Filth’s songs Nymphetamine and Gabrielle in conjunction with the musical realisation of both songs. Furthermore, aspects of the official music video of Nymphetamine and the album cover of "Darkly, Darkly Venus Aversa" are taken into account.
The different media will be related and contrasted to each other and the meaning potential analysed. For the textual analysis, a close reading combined with a gender perspective were chosen as critical approaches and were supplemented by interdisciplinary theories about the representation of monsters and monstrous women in particular. Though the core of the analysis is based on literary criticism, concepts of musicology and cultural studies are taken into account and discussed together with the textual analysis.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Introduction
- The symbolism of monstrous women
- The role of women in patriarchal society
- The function of monstrosity in popular culture
- Monstrous women
- The depiction of women and love in Cradle of Filth's Nymphetamine Fix
- Close reading and interpretation of the lyrics
- Gender roles
- Analysis of sonic aspects in conjunction with the music video
- The meaning potential of the sound and visual symbols
- The structure of the video as a mode of dissociation from the lyric persona
- The depiction of women and love in Cradle of Filth's Gabrielle
- Close reading and interpretation of the lyrics
- Gender reading
- Analysis and interpretation of sonic aspects
- Analysis of the album cover of Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa
- Intermedial references to Lilith
- Analysis of the album cover
- Conclusion
- Annex
- Nymphetamine Fix Lyrics
- Gabrielle Lyrics
- Record Sleeve of Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa
- Bibliography
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte
Diese Arbeit analysiert die Darstellung von Frauen und Liebe in den Texten der Band Cradle of Filth, insbesondere in den Liedern "Nymphetamine" und "Gabrielle". Dabei wird argumentiert, dass Frauen durch die Entmenschlichung und Umkehrung traditioneller Geschlechterrollen als monströse Kreaturen dargestellt werden, denen Männer untergeordnet sind. Die Arbeit untersucht, wie diese Entmenschlichung funktioniert und diskutiert kritisch, inwieweit sie die patriarchale Geschlechterideologie untergräbt oder bestätigt.
- Die Darstellung monströser Frauen in der Musik von Cradle of Filth
- Die Rolle von Frauen in der patriarchalen Gesellschaft
- Die Funktion von Monstrosität in der Populärkultur
- Die Analyse von Texten, Musik und Musikvideos
- Die Bedeutung der interdisziplinären Analyse von Musiktexten
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel
- Introduction: Die Einleitung stellt die zentralen Themen der Arbeit vor, insbesondere die Darstellung von Frauen und Liebe in den Texten von Cradle of Filth. Es wird erklärt, dass die Arbeit die Texte, Musik und Musikvideos analysieren wird, um zu untersuchen, wie Frauen als monströse Kreaturen dargestellt werden.
- The symbolism of monstrous women: Dieses Kapitel untersucht die Rolle von Frauen in patriarchalen Gesellschaften und die Funktion von Monstrosität in der Populärkultur. Es wird argumentiert, dass Frauen, die sich nicht an die traditionellen Geschlechterrollen halten, als monströs dargestellt werden.
- The depiction of women and love in Cradle of Filth's Nymphetamine Fix: Dieses Kapitel analysiert die Texte, Musik und das Musikvideo von "Nymphetamine Fix". Es untersucht die Geschlechterrollen, die Darstellung der Liebe und die Bedeutung von Klang und Bildsymbolen.
- The depiction of women and love in Cradle of Filth's Gabrielle: Dieses Kapitel analysiert die Texte, Musik und das Musikvideo von "Gabrielle". Es untersucht die Geschlechterrollen, die Darstellung der Liebe und die Bedeutung von Klang und Bildsymbolen.
- Analysis of the album cover of Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa: Dieses Kapitel analysiert das Albumcover von "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa" und untersucht die intertextuellen Bezüge zur mythischen Figur Lilith. Es zeigt Parallelen zur Darstellung der monströsen Frauen in den Songs auf.
Schlüsselwörter
Die zentralen Schlüsselbegriffe dieser Arbeit sind: Monstrosität, Frauendarstellung, Liebe, Geschlechterrollen, patriarchale Gesellschaft, Populärkultur, Cradle of Filth, "Nymphetamine Fix", "Gabrielle", Lilith, interdisziplinäre Analyse, Musiktexte, Musikvideo.
- Quote paper
- Anna Jenatschke (Author), 2016, The Depiction of Women as Monsters and Love as a Dependency in Cradle of Filth's works, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/380622
