Brigid O'Shaughnessy isn't a misanthrope. She's an oppressed
figure who is forced to use sex to get what she wants because
it is the only power she has. Even the fey Cairo has more
status than O'Shaughnessy does in a male dominated world.
Spade is the embodiment of a misogynist society. He fucks
Brigid and degrades her, forcing her to strip in front of
Gutman and company, and, in the end, he throws her to the
wolves.
On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 5:59 PM, Patrick King <
abrasax93@yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net wrote:
>
>> I'm with Mario and John. Spade isn't a
particularly
>> nice guy, but I
>> don't think his attitudes towards gays were at
all
>> unusual for his
>> times. And it's not like he was targeting
random
>> gays. He was beating
>> up those who threatened him and his. Don't
think
>> he'd have reacted much
>> differently if it had been a straight man
who
>> pointed a gun at him,
>> though he probably would have given him a
more
>> "manly" beating, instead
>> of pointedly emasculating him by slapping him
and
>> taking away his "gun."
>>
>> As for gunsel, the Rara Avis site's glossary
of
>> hardboiled slang
>> contains Earl Stanley Gardner's story about
how
>> Hammett got that word
>> past editor Shaw and into the pages of Black
Mask.
>> Here's the direct
>> link:
>>
>> http://www.miskatonic.org/gooseberry.html
>
******************************************************
> It is interesting that all the male villains in
The
> Maltese Falcon are homosexual stereotypes and that
the
> ultimate villain, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, is
a
> misanthrope who lures men into criminal
behavior,
> murdering them or leaving them for others to
murder
> when they've out lived their usefulness to her.
While
> on the opposite side is stalwart, heterosexual,
Samuel
> Spade who may play fast and loose with the truth
in
> the face of psychosis but in the long run,
unlike
> Archer & Jacoby, does not fall prey to the lure
of
> illicit sex. Donald Spoto wold have a field day
with
> the underlying psychology of this novel.
>
> Patrick King
>
>
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