Desire, sexuality and companionship : Reading Portrait of a Lady on Fire as an ecriture feminine and gynocritical text

Abstract

Portrait of a lady on fire (2019) by Celine Sciamma is a film celebrating the forbidden, erotic lesbian love and companionship. At the same time, it depicts how the non-heteronormative sex creates the sexual identity of the women. This essay attempts to read the politics of representation of sensuous love between two women who subvert the patriarchal conventions related to gaze and intimacy by expressing their love and desire. By this companionship, they assert their identities and rebellious subjectivities. According to Helene Cixous, ecriture feminine is a kind of narrative written usually by women who oppose the phallogocentric language system. This kind of writing/ creation focuses on feminine sensibilities, experiences and desire. This movie uses the metaphors of silence, images, puns in order to portray their forbidden love. Heloise and Marianne challenge the binary between a subject and an object, a painter and a muse. They make love verbally and non-verbally justifying itself to be a poignant narrative of ecriture feminine. On the other hand, this movie paints the world of women who happen to be in love with each other. This movie is also reads like a manifesto for celebrating the lesbian erotic companionship which is culturally- socially suppressed. Therefore, this movie highlights the sexual desire, the longings for intimacy between silenced bodies. This essay will also try to examine the aesthetics of love, companionship and desire from the perspective of Elaine Showalter's gynocriticism.