Male Gaze within 'A Clockwork Orange'

The 'Male Gaze' is present throughout many scenes in 'A Clockwork Orange', this is because the spectators are more likely to align with Alex and accept his atrocities if his victims are "visually appealing". The first scene I will discussing is the home invasion scene which takes place eight minutes into the film.

The scene begins with a shot of a male writing a book sitting in a neutral chair, his wife however is seen reading the works of another author in a pod like contraption: this suggests to the audience that the men in this universe are the ones who generate the information whilst the women are the ones who receive it. The fact that the husband is sitting in a normal chair suggests to the audience that he is in complete charge of his own life whilst his wife can only be summoned when he gives her the "look". The female is dressed in a significant blood-orange dress, this is done so that the audience are more likely to be drawn to her (she appears as a blood-orange object against a white canvas). All of the men in the film are seen wearing neutral, white coloured costumes, this is done to ensure that the focal point remains fixed on the female. The colour of her outfit is also significant because colours such as red are clear representatives of lust and desire (it is also the primary colour of Valentines Day)

As soon as the doorbell rings the wife immediately rises to answer, the hallway is full of mirrors so the audience are given a full 360 degree view of her body. Once Alex makes his false plea she is at first cautious to let him into her home, her husband quickly orders her to let him in, she is then rudely grabbed by one of the droogs as they invade the front room.

Alex begins the attack by damaging the females clothes, in doing this he removes two circles of material which expose her breasts.

During the attack the wife is denied a point of view, her husband and Alex (males) are both given the opportunity to show the audience the events through their eyes. Kubrick chose to do this because the audience is less likely to align with Alex if they witness the act through the eyes of the victim.

The next scene I will be analysing is the scene where Alex is receiving treatment via the 'Ludovico Technique'