Get Carter Edna - Liam Tomkins

Edna

Edna servers three purposes in Get Carter, the first being a landlord, a person who provides somewhere for Carter to stay. She is also a servant to Carter and a sexual object. Edna also represents independent women, this is a new gender role, rather than the more traditional and domestic roles women had before the 1970s.

Edna represents independent women because she is a landlord, meaning she has been able to have an income without a man providing everything for her. Carter returns to Edna’s house and Edna stands up to him, showing that women are able to stand up to men. However, Carter disregards Edna and he continues to enter her house. This shows that during the 1970s women had started to become more independent and stand up to men, however men still viewed women as they had previously and were not yet willing to adapt and change their attitudes. During the 1970s, a culture was created that allowed men to abuse women because women’s voices, opinions and actions were not taken seriously and were disregarded by most men.

Once Carter has entered Edna’s house she reverts to traditional gender roles. Carter tells her to make them all a cup of tea and he will let her watch what they’re doing, Edna then does as Carter says. This shows that women were still seen by men almost as servants and that they should do as they are told. Many men still saw themselves as superior to women and still disrespected them. 

The main role of Edna in Get Carter is to provide sexual pleasure for Carter and be his servant. This shows that the society at the time was very male dominated because men thought that women should serve them and not the other way around. Edna never leaves her house and as soon as Carter arrives she takes on a very domestic role of making food and looking after Carter. This shows that even though women were able to be independent, the majority still followed more traditional gender roles.