ipl-logo

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay

401 Words2 Pages

The portrayal of the two main female characters Nurse Ratched in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth by Shakespeare both emphasize the power differential and utilization of emasculation that defies stereotypical gender roles of the 16th and 20th century, however, the rationale to climbing the power hierarchy pyramid differ as Nurse Ratched’s authoritative demeanor exemplifies traditional masculine characteristics, misandry and a need for order, while Lady Macbeth embraces her womanhood implementing manipulation to generate chaos. For example, Lady Macbeth mocks her husband, “Infirm of purpose/Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/Are but as pictures. 'Tis the eye of childhood/That fears a painted devil.” (2-2), challenging his masculinity for feeling remorse and employs her …show more content…

Lady Macbeth’s assertion of power over her husband in the form of humiliation while simultaneously employing her femininity allows her to use her sexual characteristics specifically her breasts to obtain advanced standing in her overall pursuit of power. On the contrary Nurse Ratched also known as Big Nurse is asexually domineering demanding the patients in the ward “Calm down, as the best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine”(1975 One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) and instills fear as “He’s maybe got more to say, but at this point Big Nurse usually hushes him.”(Kesey 44). While her assertion of humiliation is similar to Lady Macbeth, her rise to power is solely derived from her utilization of fear and abandonment of femininity. By portraying herself in a hypermasculine manner, Nurse Ratched avoids exposing her “breasts” that reveal her femininity and order remains within the mental ward resulting in chaos that affects the hierarchy of

Show More
Related

One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay

1929 Words | 8 Pages

The Origins of Madness in One Who Flew Off The Cuckoo's Nest The book, One who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, is an eccentric story on the cruel treatment of patients within psychiatric wards in the 1960s. It is told from the narration of an indigenous man, named Chief Bromden, a character who is deeply conflicted and wounded inside, as he narrates the story of another patient McMurphy. McMurphy is not like Chief, nor any of the other patients for that matter, for he is a man who refuses to follow the wards rules and does whatever it takes in the book to strip the head nurse, Miss Ratched, of her power, in a fight for the patients, sovereignty within the ward. His rebellious attitude unfolds and the consequences begin unveiling

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Research Paper

1264 Words | 6 Pages

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Meets The Hero’s Journey One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey is a fictional novel that explores the interrelations between a nurse and her patents in an insane asylum. Furthermore, Ken Kesey utilizes two characters R.P Mcmurphy and Chief Bromden who help to depict the inner and outer phycology of men who have been confined. In addition, Kesey makes use of themes such as power determined by sex and rebellion as a struggle between life or death to portray the ultimate castration of men through using a female character who detests her own female breast and enjoys emasculating the men of the ward. The plot of the book mainly starts off with a focus on Chief Bromden, but changes with the introduction of R.P Mcmurphy arriving on the ward. Kesey initially characterizes Mcmurphy has a convict who has rape under a list of crimes he has committed, however later on in the book Mcmurphy is seen as a hero like figure.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Comparison Essay

566 Words | 3 Pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Comparison Essay It is virtually a maxim that a character’s inner thoughts are more enhanced in books than in movies or films. The novel was written by Ken Kessey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has a film version directed by Milos Forman. Throughout the book, Kessey shapes Chief Bromden’s overall character through his past, his view of the hospital and inner thoughts by using overwhelming mechanical imageries. However, in the film this crucial history and imageries were lacked.

Read More

One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

1144 Words | 5 Pages

Weather in literature is often used to symbolize the mood or mental state in which a character experiences. For example, rain is commonly associated with sadness. As it is commonly identified, fog is a cloudy element of weather that affects one’s ability to see clearly, however, it is also used in literature to represent a character’s lack of clarity. Throughout One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the motif of fog is used to represent the mental instability and confusion Bromden experiences under Nurse Ratched’s ward. As the story progresses and Bromden gains confidence, the fog diminishes and he is able to overcome the Big Nurse.

Read More

One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Character Analysis Essay

608 Words | 3 Pages

To make a story interesting, the characters have a complex personality and change as the book progresses. People like seeing how the character they come to love gets through the problem and how they change to solve it. Though sometimes the change is slow, subtle hints imply transformation occurs. In Ken Kesey’s, One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the main character—Chief Bromden—is known for being deaf and dumb. However his disability is only a façade, and soon he breaks out of his shell thanks to a new member of the mental institute McMurphy.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Theme Essay

1462 Words | 6 Pages

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “democracy” can simply be defined as the government of the people, but lately it seems as if that definition has become invalid. Unfortunately, the government makes the people feel powerless to the point where they’re forced to elect a candidate who’s not impotent. However, they choose the candidates based on the (1)facades they create, which causes the people to become (2)distorted by their seemingly noble intentions. Some of the major issues with government are the political lies and schemes it takes to get to the top and remain there. These ideas are infused in various pieces of literature where the idea of democracy leaves a visible mark on society, dividing it into two scales, one being unable to

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Research Paper

517 Words | 3 Pages

Although One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey focuses in on a group of men in a psychiatric ward, women are not severely absent from the storyline. Kesey places women carefully in the story line through relationships with the main characters. These relationships expresses sexism in the novel. Kesey reveals a bias against women in the sense that he emphasizes positive traits of men, such as bravery, and negative traits of women, such as overpowering. Women are interpreted as authoritative and aggresive figures who viviate and criticize men.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Summary

1873 Words | 8 Pages

The novel I chose to read was entitled “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” written by Ken Kesey. First off, It is important to provide some of Ken Kesey’s background in order to better understand why he wrote it. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Kesey ended up at Stanford in a creative writing program. He ended up volunteering in an experimental drug program where he was used to test the different effects of the drugs at the Local Veterans Administration hospital. This was where he began to experiment with LCSD.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Research Paper

2290 Words | 10 Pages

Regan Kelley Mr. Irby English 3 17 May 2023 Morality in Literature The definition of morality is the separation of right and wrong to a person or society. Each person and society have their own set of rules that they follow regarding morality. However, some of these rules have become universal. For example, murder is wrong or the golden rule treat people how you want to be treated should be applied to everyone.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Insanity Essay

755 Words | 4 Pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, considers the qualities in which society determines sanity. The label of insanity is given when someone is different from the perceived norm. Conversely, a person is perceived as sane when their behavior is consistent with the beliefs of the majority. Although the characters of this novel are patients of a mental institution, they all show qualities of sanity. The book is narrated by Chief Brodmen, an observant chronic psychiatric patient, who many believe to be deaf and dumb.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

280 Words | 2 Pages

“One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest”, a grim satiric novel written in 1962 by Ken Kesey, is narrated by Chief Broom, a native Indian who pretends to be deaf and mute, and follows Randall Patrick McMurphy, a self-proclaimed lunatic who is transferred from a prison work farm to an oppressive psychiatric hospital, with the belief that it would be a more relaxed environment. The ward is ruled by the dominant, mechanical Nurse Ratched, who maintains her iron fist over the patients using fear, abuse, medication and electroconvulsive therapy. While most patients would be scared of Nurse Ratched, McMurphy made a bet with the other patients that he could get inside the 'Big Nurse's' head and convinced the other patients to stand up to her, winning small

Read More

One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest Madness Essay

1082 Words | 5 Pages

Madness has become a controversial and popular topic over the years, especially in literature. Readers are intrigued by the suffering of others, making themselves feel happier and healthier. But what truly defines this so called ‘madness’ that we automatically attach to these abject characters. In that matter, why would anyone be mad? Today society is letting people starve, so does that make society mad?

Read More

Essay On One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

750 Words | 3 Pages

Keesey uses the setting of the mental asylum as the basis to portray his ideas and views on the condition of life in America in the 1950’s. The main and recurring theme in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is that the idea of The American Dream is not that great and that this type of life is maybe not for everybody and who should say that someone is mad or not just because they do not conform to the norm. By using the fictional setting of the mental asylum and comparing it to society now, shows us how hypocritical the American Dream was, the literary term for this is ‘microcosm’- a small society representative of a larger one.

Read More

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis Essay

1288 Words | 6 Pages

“One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” is a film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. The Film was released in 1975. It is the story of a convicted man, trying to outsmart the American legal system by playing mentally ill. The film starts at the beginning when the main character, Randle McMurphy, enters the mental institution. It won 6 Golden Globes as well as 5 Oscars and many other nominations.

Read More

Sexism In One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

775 Words | 4 Pages

Her clothes “could no longer conceal the fact that she was a women”(320). She tries to hide her femininity throughout the whole novel, again because any sign or femininity shows weakness. Nurse Ratched controls all men on the ward and acts as what Kesey characterizes as “manly”. Kesey promotes sexism in this way because of how he characterizes women to look and act in a masculine

Read More

More about One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay

Related Topics

Open Document