Anne Madonna A Holy Grail Analysis

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Mercedes Ruehl plays Anne Napolitano a strong spirited, authoritative woman who owns a video store in a seedy part of New York. Anne is a stern woman who wants to be loved and give love. She knows what she wants her life to look like, but feels insecure. Anne is a Byronic hero because she wants love reciprocate from Jack, whom, she provides solace to after his fall from grace (Smart.co.uk). As a Byronic hero, Anne is jaded, socially and sexually dominant, and she is intellectually perceptive. Anne will find her holy grail, but not before she is categorized within the Madonna ‘whore’ complex. Anne has a social and sexual dominant presence, who according to Freud, could be called a ‘Madonna complex.’According to Penn State, “Sigmund Freud developed a theory to explain men’s anxiety towards women’s sexuality, suggesting that men cast women into one of two categories to allay the uncomfortable dichotomy of fear and desire: the Madonna (women he admires and respects) and the whore (women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects). …show more content…

Anne’s holy grail is finally receiving the love she craved for so long, and after the long wait she didn’t have to change who she was. She never changed herself because that’s just the person she is: loud, dominant, and confident. Anne being herself, real, made Jack see that she is who she is, and she is not going to change for anyone not even for him. Once Anne’s holy grail is found she is categorized by Jack as the ‘Madonna.’ It took Jack the whole movie to realize that she is who she is, and at the end, she gets the love she wants, and has craved for so long. As an existential Byronic hero Anne stayed true to who she is, while facing a love crisis that ultimately solved itself. “Life begins on the other side of despair” (Jean-Paul Sartre), Anne lives in a speedy, loud world, found love staying true to herself and letting love be

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