Barber's Tales Poem Analysis

"Wife" is a poem written by Marra PL. Lanot and was published in 1998. The film of Director Jun Robles Lana "Barber's Tales (Mga Kuwentong Barbero)" is an entry for the 2013 Tokyo International Film Festival where Eugene Domingo won the Best Actress Award. The two literary works are both set in a society dominated by men, where women are confined and marginalized. Also, their main characters are both women who are pressured by the society's expectations of a wife. Poems and films convey their messages differently from each other. Poems use cleverly put words that may sometimes form a pattern while films use moving illustrations or images. Some people may think that film can express messages easier than a poem because the audience only needs …show more content…
Although nationalism was only directly tackled at the second half of the film, there were already hints being dropped even in the beginning of the film. However, in this paper, we shall focus on the feminist aspect of "Barber's Tales". The main character of "Barber's Tales" is a woman and all of the female characters have different circumstances from each other but still equally interesting. However, this paper would focus more on the female characters who take on the role of a …show more content…
Marilou, who was back then used to blindly obeying what her husband tells her to do, is now at a loss on what to do next. At this time, Jose's sister, probably because of a long-time grudge or just the grief from her brother's sudden death, accused Marilou of being the cause of Jose's bad luck and cheating. Apparently, her only son had a mental disability, causing Jose to drift away from her. Also, during Jose's funeral, Marilou was undecided on how to continue on. She believes that there is nothing left for her in that town, and thinks that it would be better if she would go to Manila as a maid. Her best friend Susan then sarcastically asked her if that is the only fate of women, and that if a woman cannot become a wife or a mother, then the next thing she can become is a maid. These two scenes show how women's values are evaluated in their society. Apparently, it would seem that a woman's value depends on her husband and children. In an article entitled "The Filipino Woman's Role In The Humanization Of Social Life", it was stated that a woman's most important role of a Filipino woman in humanizing social life is being a mother or a "pure housewife" (Perez). Even in today's society, Filipinos still believe that it is only natural for women to become a mother and a wife someday. Marilou, who has already lost a son and a son, must have thought of herself, and believe that