Throughout the many poems that we have read, we have seen these harlot women be portrayed as being ruined, adulterer individuals. All the things we think of when we read these poems are the negative consequences of being a harlot, and how these women were persecuted by society.
One of my favorite movies has always been Moulin Rouge, which is based in the 20th century and follows the story of a young writer and his forbidden love with a courtesan woman. Throughout the story we find the pair being faced with many trials and issues, all coming from a mean source, a duke who has got eyes for Satine (the courtesan), and takes the Moulin Rouge under control to make sure that he gets what his heart (and ego) yearn for.
I chose this movie to focus on for this post because Satine isn’t described as your regular courtesan or the ones that are represented through the poems we have gone over in class. Instead of being ruined, we find her growing instead. Starting as a woman who is obsessed with materialistic objects, and the opportunity of being a star, she instead becomes the hero of her own story, and puts the wellness of others above her own.
This seems to counteract many of the ideas that the poems portray, and instead of these courtesan women being creatures of the night and negative aspects of society, we see one that does good to that around her, even with her profession. By focusing on her, we see a different light of things, and that even though people may become ruined by their profession, there is always room for growth and change.
