¡§Mannequin¡¨

Setting

Symbols

Characters

Theme

Study Questions

I. Symbols

Rabbit warren ¡÷Rabbits are taken furs by breeders in rabbit warren. They are controlled by breeders. For Anna, the salon is like a rabbit warren, and she is one of rabbits there.

Labyrinth ¡÷Anna feels that the salon is like a labyrinth also. When Anna wants to go to the lunch in the salon, she can not find the place. She loses herself there, and it suggests that she can not find her identity there.

Human flowers ¡÷Mannequins are like flowers that show their appearance and are judged by people. Mannequins are like flowers in greenhouse, too; they could not leave the special environment.

Rabbit ¡÷For mannequins, men are like rabbits. Mannequins influence them by pretty appearance and think that men are easily controlled.

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II. Characters

Anna
The main character of this short story: Among those mannequins, Anna is like a lonely drifter. For her, to be a mannequin is like a dream. In the beginning, she feels confusion. She doesn¡¦t know if she really likes to be a mannequin. The life of mannequin is like a big labyrinth, and it puzzles Anna. After a busy day, Anna is aware that she doesn¡¦t like to be a mannequin, and she wants to get rid of it. She just wants to dress for herself not for anyone else. But when some one says that she should stay as other mannequins. Then, Anna is too shy to rush away, and she doesn¡¦t dare to change her life. She doesn¡¦t have a firm will to insist her decision. Afterwards, Anna is like other mannequins they all indulge in their life.

Madame Veron
She is a connoisseur, good at appraising her mannequins. Ironically, how could people be paralleled with objects?

Madame Pecard
She is the dresser for mannequins; works for Madame Veron. 
She is loyal to her master and is like a spy always keeping a watchful eye on the mannequins.

Jeannine
Conservative, she is a saleswoman who is a mediacy between the mannequin and the buyer. When Anna wants to run away, she tells Anna to stay. It seems that she thinks to be a mannequin is Anna¡¦s destiny, and Anna shall obey it.

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III. Theme

Identity
From the very beginning of the story, Rhys indicates that Anna is a drifter who is driven along by others. ¡§¡Ktrying to find her way along¡K¡¨ (2.2438). She does not know what she really wants to do. When Anna walks into the dressing room, she thinks that she walks into a labyrinth (2439, 2). She is lost in the labyrinth and tries to find her way out of the labyrinth. 
In ¡§Mannequin,¡¨ models are treated as objects not like human beings. For example, Madam Pecard, the dresser, calls those mannequins ¡§her flock¡¨(2440). The dresser takes mannequins as her products and she spies on them (2441). If their ¡§product¡¨ did something wrong, she will pinch mannequins¡¦ arm to warn them. Those women are like tools for buyers. The function of those women is to present the clothes and to make the customers satisfied with the clothes. 
¡§Mannequin¡¨, with its satirical depiction of the various stereotypes of the women. The mannequins in the Paris salon are asked to assume exaggerated feminine roles while modeling the dresses for customers and to maintain those roles even outside of the display room: the gamine, the femme fatale, the tom boy, the cat-women, the mysterious devil-woman, and so on. ¡§Each of the twelve was of a distinct and separate type: each of the twelve knew her type and kept to it, practising rigidly in clothing, manner, voice and conversation¡¨ (2.2440). The danger lies in internalizing the truths generated by scientific fallacy, or embracing popular stereotypes too enthusiastically: in mistaking social constructions of femininity as one¡¦s own essential identity.

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IV. Study Questions

1. How is ¡§Mannequin¡¨ a satire?
2. What does Anna suggest when she says ¡§Anyway! Just to dress and rush away?¡¨
3. Describe the relationship between Anna and Madame Pecard, the dresser.
1. How does Jean Rhys present female characters in ¡§Mannequin?¡¨

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