In the move Raising the Red Lantern there are very key moments and times that clearly show the society and how they operate and what the roles of men and woman had. Songlian a young woman who father had just died moves to the masters household and becomes the fourth mistress one out of four. After she settles in she begins to live the life of a mistress and fight over the masters attention and his time. But after a year of living the live she goes insane. Which shows how important roles that effect the woman living in a society created for men.

At the beginning of the movie when Songlian becomes a mistress she doesn’t understand the point of having the master around her and being around him. She just does her own thing and learns about the other three mistresses and the household. There is a shift in her ideals and mindset when she finds her servant sleeping with the master in her bed. When this happens a big toll gets put on her and how she thinks of the master. But the master uses his power over her and he knows that she needs to stay there because her family is poor and has to marry rich. Knowing this fact Songlian starts to sabotage the other mistresses. She even lies to the master which is against the rules of the household.

Overall the movie was a very good movie, it was something different and a movie that was very unique and the way it told the story was very well and directed very well. It was very noticeable of the ideas of the movie of how the society worked and how it benefited the mistresses, but mainly the men who was the master and it works in patriarchal society even though it would benefit the woman’s lives who live there.