Who’s looking as whom? Lucy/Luce: the ‘new’ woman in the ‘New’ World

Abstract

ABSTRACT In Emanuel Crialese’s film Nuovomondo/Golden Door (2006), the seemingly independent British citizen, Lucy, migrates from Sicily to the United States alongside the Sicilian Mancuso family because Lucy must be betrothed to a man. This paper examines Lucy’s character and her agency and analyzes how she develops into a feminist figure. Beyond exploring her feminist qualities, this piece illustrates how she, in fact, controls the male gaze, which challenges Laura Mulvey and E. Ann Kaplan’s approach to gaze theory. Through her agency, she, the female character, leads Salvatore Mancuso and his family to the New World.