ABSTRACT
The tagline for A Clockwork Orange famously reads: “the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence, and Beethoven.” Music in A Clockwork Orange serves many functions, but one of the most crucial within the narrative is as an agent of power, control, or domination. This chapter explores the music of A Clockwork Orange as it pertains to interactions between the protagonist Alex and the female characters in this film. An analysis of Kubrick’s musical choices often reveals subtle ways the director shapes audience perception of characters, and observations of these perceptions will provide a way to explore this and other Kubrick films through a feminist lens. Through this chapter, we may begin to construct a methodology to contextualize perceptions of female characters across Kubrick’s oeuvre through a close reading of the musical themes and cues associated with the women in his films.
