Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2001. [Vol. 7.] Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 27)

Studies - Lenke Németh: David Mamet's Women Characters: Conceptions and Misconceptions

exactly the same modes of deception to get a job for herself as Gould has used to con her into believing that he needs her perceptive opinion about a new filmscript. Being fully aware of the fact that in patriarchal society "her value resides not in her own being but in some transcendental standard of equivalence (money, the phallus)" (Moi 141), Karen capitalizes on her "exchange value" and uses her sex to obtain the job. She deceives and manipulates Gould into believing that she acts out of pure love and with the intention of salving his soul. However, she attains merely a temporary victory over her male counterpart. Because she admits her real intention to Gould and his business associate, she is not yet allowed to enter the male world. Paradoxically, her sincerety, which lays bare the male protagonists' hypocrisy and corruption, prevents her from joining the maledominated world. Dr. Ford, the successful psychologist in House

, while collecting material on the behavior of conmen, gets hoodwinked by them and becomes the victim of their confidence game played on her. She is made into a thief, a whore, and even a murderess. Realizing that she has been badly humiliated, Ford feels shattered and destroyed financially, professionally as well as spiritually. In order to restore and renovate her identity, she must take revenge on Mike, the leading con man. Having mastered his strategies of deception and congames, she gains back all her money. However, she can complete her final metamorphosis into a con-woman oniy by physically annihilating her "teacher." Carol in Oleanna studies for a university degree in order to ensure her social advancement but she feels she does not receive the necessary education nor the expected help from her professor. Realizing that the professor's unlimited power allows him to break down every barrier and violate all the rules and laws at the university, Carol reports him to the Tenure Committee of the university and charges him with sexism, elitism, and racism. With this move, the hierarchical positions allocated to them by patriarchy and institutional restrictions reverse between them. The empowered student, then, employs the same strategies of wielding power as her teacher. Ironically, Carol turns out to be an excellent student who reiterates the professor's words and phrases, assumes his condescending and 41