Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

A Study Of The Representation Of Marriage And The Family In The Film Muriel's Wedding, Zoe Chambers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Representations of the family in the Australian popular media in recent years appear to have shifted from a traditional nuclear family form to more diverse constructions, and the family has become an institution that is more often associated with dysfunction rather than the idealised notions of caring and support. This study will examine this re-evaluation of the nuclear family through a close analysis of the film Muriel's Wedding (1994). How the discourses of gender and nationalism intersect with those of marriage and family will be studied, in an attempt to understand this reappraisal of the Australian family.