La femme

 Women in romantic and classical ballet are often cast in roles that depend on the men for success or happiness, the woman character being weak, unhappy and incomplete before the heroic man’s entrance, and rescue. 

Right?

In these ballets, the women are lifted repeatedly and directed about the stage in a series of tricks and movements that cause the ballerina to give in repeatedly to the shape created by the lifting and guiding hands of the male partner. The “Marriage Plot” so adoringly named by author Sally Banes, is the trap of these ballerinas and their beaus, as they all end up being saved by and celebrating in a highly grandiose manner a marriage between the damsel in distress and the hero. Although this plot is twisted, renamed and often morphed into an almost unrecognizable model, it is prevalent in most major ballets of this time nonetheless. It can be seen clearly in ballets such as Cinderella, Copellia, Sleeping Beauty, and even in the beginning with Sylphide.

            Although the argument can be made to support that society’s demand that these be the roles and expectations of the males and females was simply reflected on the stage, there is evidence that these societal conditions were the roles of males and females on the stage being imitated and idealized for their perfection and beauty in the everyday life of the audience.