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The Irritating Gentleman


Berthold Woltze was a German genre painter, portrait painter and illustrator. 'The Irritating Gentleman' or otherwise 'Der lastige Kavalie' is his most famous work. It is a painting that represents the universal plight of women. Even if this painting wasn't named 'The Irritating Gentleman', most of the present century's women would know exactly what this 19th-century woman endured on that particular day in the train. It depicts a young girl with teary eyes who is being annoyed by a much older man and it is even more annoying once you notice she is dressed in all black. It could only mean that she is in mourning and this man does not care about that. The fact that he is labelled as a 'gentleman' is too ironic because there is nothing gentle about his approach here. He is encroaching on that girl's physical and mental space and tormenting her. And despite her showing absolutely no interest in him, he still seems to try to engage in a conversation with her. And as I said before, this is a universal experience for all women- to have men who think they deserve completely random women's time and space, imposing and intruding on our lives and harassing us with their perverse and narcissistic mindset. Of course, not all men are like that. There are men who respect a woman's personal space but if I ask my female friends if they have ever experienced such a thing, nine out of ten would definitely have a story to tell.

Despite the painting being named after the man, the main figure of it is the young girl. The fact that she is looking straight at us with helpless eyes depicts the true extent of her situation. We can see a single tear running down her face either out of fear or anger. Her gaze is almost like a call for help and that in itself is something that should strike at every viewer's heart. Because if it doesn't, then you're just like the man in the background with his face to the side, avoiding the whole situation instead of actually trying to do something and help the poor girl. Such people exist all around us- people who ignore a woman getting harassed publicly just because it's not their daughter or wife or niece or friend. But with due time, they will realise that the reason their loved ones get harassed is because people like they themselves exist in this world. It reminded me of an anonymous person's story I read off the internet-

"I remember when I was a little girl, around 10 years old, taking the bus home from school. One day, a man stood uncomfortably behind me, making me uneasy, The other passengers remained silent."

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