Constructed Spaces: Domination and Liberation in the Film Orlando

This essay examines Sally Potter's 1992 film Orlando to explore how power dynamics like gender, hierarchy and ownership are constructed and represented through space presented in the film. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre's The Production of Space, it argues that space in the film is not a neutral backdrop but functions as a powerful agent that shapes, constrains, and liberates an individual. By tracing Orlando's transformation from man to woman, this essay analyzes how gender fluidity redefines spatial relations and reveals the gendered and artificially constructed nature of both private and public spaces. Through close readings of scenes involving clothing, domestic interiors, and natural landscapes, the discussion highlights the ways in which space reflects and enforces patriarchal, national, and class hierarchies. The essay also investigates moments of resistance, particularly Orlando's rejection of ownership and return to nature, as acts of liberation from space. Ultimately, this essay argues that Orlando exposes the mechanisms through which space functions as both a social product and a site of emancipation, offering a critical reflection on how identity, power, and belonging are deeply involved with space.