Tarzan of the White Male Privilege: A Close-Reading of Tarzan of the Apes and Disney's Tarzan Regarding Racism and Sexism

Abstract

What this thesis sets out to do, is to show how Disney's adaptation (1999) of the first Tarzan novel ties in with white male privilege through the concepts of racism and sexism. Both texts have been analysed through a close-reading of the character of Tarzan, which provided interesting observations regarding racism and sexism. The analysis focussed on microaggressions against the Other and females. While white male privilege may not directly be a part of Disney's adaptation, the text does show a certain bias towards white man which reinforces the notion of white male privilege.