The Duke of Burgundy is a 2014 independent film following the BDSM relationship between a lecturer and a woman who studies butterflies and moths under her.
The Duke of Burgundy contains examples of:
- Book Ends: The movie opens and closes with Cynthia and Evelyn playing out the same scripted BDSM scene.
- Brains and Bondage: Cynthia is an academic and a lecturer about lepidopterology. Evelyn is studying under her. They're in a BDSM relationship together.
- Character Tics: Cynthia is seen drinking a glass of water several times when she is nervous.
- Double Standard: Rape, Female on Female: When Cynthia ignores Evelyn's safeword, but is never confronted about this and the issue is never addressed directly.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Cynthia and Evelyn are both very elegant, feminine women in a BDSM relationship.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Cynthia is a professor of lepidopterology, with Evelyn as one of her students. They are secretly a couple in a BDSM relationship.
- Title Drop: The film's name comes from a type of butterfly. Both protagonists are in lepidopterology, the scientific study of butterflies and moths, with the species being mentioned during the film.
