Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus has many theatrical elements that aid in creating an interpretation of the written play. One of the most prominent elements that Taymor uses is color. Taymor uses color to develop Shakespeare’s characters. Many times throughout the film, color is used to represent a character’s mood or their hidden agenda during a scene. We also see color used to represent good versus evil. The three colors that are most widely used during the movie to show symbolism and imagery are black, white, and red. While there are some references to color in the written text of Titus Andronicus, Taymor’s use of color allows the viewers to see a more clear representation of mood, tone, and character. The colors may be used in costume or in setting. Regardless of how they are used each color plays a large role in distinguishing the tone that is being set for a scene or character.
The first color that is widely used is black. One of the first times that we see the color black used as a symbol is when Aaron is introduced. Aaron is first introduced during the scene when he talks to Demetrius and Chiron about Lavinia. The most notable part of color usage in this scene is that Aaron is introduced in front of a light background (43:15). This background plays a large part because it allows viewers to focus on the dark skin of Aaron. It is important that Aaron’s black skin stands out because he is viewed as inferior due to his skin color. Viewers must focus on the fact that he is darker skinned and in order to do this, Taymor must bring the focus to his skin color.
Another example of when we see the color black used is when young Lucius kills the fly at the dinner scene (1:32:00). He is initially r...
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...ymbolic things happening: foreshadowing, major change in life, or trickery.
Taymor’s use of color throughout this film works to develop Shakespeare’s characters and symbolizes the most important aspects of the play. Whether it be the inferiority of a character, purity, or vengeance, each color is representative of something major. Although Taymor’s film is simply her interpretation of the characters and the story, the colors that she uses in her adaptation allow the viewers to see a more clear image of the mood, tone, and characterization of the play. While Shakespeare does use some color in his play, Taymor takes the context of the writing and makes a more visual image of what is being said in order to further develop Shakespeare’s characters.
Works Cited
Titus. Dir. Julie Taymor. Perf. Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1999. Film.
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When Harriet first meets Roy, she wears a "dressy black dress", carrying a "skinny black hat box" with her and her hair is "a forth of dark curls". However,"her face was striking, a little drawn and pale..."(8). Malamud uses only black and white to describe Harriet. Black and white give people a sense of mystery. "The color black relates to the hidden, the secretive and the unknown, and as a result it creates an air of mystery"(Empower yourself with Color Psychology). Whenever Harriet appears in the novel, she is always related to these two colors. When Harriet invites Roy to her hotel room, the scene is also filling with black and white. "As she shut the door she reached into the hat box which lay open next to a vase of white roses on the table and fitted the black feathered hat on her head"(32). This is not a coincident. From these scenes, we can see that Malamud shapes Harriet in terms of color. The color Malamud uses to describe Harriet create a mysterious mood in the brain of the readers of Harriet unconsciously. Therefore, this successfully creates the surreptitious image of
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.
The famous playwright William Shakespeare used symbolism throughout all of his thirty-seven plays. Light and dark are used as powerful symbols of good and evil in his tragedy Macbeth. Shakespeare uses these themes of light and dark or day and night to form an actual image of the play's ongoing conflict for the reader or viewer. The meaning behind this specific symbol essentially creates the story of Macbeth.
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Hawthorne associates Chillingworth with the color black to directly represent him as the “Black Man”. After arriving in Boston, the townspeople
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