After
our class discussion about John Everett Millais
Mariana, 1851, I decided
to take a closer look at Tennyson’s poem, Mariana.
As I read through the poem a second time, I started to notice the stanza
juxtaposition of the life outside and the sense of entrapment that Mariana
felt. Once I looked over the painting again, I began to notice the distinct
separation of light and dark areas of the canvas. The painting shows Mariana
standing in front of a stained glass window waiting for her love to come back
to her. Everyday that he does not come for her, she cries out wishing that she were
dead. The beginning of each stanza seems so hopeful; like today is finally the
day Mariana will be liberated from the imprisonment she is trapped in. And
despite each day that he does not come, and the feeling of despair and sadness
she feels each night, she still holds on to the idea that he will come the next
day. I believe that this daily cycle of hopefulness and hopelessness is
captured in the painting by Millais’s use of light and shadow. I view the stark
difference of light between the left and right side of the canvas to represent
the sequence of Mariana’s emotions throughout the day. Each day she starts with
a reinvigorated sense of hope, dreaming that she will finally be released from
the cycle and become reunited with her love. As the day goes on, she begins to
feel more anxiety as he fails to show up yet again. Each day ends with a
complete sense of hopelessness and she says, “I wish that I were dead!” The
left side of the canvas, which is completely bathed in light, represents the
hope that she feels every morning. In the bottom center of the canvas there are
shadows cast off of the stool that extend to the right side of the canvas. The
wall to the right of Mariana is completely black, except for the flickering
candle in front of a religious shrine. This darkness represents the desperation
and exasperation that she feels. The line of the wall provides a distinct
separation of Mariana’s feelings. A look of anguish can be seen on her face as
she leans backward into the dark side of the room. I also believe her position
is a representation of Mariana slowly becoming more distressed as the day nears
the end. Like the reading of Tennyson’s poem, Millais’s Mariana can be read as a transition of the figure’s daily descent
into the anguish of loneliness.
Image URL:
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment