FREE ESSAY ON VICTORIAN LIFE THROUGH COLOR

VICTORIAN LIFE THROUGH COLOR

Victorian Life Through Color
The use of color in Victorian literature and art has gone far beyond simple description
to form it's very own sort of diction. Whether reading Victorian prose or looking at a
Pre-Raphaelite painting one is drawn in and deeply affected by the arrangement and
combination of it's colors. In the two of these mediums, each color is both powerful and
used precisely either to represent a trait or emotion or to compliment other colors to
form a greater representation of an idea. Furthermore, seeing these colors in the mind
brings out any unconscious association, bias, or preconceived notion of what traits and
emotions generally go along with a given color. This use of color is partially why
Victorian poetry is so beautiful and compelling to the reader. It describes an onslaught
of emotions without ever having to call them by name. Indeed, it can truthfully be said
that Victorian literature and art speak to the reader in a language of color.
The first point to look at when examining the Victorian use of color is the general
similarity between it's art and poetry. These mediums, in fact, have gone beyond
similarity and become practically interchangeable. In this way, the colors of each poem
seem to paint a perfect picture in the reader's mind. Conversely, each painting seems to
tell an involved story that draws the viewer in through it's use of brilliant colors and
color placement. This is why so many of the poems written in this time have been painted
over and over again. Tennyson's Lady of Shalott alone has probably been painted at least
a hundred times. Members of the Pre-Rapaelite Brotherhood saw poetry and painting as
sister arts. They believed strongly in the use of bright colors to evoke strong emotional
responses. Victorian art and literature both clearly depend on color to bring them to
life.
The most obvious use of color association in Victorian painting and poetry is that that
is used in relation to it's female characters. The most desirable women in Victorian art
and prose alike are almost always described as pale, pallid, and white. Their coloring
represented not only their beauty, but also their sad helplessness and mysterious erotic
quality that they possessed. The more gaunt, white, and ghostlike they were, the more
attractive and desirable they were considered to be. Tennyson's most desirable female of
all, for example, is characterized by not only having a ghostly white appearance, but is
even wearing white clothing. The Lady of Shalott, sailing across a lake, is described as
Dead-pale and robed in snowy white. The colors here show the reader her complete purity
and beauty in her willingness to sacrifice her life for love. The perfect Victorian
woman, represented fully by only a color.
Another use of color in Victorian art and literature is that phantasmagoric coloring
effect used to draw out extreme feelings and reactions from the viewer. In works like
these, surreal scenes of color are presented in order to give an overwhelmingly precise
view of the dream-like world that the characters are experiencing. Light and darkness are
used in ways that entrance anyone reading or viewing them. In paintings like The
Enchantment of Merlin, it is not only Merlin that is being enchanted. Swirling greens and
purples draw in and capture the viewer. This viewer not only just sees Merlin being
enchanted, but through the use of color placement, understands how he is being enchanted
and walks away feeling a bit of the vicarious after effects as well. These feelings are
not an accident, but instead the intentional utilization of the power of that color has
in both painting and poetry.
Much like the white that is associated with the purity of the Victorian woman, red is an
extremely powerful color in both art and literature. It represents strong emotion and
characterizes certain types of people in this time. The mere mention of the color in this
context brings to mind thought of passion, anger, lust, and blood, and that is just the
tip of the iceberg. The color characterizes strong will, sometimes to the point of
cruelty. A perfect example of this lies in Tennyson's Maud, in which Maud herself
symbolizes the passion of the red rose and the purity of the white lily. These states of
being could not be expressed without the use of these colors that create the perfect
contrast between the two ways that the narrator sees her. Red also signifies the brutally
and violence in life. Even nature is said by Tennyson to be red in tooth and claw from
devouring itself (Tennyson 1). This is easily understood when read because of the
universal language of color in both Victorian art and literature.
Pre-Rapaelite detail is also very important to the use of color in much of Victorian
poetry and painting. In these works it is not only which colors are being used, but also
how they are being outlined and combined. This hyper realism is employed to give colors a
freshness they did not have in previous time periods. Furthermore, bright and detailed
colors create bright and detailed feelings and emotions. This is not only true for Pre-
Rapaelite paintings, but also poetry and prose as well. The beautiful sisters of
Rossetti's Goblin Market are not simply said to be lying next to each other, but instead
are described as golden head by golden head (Abrams 1593). By using this description the
reader conjures up an image much more detailed and complete. One of two pure and virtuous
sisters who truly love and care about each other, as opposed to two who just happen to be
lying next to each other at the moment. Detailed use of color in Pre-Rapaelite poetry and
painting takes the language of color to a whole new level.
Often used in the Pre-Rapaelite scenes of the last paragraph, the incredible influence of
color on nature is definitely an integral part of the language of color. Intense greens
and golds typify the rich textures and settings frequently present in Victorian art and
literature. In many of the hyper realistic paintings of the time, the photographic
representation meant emphasizing the colors of nature in the background as much as colors
of the subject are emphasized. One striking example of this is Millais's Ophelia, in
which the beautiful subject is no more apparent than the bright shades of green in the
surrounding riverbank. In this painting, the greens in nature and the green hue of
Ophelia herself shows that she has died and her beautiful body has been taken in by and
is now one with nature. All of this is clearly displayed through that language that is so
prevalent in all of Victorian poetry and painting.
One concept that you cannot escape when discussing color in Victorian works of art and
literature is the effect of the pathetic fallacy on color. The pathetic fallacy could
arguably be considered the whole cause of the language of color. Why else would color be
able to so strongly represent an entire range of views and emotions? More often than not,
the character's state of being completely colors the world around him or her. How else
could it be said that hateful is the dark blue sky (Abrams 1211)? Skies are certainly not
hateful on their own. The character's mood and emotional state have colored the sky dark
blue with hate. Another in a different state might say that the night sky shines like an
emerald. The only real difference is that the narrator's despair has made the blue sky
dark, a word synonymous with evil and hate. In these instances, the pathetic fallacy
literally colors the entire world.
Similar to the red, white, and green colors previously discussed, is the influence of the
color gray on much of Victorian art and literature. Like red, gray carries with it it's
own set of associations in Victorian culture. It can even be understood as an emotion in
and of itself when it is said that someone is feeling gray. It carries with it ideas of
sorrow, loneliness, misfortune, and despair. In Tennyson's Mariana, the morning is
gray-eyed because her lover has left her (Abrams 1202). It is understood by the reader
completely what a gray-eyed morning is without further explanation. While in In Memoriam
by the same author, the old room of the narrator's deceased friend is described as a gray
flat (Abrams 1260). I doubt if he is referring to the color when he speaks of the home of
the friend that he loved so much. In the language of color, gray might be the single most
understood color of all Victorian works of art and literature.
On another theme of color entirely, is the presence of the associations of colors to
individual persons. If one is familiar with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, then they
already understand this concept without even knowing it. Like the idea of different
melodies being connected to certain characters, so are different colors of the spectrum.
These colors, and melodies, are used precisely to evoke particular feelings,
associations, and even biases unbeknownst to the reader or viewer of the work. Just as
one might associate a light, pleasant, and quick melody with a bird, one might associate
a summery gold color with a fresh and special person. No one would connect either of
these two images with danger or sorrow because they just do not fit. This is what
Tennyson does when he associates his deceased friend, Arthur Hallum, with the color gold
frequently throughout his poem, In Memoriam. Gold is always thought of the highest and
best, or the most special of all colors. This is clearly how Tennyson felt about Hallum.
Colors truly play an important role in personal identification in Victorian art and
literature.
Throughout all of Victorian art and literature it is clear that color has an astounding
impact on each aspect. Colors show us interpersonal relationships between characters as
well as personal identifications of individual characters themselves. Some colors show us
how a character is feeling and what a character really wants. Other colors tell us if a
character is completely rational or if he or she is letting emotions take over and color
the world around them. Finally, colors also show us the feelings of the artist or writer
as well, letting us know their personal views or beliefs. All of this evidence undeniably
proves that colors has gone beyond just being an adjective. It is an integral part of the
identity, emotion, and desire of every character. It has truly transcended all
expectations and become it's own entity, it's own power, and most of all, it's own
language.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Abrams, A.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Victorian Age. New
York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2000.
Tennyson, Lord Alfred. In Memoriam (54-56 fragment) 1850. 7 Nov. 2000