Caroline Wurtzel
Introduction “Out, damn’d spot,” mutters Lady Macbeth while she scrubs her hands unconsciously in her sleep. She is ridden with guilt; she has blood that she cannot clean from her hands. It is a dark, pulsing, true red. She can’t get it out, “Hell is murky!” she screams, still asleep.
I have always been fascinated with words, but even more so, I have been fascinated with intertwining words and image. I was always interested in making words look like how they sounded, or look like the mood they evoke. For this book, I abstracted that idea further and explored how words intertwine with color. So, what better a source for emotional, colorful, and powerful language than William Shakespeare’s tragedies? This Macbeth quote is so powerful because the audience immediately sees red without Lady Macbeth even uttering the word. Shakespeare carries this type of powerful colorful imagery throughout all of his plays. Juliet’s devastating love evokes a deep and sorrowful red. Brutus’ deception bears shades of red, masking his intentions. Othello’s jealousy is green, his murder crimson. We can feel the red pulsing through Shakespeare’s words, staining the paper with intensity and power.
Blood & Revenge Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering my head Titus Andronicus, Aaron is the ultimate villain; his mind works like the devil. What’s worse, is his lover, Tamora, Queen of the Goths, feeds off of his evil. She relishes it, she’s attracted to it. His statement of vengeance and death is a twisted declaration of dedication and love to the Queen. The red pulses, illuminates his temples, lights fire in his eyes and engulfs his heart. He is evil to the core. His words drip with angry, vengeful red.
Till it be Morrow Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow. Romeo and Juliet, II.ii.188-90 Two lovers who can’t say goodbye. They know now that they want to spend the entirety of their lives together, always. They won’t be able to tear themselves away from each other, so they stand outside until the dark colors of the night turn light as the sun rises over them, hidden, on the balcony. In this moment, their colors are pure, perhaps there is still hope for the star-crossed lovers.
Only Love & Hate My only love sprung from my only hate! Romeo and Juliet, I.v.138 Love! So pure and clear and bright, but so easily tainted. Romeo and Juliet’s love is infamously tainted from the beginning,“O, I am fortune’s fool!” Romeo cries. If the Capulets are red, the Montagues are green; if the Montagues are red the Capulets are green. The colors muddle together, dimming the purest bright hue to something dulled, dark and doomed.
Let’s Carve Him And, gentle friends, Let’s hill him boldly, but not wrathfully. Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods Julius Caesar, II.i.178-80 They will kill Julius Caesar, there is no doubt. But, Brutus masks this evil deed in different shades of red. He chooses a bold, strong red instead of a fiery, angry hue. He tries to cloak a cold murder in shades of nobility and honor. This murder is complicated – it wears different colors depending on the motives. Marc Antony will try to make it noble, as will Brutus for they believe they are killing in the name of Rome. But, to Julius Caesar, the color will always be dark – he has been betrayed – “et tu, Brute?”
Incarnadine Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red. Macbeth, II.ii.57-60 Guilt is red for Macbeth. Guilt is irreversible, permanent and worse of all – pervasive. Will Macbeth ever be able to rid himself of this guilt? Could an entire ocean wash it away? He knows the truth. Nothing can wash away his guilt. His guilt will pervade everything he knows. What was once the calm blue-green will now be tainted red.
Gilded Butterflies So we’ll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we’ll talk with them too– Who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out And take upon‘s the mystery of things As if we were God’s spies; and we’ll wear out, In a wall’d prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebb and flow by th’ moon King Lear, V.iii.11-18 By the end of the play, there is no doubt that King Lear has gone mad. Once a powerful and at times unkind king and father, is now frail, old, and unstable. After disowning his youngest and most loyal daughter, Cordelia, he is reunited with her in prison. Weakened and aware of his previous mistakes, Lear has room for love. He tells Cordelia of their future in prison together in such a way that it sounds like they will simply be living in a cottage together‘til the end of their days. This monologue is epically heartbreaking. A father realizing all of his wrongs comes out in dulled shades of red. He is too old to make up for what he has done, but he is seeing the gold in the devastating situation.
Green-Ey’d Monster O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. Othello. III.iii.165-68 Iago is so influential over Othello, he might as well have poisoned the war hero. Jealousy is the seed Iago plants, and he watches it grow like weeds in Othello’s tortured mind. Devilishly, Iago warns Othello of the very emotion he has sparked. He tends to it, warning Othello of the dangers and unruliness of the jealousy he ignited. Ultimately, Othello becomes the epitome of murderous jealousy fueled entirely by Iago’s lies and influence. Othello turns ugly shades of green ending in the dark red murder of his love, Desdemona.
Conclusion Shakespeare speaks in color. There is bold red in Aaron’s eyes when he is angry,and crimson on Lady Macbeth’s hand. There are sunrise hues in Juliet’s declaration of love, and dark, muddled grays in her realization of their fate. Lear’s future in prison is dark muddled grays, while the gilded butterflies glint in gold. It was my goal throughout this book to give a small glimpse into the literal colorful language that this master uses. However, Shakespeare is not the only master of this craft. Anything from literature to everyday speech evokes color, and I hope that as you read, listen, and speak, you too will see the colors in words.