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Theory of Color Expression
There is a communicative power to color. Knowing this expressive power of color allows the artist and designer to clearly convey his or her intended message.
A single color or combination of colors might contain symbolic meaning, evoke emotions, convey a message, attract attention or display a mood.
Social, cultural, human psychology, as well as fashion trends are factors that can affect how colors are seen, felt, or interpreted.
For a specific color expression it is important to understand the requirement for achieving a predetermined goal.
One process of systematic color thinking is to begin choosing one main color and choosing other colors to work with it.
Remember, in any color scheme adjustment to hue, value, and Chroma can lead to significant changes in color expression.
With that said, here are ideas related to color expression:
Reds – Convey strong emotion and are the first to catch the eye. They are hot, intense, and active hues that are associated with blood, anger, aggression, war, and evil, as well as with integrity, love, and passion.
Oranges – Warm colors that are associated with cheeriness and life, not as intense as red but more visible than yellow. Adding white tends to make it lose character, making it look feeble and weak. Black moves it to a dull and withered brown that is a good base for beige hues.
Yellows – The most light giving and intense of all pure hues. When used alone, yellows can be hard to see, but when yellows are added to a dark composition, a sense of light and cheeriness may be created. Used at normal value, yellows are symbolically associated with knowledge, understanding, life, and the sun. When yellow is diluted, it is associated with cowardice, envy, distrust, betrayal, doubt, and falseness, and disease.
Greens – Soothing to the eye because of their softness and saturation, they are associated with life, fruitfulness, contentment, friendliness, hope, dependability, and steadiness.
Blues – Calming and soothing hues, they are very passive spatially. Blues are always associated with coldness and carry spiritual significance because of the link to the sky and water. They symbolically carry interpretations of sadness and honor in the pure hues, but as they are diluted become associated with superstition, fear, grief, and perdition.
Violets – Deep and rich hues, they appear spacious and saturated. They are associated with royalty, the unconscious, mystery, piety, injury, and insanity.
Remember that colors, like people, are complex beings. Which facet of its personality a single color chooses to exhibit will depend upon the context in which the color is used.
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Design Fundamentals
Abstraction – A visual representation that may have little resemblance to the real world. Abstraction can occur through a process of simplification or distortion in an attempt to communicate an essential aspect of a form or concept.
Achromatic - the total absence of color: Comprised only of black, gray and white values.
Aerial perspective – the perception of less-distinct contours and value contrasts as forms recede into the background. Colors appear to be washed out in the distance or take on the color of the atmosphere. Also called atmospheric perspective.
Allover pattern – a composition that distributes emphasis uniformly throughout the two-dimensional surface by repetition of similar elements.
Alternating rhythm – A rhythm that consists of successive patterns in which the same elements reappear in a regular order. The motifs alternate consistently with one another to produce a regular (and anticipated) sequence.
Ambiguity – obscurity of motif or meaning.
Amplified perspective – a dynamic and dramatic illusionistic effect created when an object is pointed directly at the viewer.
Anticipated movement – The implication of movement on a static two-dimensional surface caused by the viewer’s past experience with a similar situation.
Assemblage – an assembly of found objects composed as a piece of sculpture. See Collage.
Asymmetrical balance, also called informal balance, involves placement of objects in a way that will allow objects of varying visual weight to balance one another around a focus point. Balance achieved with dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight or equal eye attraction.
Axis – a line of reference around which a form or composition is balanced.
Bilateral symmetry – balance with respect to a vertical axis.
Biomorphic – Describes shapes derived from organic or natural forms.
Closed form – The placement of objects by which a composition keeps the viewer’s attention within the picture.
Collage – An artwork created by assembling and pasting a variety of materials onto a two-dimensional surface.
Complementary contrast – a color scheme incorporating opposite hues on the color wheel. Complementary colors accentuate each other in juxtaposition and neutralize each other in mixture.
Composition – the overall arrangement and organization of visual elements on the two-dimensional surface.
Content – an idea conveyed through the artwork that implies the subject matter, story, or information the artist communicates to the viewer.
Continuation – a line or edge that continues from one form to another, allowing the eye to move smoothly through a composition.
Contour – a line used to follow the edges of forms and thus describe their outlines.
Curvilinear – rounded and curving forms that tend to imply flowing shapes and compositions.
Equivocal space – An ambiguous space in which it is hard to distinguish the foreground from the background. Your perception seems to alternate from one to the other.
Exaggerated scale - the use of large size difference between objects to simulate great distance.
Figure – any positive shape or form noticeably separated from the background, or the negative space.
Focal point – a compositional device emphasizing a certain area or object to draw attention to the piece and to encourage closer scrutiny of the work.
Form – when referring to objects, it is the shape and structure of a thing. When referring to two-dimensional artworks, it is the visual aspect of composition, structure, and the work as a whole.
Gestalt - is a psychology term which means "unified whole." It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. The principle maintains that the human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts. These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles (similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure & ground) are applied.
Ground – the surface of a two-dimensional design that acts as the background of surrounding space for the “figures” in the composition.
Hieratic scaling – a composition in which the size of figures is determined by their thematic importance.
Idealism – an artistic theory in which the world is not reproduced as it is but as it should be. All flaws, accidents, and incongruities of the visual world are corrected.
Imbalance – occurs when opposing or interacting forms are out of equilibrium in a pictorial composition.
Impasto – a painting technique in which pigments are applied in thick layers or strokes to create a rough three-dimensional paint surface on the two-dimensional surface.
Implied line – invisible lines created by positioning a series of points so that the eye will connect them and thus create movement across the picture plane.
Informal balance – synonymous with asymmetrical balance. It gives a less-rigid, more casual impression.
Kinesthetic empathy – a mental process in which the viewer consciously or unconsciously re-creates or feels an action or motion he or she only observes.
Kinetic – artworks that actually move or have moving parts.
Legato – a connecting and flowing rhythm.
Lost and found contour – a description of a form in which an object is revealed by distinct contours in some areas whereas other edges simply vanish or dissolve into the ground.
Mandala – a radial concentric organization of geometric shapes and images commonly used in Hindu and Buddhist art.
Medium – the tools or materials used to create an artwork.
Minimalism – an artistic style that stresses purity of form above subject matter, emotion, or other extraneous elements.
Mixed media – the combination of two or more different media in a single work of art.
Montage – a recombination of images from different sources to form a new picture.
Negative shapes – a clearly defined shape within the ground that is defined by surrounding figures or boundaries.
Negative space – unoccupied area or empty space surrounding the objects or figures in a composition.
Nonobjective – a type of artwork with absolutely no reference to, or representation of, the natural world. The artwork is the reality.
Objective – having to do with reality and fidelity to perception.
Opaque – a surface impenetrable by light.
Open form – the placement of elements in a composition so that they are cut off by the boundary of the design. This implies that the picture is a partial view of a larger scene.
Overlapping – a device for creating an illusion of depth in which some shapes are in front of and partially hide or obscure others.
Pattern – the repetition of a visual element or module in a regular and anticipated sequence.
Picture plane – the two-dimensional surface on which shapes are organized into a composition.
Positive shape - The part of a composition that we pay attention to; the recognizable object, figure, or subject matter.
Positive space – any shape or object distinguished from the background.
Primary color - the preliminary hues that cannot be broken down in order to make other component colors.
Progressive rhythm – repetition of a shape that changes in a regular pattern.
Proportion – size measured against other elements or against a mental norm or standard.
Proximity – the degree of closeness in the placement of elements.
Radial balance – a composition in which all visual elements are balanced around and radiate from a central point.
Rectilinear – composed of straight lines.
Repeated figure – a compositional device in which a recognizable figure appears within the same composition in different positions and situations so as to relate a narrative to the viewer.
Repetition – using the same visual element over again within the same composition.
Rhythm – an element of design based on the repetition of recurrent motifs.
Shading – use of value in artwork.
Shape – a visually perceived area created either by an enclosing line or by color and value changes defining the outer edges.
Spatial illusion - creates a sense of space using overlap, diminishing size, and effects of atmosphere.
Staccato – abrupt changes and dynamic contrast within the visual rhythm.
Subject – the content of an artwork.
Symbol – an element of design that communicates an idea or meaning beyond that of its literal form.
Symmetry - means a mirror image. Symmetry can occur in any orientation as long as the image is the same on either side of the central axis.
Tactile texture – the use of materials to create a surface that can be felt or touched.
Texture – the surface quality of objects that appeals to the tactile sense.
Tint – a hue mixed with white.
Unity - subjects connected to one another via similarity in design elements.
Value – a measure of relative lightness or darkness.
Vertical location – a spatial device in which elevation on the page or format indicates a recession into depth. The higher an object, the farther back it is assumed to be.
Visual texture – a two-dimensional illusion suggestive of a tactile quality.
Volume – the appearance of height, width, and depth in a form.
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Color Vocabulary
Achromatic. The total absence of color: Comprised only of black, gray and white values.
Additive color. Color created by mixing the rays of white light, from which all color is derived. The spectrum of color exists within the rays of white light. Superimposing the three additive primaries (RGB), which when reversed will create white light.
Analogous Color. Colors that are closely related in hue. They are side-by-side on the color circle. Three to five colors in order constitute an analogous color harmony. They are basically a family of hues.
Atom. The smallest particle of an element that still retains the properties of any given element. The atom is the mother-ship with a cargo of smaller particles and units, including the all-important color quark.
Brilliance. Same as the word intensity, which refers to the change in the lightness in any given hue.
Chroma/Chromatic. Pertains specifically to the presence of color. The opposite of Achromatic.
Chiaroscuro. The average gradation of values from light to dark. A type of tonal shifting across a curved or variable surface, which is responsible for creating volume and mass. The skilled use of Chiaroscuro is to create believable space or the illusion of form, on a flat surface.
Color. Color is the visually revealed component of light. Color possesses certain physiological factors, which are accompanied by various psychological ramifications, and symbolic elements. The symbolic and psychological aspects of color are at variance, since they are determined by specific cultural perceptions.
Color Dyad. A color harmony consisting of two opposing colors on the color circle. Another definition for dyads is a complementary color scheme.
Color Hexad. A color harmony comprised of six colors. A hexagon within the color circle determines specific color orders. The color order is designated by the points where each line meets. A hexad is made-up of three complementary pairs.
Color Tetrad. A color harmony comprised of four colors. A tetrad can exist in two forms. The first is a perfect square inscribed within the color circle. Each point where lines connect will determine the harmony color order. The second form of a tetrad harmony can be determined by inscribing a rectangle in the color circle. The same method determines the color order as before. Tetrads contain two primary colors and their complements, or a complementary pair of intermediates.
Color Triad. A color harmony containing three colors. A triad is an equilateral triangle inscribed within the color circle. Color harmony is determined by the point where each line meets. Primary and secondary triads are the most common.
Color Quarks. Contained within the atom are baryon particles, each one containing three quarks. Each baryon bundle of three quarks contains one red, one green, and one blue quark. Together, these constitute the additive primary colors. Constantly colliding, these quarks form white light, the sum of all colors.
CMYK. An acronym for digital color: Cyan, magenta, yellow and black. They are the subtractive colors of inks in a printer. Color while on the monitor is referred to as RGB additive color, but when printed it becomes CMYK subtractive color.
Complementary Color. Two colors directly opposite of each other on the color circle. The three basic complements are comprised of one primary and one secondary, such as Red and green, yellow and violet and blue and orange.
Electromagnetic Spectrum. A chart representing every possible radiation emitted from high energy gamma rays (shortest waves) to low energy radio waves (longest waves). Visible light, which equates to the spectrum of colors, is located in the center of the spectral chart between the gamma and radio waves spectrum.
Hue. Hue is the common name of a color and indicates its position in the spectrum or color circle. Hue is determined by the specific wavelength of the color in a ray of white light.
Intensity. Intensity is the degree or amount of saturation strength, or purity in any particular hue. Intensity also refers to brightness, whereas its cousin, which is saturation refers to purity. Intensity then, refers to a certain level of brightness in a given hue, as well as its amount strength of purity in a given color.
Intermediate Color. A color produced by the mixture of one primary and one secondary color. In the color circle, it is located between any single primary and secondary color. It is also referred to as tertiary color.
Key Color. When referring to key, we generally say that there are two states of existence for keys, that is to say high key and low key colors. High key is very bright, or think of a composition being very light, a tendency toward overall brightness or clarity. Low key is a dull state, or overall darker composition. Think of tints for high key and shades for low key. High key tends, at times to be somewhat radiant, where low key is not. Intermediate key is simply that; a means to be more specific.
Light. The revealed source of component colors within the electromagnetic system of wavelengths, known as the visible spectrum of color.
Local Color. Local, or objective color is the perceived notion about the color we see. It is what we think we see, as opposed to what the eye actually sees.
Monochromatic. Having only one hue with a complete range of values. So, a monochromatic blue composition will have a range or variable of values from light to dark blues.
Neutrals. 1. The inclusion of all color wavelengths will produce white, and the absence of any wavelengths will be perceived as black. With neutrals, no single color is noticed—only a sense of light and dark, or the range from white through gray to black. 2. A color altered by the addition of its complement, so that the original sensation of hues is lost or grayed.
Neutralized Color. A color that has been grayed or reduced in intensity by being mixed with any of the neutrals, or with a complementary color.
Optical Color. A type of additive color when two or more colors are closely juxtaposed. When viewed from a distance these combinations of colors appear to blend optically to produce colors other than those seen as local colors. When positioned closely together, they are perceived as a new color. Optical color is what your eye actually perceives, as opposed to what you think you see.
Pigment. Physical color substances, both natural and synthetic, that can be mixed to cover another tangible surface. Pigments are added to liquid vehicles, such as egg yolk or linseed oils to produce paints or inks, and are considered subtractive color.
Primary Color. The preliminary hues that cannot be broken down in order to make other component colors. The basic hues in any subtractive color system that in theory may be used to mix all other colors (red, yellow and blue). In theory, all color of subtractive pigments mixed produce black. Additive primary colors are the primaries of light (red, green and blue). All colors of the additive primary lights mixed produce white (light).
Reflected Color. The absolute truest color of any particular object is revealed by reflected color. It’s true color is separated from the other spectral colors, when the remaining colors are absorbed into that object’s surface. A red apple appears to be red because the red is reflected back into the viewer’s eyes, while the remaining spectrum of colors is absorbed into the apple’s surface. Basically, the molecular constitution of the apple’s surface recognizes the ray of red light only.
Refracted Light. The bending of light as it travels from one transparent medium to another, such as when light travels through two pieces of glass, through a white diamond, or when light travels from air to water.
Saturation. In pigment, it is the absolute purity of a given hue. It is total freedom from black, gray or white; it is the pure state of a color, or full strength. In additive color of prismatic hues, it is the color spectrum, which possesses the maximum saturation of a hue.
Secondary Color. A color produced by a mixture of two primary colors on the color circle, which are Orange, Green and Violet.
Shade. The addition of black to a given hue. Shading gradates from white to gray on the value scale, in that order.
Simultaneous Contrast. When two different colors, such as complements come into direct contact with one another, creating a neutral gray zone between them. The contrast intensifies the difference between the two, and in many cases a thin gray line will appear at the point where the colors come together. This is particularly true when saturated red is joined to its complement of green, which will produce a very obvious gray line between them. The two complements have visually cancelled each other at that juncture. Basically, the eye mixes the two complements, and cancels (neutralizes) them between.
Split-Complements. One specific color plus the two colors that exist on either side of its complement. An example would be a yellow and its complement violet. An example would be yellow and its complement of violet. One half of violet would be added to red, producing warm violet, and the other half of the violet would then be added to blue, which produces a cool violet. Therefore, the split complement is comprised of yellow, red-violet, and blue-violet. It is in effect a non-equilateral triangle of three colors.
Subjective Color. Color resulting from the mind, which demonstrates a personal viewpoint, particular bias, mood or emotion. Color combinations that tend to produce creative or original results.
Subtractive Color. The sensations of color that are produced by wavelengths of light, which are reflected back to the viewer’s eyes after all other colors have been absorbed by the object. For example, the surface of a green leaf has a particular molecular constitution that is only recognized by green in the spectrum of visual light. All other colors are not accepted, and are absorbed into the leaf, rather than reflected back to the eye.
Temperature. The colors of the spectrum, which are observed in their warm to cool and cool to warm order. Warm colors are red, orange and yellow. Cool colors are green, blue, indigo, and violet. Violet can be either warm or cool, depending on whether it is closer to the red side of the color wheel, or the blue side respectively.
Tertiary Color. Most refer to this as interchangeable with the word intermediate.
Tint. The addition of white to a given hue. Tinting is a gradient from gray to white on the value scale, in that order. Tinting tends to brighten a color.
Tone. Any hue with a combination of white and black, which reflects the overall value of a composition. The general tone of a composition can refer to the tints and shades throughout a given composition, which is responsible for its overall ambiance.
Value. The relative degree of lightness or darkness, or light to dark gradations, which can be seen on a gray scale. Chiaroscuro is much the same in this respect.Visible Spectrum. A band of seven individual colors that results when a beam of white light is broken into its component wavelengths, which we can identify as particular hues. Located in the center of the electromagnetic spectrum in the form of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (blue-green), and violet.
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The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light (1894)
by Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)
Between 1892 and 1894, Monet turned away from his usual landscape subjects and painted thirty views of Rouen Cathedral with a methodical intensity that was unparalleled in his career. For Monet, the Gothic monument was less important as a religious symbol than as a permanent, richly textured surface on which light and atmosphere could play with infinite and colorful variation.
The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light is an impressionist painting by Monet using oil on canvas when he was 54 years old. Monet began the paintings in January or early February 1892. He visited Rouen on three occasions and completed 20 views of Rouen Cathedral between March 1892 and Feb-April 1893. Monet worked in an apartment which he had rented on the second floor of a building opposite the Cathedral, facing the front.
The painting captured the effects of sunlight on the cathedral, which focused on the visual effects instead of the details of the structure. The short brush strokes of mixed blues and pure unmixed blues were not blended smoothly or shaded, creating a sort of color vibration with the red hues. The cool hues are accentuated by the dabs of warm white and red paint. Monet used a technique called impasto where thick paint is laid on the canvas to such a degree that brush strokes are visible. Using the technique the blue, white, and red paint were naturally blended, which also creates a texture. This creates the effect of the cathedral coming out of the painting. The light that reflects from the tint of red is also influenced by Monet’s paint stroke, which accents the sunlight bouncing off of the cathedral during the early morning hours. The purples that were created by the mixing of blue and red created a lower value hue which served as the shadows on the hallways, archways, and windows of the cathedral.
There is more contrast of colors and values as your eyes move vertically on the painting creating the spatial effect, emphasizing the focal point, which in my opinion is the top-middle structure of the cathedral. Your eye moves from bottom to the top, and then rests on the triangle and arch in the middle of the cathedral. The secondary focal point is accented by the red and orange tint of the cathedral tower.
Impressionist paintings are characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes. The emphasis is on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities, often accentuating the effects of the passage of time. Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that originated from Paris by a group of painters, of which the most renowned was Claude Monet. Impressionist paintings involve realistic scenes of modern life, and are often painted outdoors.
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Color and Space
There is a relationship between color and the illusion of space. The effect varies with the relationships of shape overlapping, color value, color temperature, color intensity, and color extension.
Value. Any light tone on a black ground will advance forward and a dark tone will recede. On white the effect is reversed. The dark will come forward, the light recede.
Temperature. Among cold and warm tones of equal value, warm will advance and cold will retreat. If light-dark contrast is present the forces in the direction will be added, subtracted or will cancel out. One can make a cold color move forward pass a warm color with value.
Intensity. The depth effects with saturation are as follows: A pure color advances relative to a duller one of equal value. But, if light-dark or cold-warm contrast is also present the depth relationship shifts accordingly.
Extension. A small amount of yellow on a red field causes the yellow to move forward as the red acts as a background. A small amount of red on a yellow field and the red moves forward. The yellow acting as the background.
Overlapping. Visually when shapes are overlapped the overlapping shape is perceived as being in front of the overlapped shape. This is a strong spatial effect often negating or enhancing the spatial attributes of value, temperature, intensity, and extension.
Texture/Detail. Texture and detail are the strongest in the foreground and decrease from the foreground to middle ground to background.
Focus. The level of focus is the clearest in the foreground with hard edges. The focus diminishes to soft and softer edge as one moves back in space.
Warm/Cool Attribute Contrasts:
Warm vs. Cool
Sun vs. Shadow
Opaque vs. Transparent
Stimulating vs. Sedative
Extroverted vs. Introverted
Dense vs. Rare
Earthy vs. Airy
Heavy vs. Light
Dry vs. Wet
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The Symposium
The Symposium is a story in dialogue format, by Plato. Set in the year 416 BCE, at a banquet, at the house of Agathon in Athens, Greece. Agathon is a playwright, who is celebrating a successful theatrical production. The story is narrated by Apollodorus of Phaleron, a student of Socrates. Attending the banquet are renowned scholars who challenge each other to conduct a speech, praising the Greek deity, Eros. Eros is the god of love and desire. There were seven scholars who were challenged to deliver a speech: Phaedrus of Myrrhinus, an Athenian aristocrat; Pausanias; Eryximachus, a physician; Aristophanes, a comic playwright; Agathon, a playwright and host of the banquet; Socrates, a philosopher; and Alcibiades, an Athenian statesman. Each of the attendees gave their speech about Love.
Is Love about being fulfilled or merely seeking it?
The answer to this question is subject to bias based on the perspective of certain characters. According to the first speaker, Phaedrus, Love is sharing and having that relationship with another who is willing to die for you. He uses the story of Achilles, a Greek hero in the Iliad, as an example of a person who is filled with love that he chose to die with his lover. Achilles,”...dared to stand by his lover Patroclus and avenge him, even after he had learned from his mother that he would die...” (p.35) Phaedrus also uses another story as an example, that of Alcestis who sacrificed her life to save her husband. Phaedrus believes that Eros is the most ancient and honored of all the gods, because he is virtueous and blessed. Pausanias also speaks of having a love, and defining what type of relationship it needs to be. Pausanias describes the difference between vulgar love and virtuous love. Eryximachus describes love as being in harmony with all areas of life, just like how music and medicine create harmony. Agathon also describes Love as being fulfilled, in that he is the happiest and most beautiful of the gods.
In contrast to the other speakers, Socrates believes that Love is not beautiful and Love is not good. "Let us review the points on which we've agreed. Aren't they, first, that Love is the love of something, and, second, that he loves things of which he has a present need?" (p.60) Socrates’ argument is that Love desires things that he doesn’t have by using a socratic method. The socratic method is a system of argument by asking and answering questions to prove a point. Socrates stated that Eros is the god of love because he seeks to have what he doesn’t have--those being beauty and goodness. "Then if Love needs beautiful things, and if all good things are beautiful, he will need good things too." (p.60) And, since Socrates is Platos protagonist, this makes Socrates’ argument the preferred description of Love.
Socrates explains the nature of the gods, who like people, do not love ugliness but instead desire beautiful things. He expands on this logic by stating that nobody needs things that they already have, so Eros/Love seeks love, beauty, and goodness because he needs them.
Does love "complete us" or "disturb us" or does it somehow do both?
The final orator is Alcibiades, a former military colleague and student of Socrates. They were once lovers, and now have an awkward relationship, in that Socrates does not reciprocate Alcibiades’ love. Perhaps, Socrates has lost interest in Alcibiades because he now fancies younger boys. Alcibiades starts his dialogue by comparing Socrates to a lustful satyr. A mythological creature that seduces people. Alcibiades expresses his love for Socrates, and that he still loves him despite how Socrates mistreats him. Alcibiades is vexed by Socrates. “But nothing like this ever happened to me: they never upset me so deeply that my very own soul started protesting that my life--my life!--was no better than the most miserable slave’s.” (p.78) He likened Socrates to that of Sirens, in that the creatures attract sailors and lure them to their deaths. Even still, Alcibiades will choose to be with Socrates. He states that he can’t live with or without him. Alcibiades then continues to describe his failed attempts to rekindle a romance with Socrates.
In conclusion, each character describes Eros, or Love, as a reflection of their own self. The reader or audience can clearly see that they all have an affinity for loving younger boys, and view their senior positions as that of a god-like position. A position of power, which seeks to have disciples that worship them. They promote subjugation of young boys as justifiable so that they develop virtue, or character. They feed their need for love by creating a deity that reflects their own need. The characters create a deity that embodies their beliefs, a deity that shares the same desires as they do. A deity that seeks love. A deity that seeks beauty. A deity that seeks goodness, which in itself is subjective, because what determines what is good is the deity’s moral compass.
Alcibiades’ story is that of tragedy, as he represents Socrates’ conquest. Alcibiades was a young masculine character, but he was enamored by Socrates, and eventually fell in love with him. After Socrates has had relations with Alcibiades, Socrates loses interest in him. This creates torture for Alcibiades and breaks his heart. He is a tragic victim of Love’s disciple, or conquest.
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Desire
Desire is a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. Desire resides in the pleasure principle. It motivates us to act so that we may satisfy our desires. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is filled with acts of desire. Claudius desired his brother’s crown so much that he was motivated into committing murder. After murdering his brother, Claudius took over as King of Norway and married his brother’s wife, Queen Gurtrude. This treacherous act has disturbed the spirit of Old King Hamlet, and thus his ghost haunts the living because he yearns for vengeance.
Hamlet’s does not desire to commit murder and so he struggles with himself. Hamlet is an educated man, intelligent and wise, which attributes him with a well-developed ego and superego. This overly developed intelligence kept his desires in check until he met his father’s ghost. He vowed to fulfill his father’s wish for vengeance, and this causes an internal conflict within him. This conflict is especially highlighted when he struggles with his relationship with Ophelia, his mother, and his uncle, King Claudius.
Hamlet loves Ophelia, and as a matter of fact, he has expressed his desire for her by writing her love letters. But, as he is now bound to enact vengeance, he wishes to distance himself from Ophelia. In fact, upon finding out that Ophelia is doing her father’s bidding by spying on him, his heart is broken and he becomes cruel towards her. He feels betrayed, and proceeds to mock her and calls her unchaste.
Ophelia is fraught with desire. She desires to wed Hamlet, but her brother, Laertes warns her about having marital relations before being wed. This act is frowned upon by their society and their Christian religion. Laertes warns that no man will be with her if she loses her virginity prior to marriage. Laertes also warns her that Hamlet has obligations as Prince of Norway and may not have control of who he chooses to marry. This breaks Ophelia’s heart as according to her in Scene 5, Act 4, she had already lost her virginity for having sex with Hamlet. “Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed.” (p.107) Ophelia thought Hamlet and her would one day wed.
Hamlet loved his mother, but now he feels that Queen Gurtrude is in an incestuous relationship with his uncle. Hamlet feels like his mother betrayed his father by marrying his uncle mere months after the late king’s death. Now, Hamlet desires to enact vengeance on his mother for her infidelity. However, Hamlet was restrained from hurting his mother by the manifestation of his father’s ghost. Old King Hamlet’s ghost appeared to Hamlet and reminded him of his promise to not punish his mother.
Hamlet’s plot for vengeance is masked in deceit as he pretends to be unbalanced so King Claudius and his spies will not be suspicious. He might actually be turning a little insane because of his mental breakdown. Hamlet’s madness is due to his internal conflict. In one end he desires to be a normal student, a Dane, or citizen of Norway, but he is obligated to fulfill his late father’s desire. He desires Ophelia, but he can’t have a normal relationship with her because he is burdened with his promise to a ghost. Seek vengeance on his uncle. Hamlet’s ideals and morality overshadows his id personality, and thus his desires are muted.
In conclusion, desire is a strong emotion that lies in the id personality. It drives some people mad. It motivates people to murder and treachery. The play Hamlet is a conflict of emotions, most notable of them being desire. Each character is in conflict with their own desires. The resulting emotion is of guilt as it conflicts with one’s ego and superego. Their desires conflict with their moral principles and their conscience.
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