The Role of the Princess in Jean Cocteau’s Film Orpheus Essay examples

The Role of the Princess in Jean Cocteaus Film OrpheusAs he lay in his bed, Orpheus Death would watch him sleep. This is one of the or so notable reoccurring behaviors of the princess of decease in Jean Cocteaus Orpheus. As do apparent, one of the many differences between Cocteaus rendition of Orpheus and the Greek version is that death is personified through a fe anthropoid princess, rather than that of a male god. How does Cocteau embody death through the princess, is she exclusively mighty, does she escape mortal tendencies, and finally, what does all this suggest about death?Throughout history death has been a fascination to many authors, often personified as cruel, rigid, and ugly. In Cocteaus Orpheus, however, death (or by chance merely a face of death), is personified through a pulchritudinous and strong, young woman. While this faade fools Cocteaus characters, he uses many clues to record the princesss role such as appearance, dialogue, and actions. In the first crac k we are introduced to the princess when she appears at the social cafe with Cegeste, a distinguished and obstinate young poet. While her role at this point remains unclear, her powerful stature is clear. She steps out of her car with grace yet confidence, devising eye contact with no one, yet holding her head high. promptly she is noticed by Orpheus, by both her beauty and authority. Her clothing is sin black long skirt and black jacket, and her hair is worn sleeked bet on in a pony tail. All this indicates authority, tho the color excerption further indicates a cool, dark presence. Throughout the film, as the princesss mood changes, her wardrobe also changes, from business like to more romantic and seductive. despite these changes, one thing remains constant, the co... ...ponding to her abuse of power. While she did possess powers, she did not possess the authority of when to exercise those powers.In Jean Cocteaus Orpheus, he has personified death through a beautiful pri ncess. Throughout the film, many universal beliefs of death were challenged, from those more trivial such as how death may appear, to whether it be an all-powerful occurrence, or managed under some higher(prenominal) power. By using the princess as deaths personification, he weakened the mood of death suggesting that while it is beyond the hands of mere mortals a higher power is in control. As the princess took life through personal motive, perhaps there, too, is motive behind whatever power controls death. I believe Cocteau is suggesting that we perish in a world where death comes to not only those deserving, but to bystanders who happen to be in the way of a personal goal.