MovieChat Forums > The Hours (2003) Discussion > Their Eyes and Symbolism (spoilers)

Their Eyes and Symbolism (spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by FloTheDoorWoman
4 replies | jump to latest

I just watched it again & I noticed something I've never noticed before. Clarissa, Laura, and Virginia all have the same eyes. Has anybody else noticed this? Meryl's eyes change a lot, she's said herself her eyes are an indefineable color, and I know she wears contacts, but even within the film her eyes seemed to change. They only looked light in one scene, where she's talking to Sally. Otherwise they're dark, sorta hazelish, maybe a very dark blue. It's hard to name the color exactly, but all three of them had the same color eyes in the film. Julianne's eyes usually look green, Nicole's a bright blue. It must be another common thread between the three of them Daldry put in, though it's more subtle than the other themes. It took me this long to notice it!

I've picked up on lots of symbolism before, and I'm not going to go through all of it now, but I'd like to point out the new thing I noticed last night. The flowers. Before, I'd said that they're a feminine symbol, and that they're not all the traditional man-giving-a-woman-flowers way. Now I noticed yellow roses came up in all three stories, not just generic flowers. Nowadays, yellow roses symbolize friendship, but I'm not sure that's what they meant here. I don't think that's it. All the flowers were given to someone who was dying/wanted to die. Laura. Richard. The bird in Virginia's yard. Like for an early funeral, maybe.

Thoughts?

"I'm 63 years old and I'm in love...for the first time in my life."

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sugar_n_spice 15 years ago

Now I noticed yellow roses came up in all three stories, not just generic flowers. Nowadays, yellow roses symbolize friendship, but I'm not sure that's what they meant here.

According to the Victorian-era Language of Flowers, yellow roses not only mean platonic love, but can also mean dying love. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_Flowers#Symbolic_meaning_of_f lowers

Don't move! You're surrounded by armed basterds!

[–] ironica728 15 years ago

I'm not positive on this, but I want to say that all the flowers were considered and put in thoughtfully by the crew. They're pretty much a staple of Virginia Woolf's writing and have a huge presence in both the novels of Hours and Mrs Dalloway. So if purposely put, I applaud the Hours for great attention to detail and the sources.

Marrrr-gaaaa-reeeeee-teeeee! IG
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[–] travelergirl 15 years ago

The use of yellow during the Victorian Age brought to mind a short story I read in college, "The Yellow Wallpaper." I believe there must be great significance to the use of yellow in that time. Maybe it poses an ironic contrast of the supposed happiness it symbolized in the ladies who were expected to appear perfect. And this is in opposition to the less desirable meaning it can symbolize, like a sickness that grows in the woman's mind from being suppressed. Boy am I glad I live in this time verses the Victorian Age.