Christina Reich

HUM 1020 Z 

Professor Scheafer 

January 29, 2012 

Disparity, Hope, and Conflict 

            William Telbin created a scene design in 1864 for “Shakespeare’s Hamlet” which captures key elements of a theatrical tragedy.  Through his masterful use of color, light, and composition, Telbin successfully communicates feelings of disparity, hope, and conflict to the observer. 

            The use of cool blues is a connotation for feelings of a stark coldness. Cool blue is juxtaposed with black throughout the piece, implying a theme of conflict. Though not totally absent of warmth, the scene design primarily calls upon color to portray a cold presence wrapped in conflict.   The warm orange found in the flame at the top of the prominent stack is the only flicker of hope represented in color. 

            A lunar light source serves a duality in purpose. Light streams into the foreground, purposefully separating the piece into two regions. The well-lit foreground highlights objects diminutive in nature in comparison to the towering, ominous background. Therefore, the light has also captured the essence of hope and despair. Hope is represented by the luminous foreground and despair is represented by the darker background. 

            Dennis J. Sporre writes, “If we place a triangle so its base forms the bottom of a picture, we create a definite sense of solidarity and immovability” (62). Employing an upright triangular composition, Telbin’s scene design grounds the piece in disparity. The broad base of the triangle is an artistic representation of stone or rock, implying permanency. The dark looming castle, representing despair, encompasses the main body of the triangle. By combining the fore-mentioned statements, the observer can conclude that despair is prevalent and is not going anywhere in the near future. Despair prevails over hope. 

            Through his masterful use of cool colors, lunar lighting, and upright triangular composition, Telbin succeeds in portraying feelings of despair, hope, and conflict. In doing so, he captured the essence of theatrical tragedy. 

 304 words