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Symbolism In The Marble Statue By Joseph Van Eichendorff

Decent Essays

In ‘The Marble Statue’ the author, Joseph Van Eichendorff demonstrates the use of song, and the symbolism of color and flowers to characterize beauty and emotion, mainly within the statue of Venus, but also throughout other characters in the novel. Throughout the story, these characteristics are what draw the main character, Florio, deeper into his infatuation with the Venus statue. However, the deeper meaning of the statue throughout the story leads to the conclusion that one’s dream fantasy is not always what one thinks it is.
The use of flowers and colors is extremely prevalent throughout the novel. In the beginning when Florio first encounters Bianca, he describes the scene with words like “bright green lawn”, “brightly colored feathers” “blue air” etc. He describes Bianca’s appearance as her wearing a brightly colored wreath full of flowers. The combination of these words emphasizes the youthfulness of Bianca and her beauty in Florio’s eyes. The repeated use of colors to describe the scene in which he first met her demonstrate how alive he felt at first glance with her. Later on, when Florio first comes into contact with the Venus statue, he uses the simile “like a magic flower sprung from the dawning light of spring” This shows the emotion he felt seeing the statue for the first time. He felt new, alive, almost young again. Similar to the way he felt about Bianca. This is the first instance where we see the effect that the statue has had on Florio and how mesmerizing

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