Fashion Muse - The Story of a Murderer - Literature review Example

of this assignment: FASHION MUSE Patrick Suskind develops through reflections into the history of a man who is uniquely different to others around him. The story of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer discusses the nature of scent, of the human identification of others through the subtleties of recognition through odor. The protagonist in the story has no odor of his own leaving people somewhat put off by him for reasons that they can never quite understand. This leaves him alienated and alone. However, the protagonist, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, referred to by his last name throughout the book, has the ability to discern scents to such a high degree that the has a somewhat mystical presence in his abilities. This mysticism is advanced when, at a turning point in his life, he catches the scent of a young woman, but as he follows that scent to her, she is startled and begins to scream. He kills her, but realizes too late that in killing her, the scent goes away. The key to this story is in understanding the nature of alienation. Grenouille is outcast from the time of his birth, his mother rejecting him and leaving him to be raised by others, a series of bad experiences in which his own murder is explored at a young age when the other children in the boarding house where he lives try to suffocate him. Murder is introduced as an acceptable horror, one that occurs through the idea of breath which inextricably linked to the concept of odor. Even as he has been attacked with the idea of stealing his breath, he kills by taking the breath of the girl slicing the plums. Where the concept of scent is not possible to give over to the reader through actual scent, the imagery of scent is given lyrical translation through associating the intangible with the tangible. As an example, the first girl that Genouille kills is slicing plums, evoking colour and action into the idea of a memory of scent for the reader. The reader can see the juice of the plums as they are sliced, the spray reminiscent of the spray of a perfume, the freshness given a meaning in regard to the scent that they evoke. The unusual and coveted scent of the girl becomes associated with the scents of the plums as the extraordinary and unnaturally beautiful scent is given a more tangible reference for the reader. She could have been cutting any number of things, but the evocation of the plums provides a specific imagery that can be associated through multiple senses. In this first kill; Grenouille becomes defined by his obsession. He eventually becomes involved in the profession of perfumery, but in his initial introduction to the world of perfumery, he is used by the old perfumer who has lost most of his own talent. Therefore, the understanding that Grenouille has about the world is that he is isolated from it as much as it will use him when it can. Grenouille is defined by the disconnections that occur in his life, rather than the connections. The ways that he defines his world are unique, but rather than celebrated, for most of his life they are reviled. In the end, when he is accepted for his talents, even to the point that they provide an excuse to forgive his murderous deeds, he rejects the world and disappears from it through immersion in the scent that he had created. The backdrop of the story is based upon high levels of contrast between beauty and decay. The idea of decay is central as illness and the disposal of the body is counterbalanced with the concept of capturing something beautiful from the death of an individual. The idea is that the scent of the body could be distilled, that in death it could be preserved and placed into a base that would hold the quality of the aroma. The act, however, of preservation evokes imagery that is balanced between both the beautiful and the macabre. The primary colours that the novel evokes are driven through the concept of fleshly appeal. A warm rusty red emerges as the foundation of the colour palette that can be built from the book. This colour would be balanced by the tone of flesh, pale and tinged with the same red, but drained of the intensity of warmth. These two tones would be balanced through with the neutrality of a warmed gray undertone, the filth of eighteenth century France, a running undertone to the entire novel. The time period evokes a contrast of the concept of higher levels of scent couture as it is in balance with the general lack of hygiene that exists that would create an overwhelming stench. An acidic, yellow toned green accompanies both an aubergine and a deep plum tone. The colour palatte can be viewed, to an extent, within the portrait that Rococo artist Antoine Pesne did of himself and his daughters, aptly titled, Antoine Pesne with his Daughters, (1754). The painting reflects the palate, even though it does not specifically hold the tones. The feeling of something aging, ruffled and distressed at the same time comes through in the movement within the work. (Antoine Pesne with his Daughters, (1754) 2011) In creating a muse, a man for whom a couture collection could be created, inspired by the imagery that has been evoked within the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, he would embody the concept of youth, but the decay of the eighteenth century ripe within his manner and comportment. He moves with a formality that is tinged with ironies, his body thin, but square rather than long. This man evokes amusement, thoughtful contemplation on the hypocrisies and contrasts of life, never taking them too seriously, but never discounting them either. He is the centre, never the frame of an editorial, a reversal of importance from the feminine to the masculine; however a distinct androgyny is also present. This ambivalence of gender comes from the novel, a reflection of the high intensity of masculine characters with the objectification of the female manifested in the control of the feminine qualities of perfume that are defined by the murder of women in order to own their scent. The body of the female is a possession throughout the novel, not even to own her spirit or her identity, but to own her physical essence at the cost of her life. This man embodies both sides of gender as it is reflected within the novel. The muse for this project is an urban dweller, his occupation a mystery, not because it is difficult to imagine, but because he is the type of man who seems to have no direct obligations, but is always doing something clandestine. He is the type of man who makes deals, shifts the course of culture through controlling the world around him. He doesn’t work for someone, but has others who are thralls within his dominion. He never seems to sleep and his world is social and business 24 hours per day. He is a calm centre to a world that is revolving around him. (Andre 2010) The novel is a triumph of sensual delights, evoking the use of grand velvets, cottons and linens that are shredded and distressed. Urban, modern, timeless, yet with funky details that evoke the formality of the eighteenth century. Texturally, nothing is smooth; everything is defined by a depth that is anything but subtle. The inspiration of the novel provides a designer with a myriad of choices through all five of the senses, through smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound. In the scene with the girl and the plums, the sight of her is balanced with her scent, the sound of the pop of the skin on the plums as she slices through them, the textural feel of the sweet juice as it sprays over her skin, and of course the flavor of the plums. Through these types of multiple sensory experiences, the novel provides a complex inspiration for design. Bibliography Andre, Kiselev. 8 July 2010. Portrait of the elegant young couple in medieval era costumes. Shot in a Studio. 1Photos.com. Retrieved on 6 July 2011 from http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A2KJkes_wj9OmTkAE5iJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cnMybzJvBHNsawNpbWc-?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Deighteenth%2Bcentury%2Bart%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26b%3D121%26tab%3Dorganic&w=486&h=730&imgurl=1photos.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F07%2Fwpid-web_medieval_couple_s30_31_part.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2F1photos.com%2Fportrait-of-the-elegant-young-couple-in-medieval-era-costumes-shot-in-a-studio-3%2F&size=61.4+KB&name=18th%2C+19th%2C+aristocrat%2C+art%2C+artistic%2C+ball%2C+beautiful%2C+carnival+...&p=eighteenth+century+art&oid=07f0e8940ce7dfa8b5058cd65cd9f1bb&fr2=tab-web&fr=&tt=18th%2C+19th%2C+aristocrat%2C+art%2C+artistic%2C+ball%2C+beautiful%2C+carnival+...&b=121&ni=30&no=147&tab=organic&sigr=134itgrgj&sigb=13cejs603&sigi=12fujgmfv&.crumb=wODQCplAPmO Antoine Pesne with his Daughters, (1754). 2011. 18th Century Blog: Fashion and culture from the 1700s. Retrieved on 6 July 2011 from http://images.search.yahoo.com/ images /view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei% 3DUTF-8%26p%3Deighteenth%2Bcentury%2Bart&w=135&h=160&imgurl= www.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Deighteenth%2Bcentury%2Bart%23focal%3D4ae35dcf3d282bd24c0b6563980082c0%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252f18thcenturyblog.com%252fimages%252fuploads%252f673_original.jpg%253f1234271951&size=&name=search&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Deighteenth%2Bcentury%2Bart%23focal%3D4ae35dcf3d282bd24c0b6563980082c0%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252f18thcenturyblog.com%252fimages%252fuploads%252f673_original.jpg%253f1234271951&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Deighteenth%2Bcentury%2Bart%23focal%3D4ae35dcf3d282bd24c0b6563980082c0%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252f18thcenturyblog.com%252fimages%252fuploads%252f673_original.jpg%253f1234271951&p=eighteenth+century+art&type=&no=2&tt=115&oid=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fimages%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1157186584852%26id%3D53cc66bb741f33cf92bfa25c8da51446&tit=18th+century+blog&sigr=15qsbc90q&sigi=15jud3b44&sigb=120g3m206&fr=yfp-t-701 Suskind, Patrick. 1986. Perfume: the story of a murderer. New York: Vintage international. Read More