Comparing The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

In the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby is diagnosed with locked-in syndrome after suffering a major stroke. He cannot walk, talk, or eat. He is only able to see out of one eye with which he communicates by blinking. During Jean-Do’s struggles with locked-in syndrome, many female characters do their best to make him as comfortable as possible. In the film, mise-en-scéne uses the motif of the color blue to portray the roles of the women and the scenes they appear in throughout Jean-Do’s life. When Jean-Do fantasizes about Empress Eugénie, she is dressed head to toe in a blue ball gown as the two of them are walking down a hallway together while she pushes him in a wheelchair. Empress Eugénie was the Empress of

Her blue dress symbolizes her joy and peace even during a difficult time and Jean-Do cannot help himself from staring at her while they are on the beach. While they are out on the shore, there is a clear blue sky and the vast blue ocean behind them. The blue ocean and blue sky behind Céline represent the vast openness and solitude that Jean-Do feels even when there are people right in front of him who care about him. Even though Jean-Do and Céline are not in love, Céline still wants him to be happy and be involved in their children’s lives. She does all that she can to make sure that he sees their children and spends time with them even when he is suffering. She cares so much for her children and Jean-Do that she wants them to be together even if Jean-Do is embarrassed for his children to see him that way. Her blue eyes represent her strength and dignity during such a difficult time and her willingness to help Jean-Do in any way that she can. She never gives up on Jean-Do even though his situation makes it so easy to. Her blue eyes and blue dress demonstrate her perseverance and love for her family even in the hardest times. Jean-Do knows that she will always be by his side and is thankful to her for allowing him to see his kids a few more times before he

Claude spends the most time with Jean-Do out of all the women in the film and knows how much literature means to him. She spends countless hours trying to help translate his book so he can publish it before it is too late. When she gives him the two blue books, he is shocked and so thankful for all that she has done. After she tells Jean-Do that she would not mind being dragged down to the bottom of the ocean by him, he imagines himself in a diving bell with Claude’s arms wrapped around him. During the dream when Jean-Do is dragging her down, they are in the middle of the blue ocean. They are alone in this scene and the blue of the ocean represents the comfort that Jean-Do feels when he is with Claude. He is perfectly fine being alone with her because he fully trusts her and spends the majority of his time with her. She is very patient with him and never gets