Echo And Narcissus Analysis

Salvador Dalí’s 1937 oil painting, The Metamorphosis of Narcissus, is his artistic rendering of the story of Echo and Narcissus, a story that first appeared in the Tales from Ovid. It was originally written by Ovid himself, but was later translated by Ted Hughes. In the story, Narcissus is a man who is truly in love and obsessed with himself, and denies Echo and many other nymphs who are in love with him. In the end of the story, Narcissus ends up turning into a flower after he realizes he can never have the person he truly wants. Dalí emphasizes both the passionate obsession and terrible grief that Narcissus feels throughout the story with his color schemes and his sectioning of the piece. Dalí uses two main color schemes to portray Narcissus’s feelings throughout the story. On the left-hand side of the painting, he uses bright oranges, red, and yellows to give a sense of passion. Narcissus’s passion is for himself and his looks. He realizes that he is infatuated with himself when he sees his reflection in a pond and he cannot even take his eyes off of the reflection. The colors Dalí uses also portray the love and passion that Echo and the various nymphs felt for Narcissus, even when he denied them. Narcissus had countless beautiful nymphs

The left-hand section, with the figure leaning over the pond, is a depiction of Narcissus admiring himself. The figure’s position is slouched and seemingly sad, which is exactly how Narcissus feels as he is looking at himself, knowing that he can never have what he truly wants. Dalí chose to emphasize the suffering that Narcissus felt because he is so vain. Behind the figure and on top of the figure’s head, there seems to be a fire burning. This burning fire represents the intense sensation that Narcissus feels for himself. Dalí perfectly captures the feeling of sorrow that Narcissus feels in the story with this section of the