The Painted Veil: A Structural Analysis

1. The Painted Veil:A Structural Analysis ASL ~ Literature in English

2. Foreshadowing • Kitty’s first meeting with Charles Townsend • Watching a play at a Chinese theater • Townsend’s translation of the storyline: • About a young girl weeping • For her being sold into a life of slavery and taken away to a foreign land • For her being condemned to this life in which she will never find happiness, never be loved or love in return

3. Foreshadowing • A striking description of the life that Kitty will soon know: • Her and Townsend’s affair begins shortly after watching this play • Soon taken away by her husband, Walter, to a very foreign land where she feels enslaved, alone, unloved and unable to love • As a punishment of her infidelity

4. Explicit Plot • Kitty and Walter get married, but she has an affair with Charles Townsend. • Walter takes revenge by forcing her to accompany him to a disease-ridden Chinese village where she will feel miserable. • However, misery awakens enlightenment, reconciliation and redemption.

5. Implicit Plot • The motive behind Kitty’s affair: • Marrying Walter for the wrong reasons • Kitty never loved Walter, respected him or had any interest in him • Getting married to spite her mother • Kitty’s character: selfish, impulsive and rebellious • Her affair with Townsend: to rebel against her husband whom she didn’t love

6. Implicit Plot • Walter’s motive for avenging Kitty’s affair: • by taking her to a cholera-infested village • Instead of bursting into the bedroom when he knew his wife was cheating on him • Walter as malicious and calculating, rather than confrontational • Decision upon cold, calculated punishment by enslaving his wife into a life where she would be miserable

7. Sub-plots • The relationship between their neighbor Waddington and his Chinese wife • Waddington’s affection and his wife’s admiration towards him • Forcing Kitty to examine her own relationship with Walter • Motives of the French nuns operating the orphanage • To serve God’s will to serve others with love while one has it • Help Kitty become more self-aware

8. Ending of the Film • Walter and Kitty are able to find love and acceptance of each other toward the end of the film • Portrayal of raw human emotion, anger, resentment, guilt and finally acceptance • Walter and Kitty are never happy in the film • A somber acknowledgement of growing respect for each other that did not exist before the betrayal • Under the life-threatening Cholera, they are able to put their bitterness aside, find companionship and mutual understanding

9. Imagery • Breathtaking images of an idyllic, seemingly mythical Chinese landscape • Idyllic beauty = Immense suffering • The cholera epidemic and political turmoil ravages the landscape

10. Imagery • The scenery: symbolic for Walter and Kitty’s relationship • Seemingly a healthy young married couple to those they initially meet • Just as the perfect Chinese landscape • Immense suffering, grief and turmoil inside • Always feel like a foreigner in an unfamiliar land uncertain of what will happen next

11. Colour and Lighting • The beginning of the film: gorgeous bright colors • After the betrayal: more muted colors • A lot of dead colors like grays and very drab blues: • Impact of sadness, loneliness and unease • Early in the film (before the betrayal): bright and cheerful lighting • Post-affair: dim lighting filled with shadows • Creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty and a sense of powerlessness

12. Conclusion • A powerful and provocative tale of betrayal, revenge and the immense emotional havoc that infidelity reaps on relationships • A story about self-awareness • A cautionary tale to be weary of the “painted veil”

13. Conclusion • Do not fall in love with an illusion • Get to truly know your love-interest to avoid disenchantment and pain when the truths are revealed • Ending: a somber tale of betrayal, consequence, self-discovery and the difficult road to redemption

14. ~ The End ~