Changes of Heart Play Summary
Changes of Heart: A costume interpretationChanges of Heart reflects the irony and surprises of love in an entertaining story about broken hearts and new interests. The period of the play is set in the early eighteen hundreds and deals with the temptations of love compared to the temptations of money and material wealth. The costume design, although not as extravagant as many larger plays, was able to convey the theme of the production, as well as different feelings and dimensions of the characters. When the first scene begins, a young girl, later known as Silvia, sits in the middle of the floor picking daisies and smiling attentively. She is wearing a modest white dress and apron, signifying that she is a peasant or commoner. This attire, especially the color, becomes a symbol of innocence and naivete throughout the production. The innocence that Silvia exudes is quickly ripped away when the Princes servant Trivelin takes her from her familiar village and transports her to th
He is accompanied most everywhere he goes with a score of valets done up in most the same way, like little porcelain dolls. Silvia's boyfriend and love Harlequin steps onto the scene with a heavy plaid jacket, knickerbockers, and a red mask that covers the top portion of his face. Among the other characters of wealth in the castle is Lisette, a women far too preoccupied with looks to even notice that her superficiality is an annoyance to everyone she meets. The costumes could not be anymore correct as the shallow need for wealth overshadows the power of true love. e Princes castle filled with wealthy lords and ladies. Towards the end of the play, Harlequin, who has been masked the whole time, shows his true self. The play ends with Harlequin unmasked and vulnerable in the same common clothes with which he had worn throughout, and Silvia in an elegant gown strewn with riches and at the hand of the handsome prince. Throughout the production when things are not going his way he uses a flat wooden bat that he keeps in his belt to scare off the smaller more sophisticated characters such as Trivelin. Her ringlet hair is pinned with flowers, and her face, like in the beginning, is exuding with happiness. Her dress is supposed to be one of stature and importance, but because of her fake intentions, she comes off looking more like a two-dollar hooker than anything else. Although this time it is not love that she beams over, but riches and a new self-perception that has won her heart. His physical stature is larger than most of the characters in the play, and so he uses his brute strength to make up for his lack of material wealth. She paints her face in matching orange, and dots beauty marks all over her face and busting bosom to appear more attractive to the prince. His attire of velvet and rouge is a stark contrast from that of the rags that Harlequin wears. The green jacket and pants that Trivelin wears fits nicely with the theme of wealth and superficiality of the people who live in the castle.
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