Three absolutely stunning women stand on the top of a hillside, contemplating the rest of their night. A full moon and a cemetery behind their lifeless bodies suggest the danger that resides within these women. They stand with such great posture, knowing their great beauty and power. The blood dripping down the sides of each of their mouths suggests their desire for more. The sharp-teethed women crave their next prey and recognize that they could have anything they yearned for. With gorgeous flowing red hair, the leader demonstrates her eagerness for her next move with her open hands. Her thirsty eyes stare off in the distance, contemplating their next victim. Though her eternal existence and beauty give her power, her empty eyes suggest she still hungers for a life with love and death. Analysis #2
Vampires as a Signifier
According to Saussure, semiology is “a science that studies the life of signs within a society” (60). In this study of “language [as] a system of signs that express ideas,” a sound-image is referred to as a “signifier.” When a group of people who share the same language read or see a signifier, they immediately have a common or similar response/meaning to that word or sound-image. This meaning, or what is implied by the word, is known as the “signified.” Signifiers depend on these meanings, made up by society, to be able to function.
Through the photograph of the vampire women (the signifier), there are many connotations that we as a society hold (the signified). When most people see vampires, they are most likely to think of adjectives such as evil or dark. But just because we all have this same connotation, does not mean that it is necessarily true. We, as a society, have decided this is so. This helps to understand what Saussure meant by “the linguistic sign is arbitrary” and “the bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary” (62). Minus the exceptions of onomatopoeia and interjections, in language, arbitrary is meant that “it actually has no natural connection with the signified” (62).
Now that we understand what semiotics is, let’s take a look back at the picture of the vampire women and do a semiotic analysis of the photograph. Of course, immediately whenever someone sees a vampire (the signifier), they think of evil, blood-sucking, death, and a terrifying amount of power (the signified). Moving on to other aspects of the picture, the color white is usually something that we associate with good or purity. In this picture, the vampires are wearing white dresses that are dirtied by dirt and blood. This signifies that they are the opposite of pure and are in fact evil. In this example, the discolored white clothing is the signifier and the fact that they are evil is what is being signified. Another example is the full moon as a signifier. Full moon’s tend to be associated with evil, werewolves, scary movies, etc, which are all examples of what is being signified by the full moon. This picture is clearly at night and because it is dark at this hour, it is also associated with evil. People tend to be afraid of night and the darkness is brings with it. Once again, night is the signifier and evil is the signified.
Although I believe this picture holds so much more, the majority of people will agree with me when I say what is being signified from this picture is pure evil. Because as a society we’ve come up with these connotations of words or sound-images, something as beautiful as night has been signified as evil. But, by having these connotations and meanings of signifiers, we prove that Saussure is in fact correct; we do have a language that is “a system of signs that express ideas” (62).
Through the photograph of the vampire women (the signifier), there are many connotations that we as a society hold (the signified). When most people see vampires, they are most likely to think of adjectives such as evil or dark. But just because we all have this same connotation, does not mean that it is necessarily true. We, as a society, have decided this is so. This helps to understand what Saussure meant by “the linguistic sign is arbitrary” and “the bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary” (62). Minus the exceptions of onomatopoeia and interjections, in language, arbitrary is meant that “it actually has no natural connection with the signified” (62).
Now that we understand what semiotics is, let’s take a look back at the picture of the vampire women and do a semiotic analysis of the photograph. Of course, immediately whenever someone sees a vampire (the signifier), they think of evil, blood-sucking, death, and a terrifying amount of power (the signified). Moving on to other aspects of the picture, the color white is usually something that we associate with good or purity. In this picture, the vampires are wearing white dresses that are dirtied by dirt and blood. This signifies that they are the opposite of pure and are in fact evil. In this example, the discolored white clothing is the signifier and the fact that they are evil is what is being signified. Another example is the full moon as a signifier. Full moon’s tend to be associated with evil, werewolves, scary movies, etc, which are all examples of what is being signified by the full moon. This picture is clearly at night and because it is dark at this hour, it is also associated with evil. People tend to be afraid of night and the darkness is brings with it. Once again, night is the signifier and evil is the signified.
Although I believe this picture holds so much more, the majority of people will agree with me when I say what is being signified from this picture is pure evil. Because as a society we’ve come up with these connotations of words or sound-images, something as beautiful as night has been signified as evil. But, by having these connotations and meanings of signifiers, we prove that Saussure is in fact correct; we do have a language that is “a system of signs that express ideas” (62).
Works Cited:
De Saussure, Ferdinand. Course in General Linguistics. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2004. 59-71
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