City Light Essay

The Beauty of Silence: A Scene Analysis of City Lights Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 silent film City Lights follows the story The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) who fall in with a Blind Girl (Virginia Cherrill) selling flowers on the side of the street. Unable to see that The Tramp is really a vagrant in gentlemen’s clothing, she mistakes him for a wealthy gentleman. The Tramp, who has fallen for the blind beauty, makes no attempt to correct her. Instead The Tramp attempts to earn money to help the woman he has fallen in love with; especially upon the discovery of an operation that may restore her sight. The Tramp succeeds in acquire the funds necessary to help his love, though his actions ultimately result in him being incarcerated for a period of time.
Viewers can become transfixed by the heart wrenching final scene in which The Tramp is released from jail and the Blind Girl has had her operation.
The Blind Girl finally learns that her wealthy benefactor was truly The Tramp, a fact that true love takes no mind of. Despite the lack of spoken words, Charlie Chaplin manages to utilize the costumes and the acting to create a visually sticking scene filled tangible emotions. Chaplin utilizes the costumes in the final seen to express the emotions of his character without requiring the utterance of a single word. Upon his release from prison, The Tramp is wholeheartedly dejected. He has not been able to see the love of his life for so long and appears unsure if he can find her. His utter hopelessness is evident through his clothes. Even though he is a vagrant, The Tramp always stove to look as gentlemanly as possible. Prior to his arrest, The Tramp kept himself well together despite his lack of funds. He had his top hat firmly
in place, his bow tie nice and tight, and his cane firm at hand. While his clothes may have been a bit big on his frame, he still attempt to keep poise and avoid extreme scruffiness and shreds. His costumes earlier in the film depict him as happy despite the hand life has dealt him. In the final scene, Chaplin utilizes The Tramps clothes to portray the inner turmoil the character experiences. He no longer has is cane, his jacket hangs loosely on him with no shirt underneath and no bow tie around his neck, and there are gashes all along his pants. The Tramp even hunches over as he walks. His entire appearance presents a man who can no longer remain elated with his life. Chaplin use of the outfit shows that without the Blind Girl in his life, The Tramp no longer has a motivation to be joyful. The utter raggedness of his garb in this final scene goes so far as to exemplify the purity of the love The Tramp felt for the Blind Girl. With no hope of finder his beloved, The Tramp has no reason to make the effort to appear elegant. Chaplin’s use of costume in the mise en scene of the final scene of the film creates a memorable moment for the viewers just as the acting does. While the outfit The Tramp wears enforces the emotion felt by the character, The Tramp’s actions in the final scene makes the love The Tramp feels for the Blind Girl palpable.
Charlie Chaplin and his fellow actors work wonders with the screenplay he crafted for City Lights. Normally, The Tramp held himself in a high regard despite his social status. He walked tall, never slouching. In the final scene, without the girl in his life, The Tramp walks around hunched over. As if to show that he now truly sees himself as small and insignificant. Similarly, as The Tramp continues to aimlessly walk the streets, two paper boys begin playing jokes on our hero. In the start of the film, The Tramp refused to let them get away with the behavior. Now, it appears that he allows them to throw spitballs at him, barely reprimanding them for their behavior. His actions here amplify the idea that The Tramp no longer has the energy to fight back, making obvious that his love for the Blind Girl was not a fleeting fancy. Furthermore, when he does finally find her, The Tramp stares at the Blind Girl with a childlike innocent look upon his face. As if he is amazed to see her, but to afraid do act upon it. Then, after realizing the blind girl can see him in his true colors, he runs away. Giving the effect that he is both afraid of rejection and that he is willing to sacrifice his own happiness so that the Blind Girl can live in prosperity. Viewers become transfixed as the Blind Girl stops The Tramp
and grabs his hand. It is then that she realizes that The Tramp is her love, and as she discovers this The Tramp stares at her again with a childlike look on his face. His facial expression suggests, to the viewers, that he is both afraid and hopeful that she can love him for who he is. Chaplin ends the scene while the two lovers gazing into each other’s eyes; eyes that are filled with devotion, noticeable by all. At this moment viewers know love is truly blind. She can see him for who he truly is and that does not change how she feels, viewers can sense the vast amounts of love the two feel for one another. The love is so obvious and tangible, that viewers never required a single word to be spoken. The acting in the final scene enforces the emotion of the moment making it a timeless scene and expression of true love. All in all, Charlie Chaplin takes a wordless scene and through the use of costumes and acting, he creates an interaction that speaks volumes. Chaplin’s use of ragged and torn up clothing on The Tramp insists on The Tramp’s inner turmoil and lack of self value without his true love. This clever use of the mise en scene allows viewers to suffer alongside The Tramp, without requiring him to every say a single word. The beautifully performed scene enhances the viewer’s experience of every heart wrenching moment between The Tramp and the Blind Girl, The actions, movements, and facial expressions reveal all. Viewers become transfixed into a timeless moment between two lovers. Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights not only shows that love is blind, but it is also beautifully silent.