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.
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
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