Mise en Scene of 'The Piano' - Costume

The costume in the film and in the scene is also important; they inform and remind the audience about what kind of time period the film is set in. Some costumes are more significant than others; particularly, Ada’s dress. Ada’s dress becomes a symbol of her and other womens’ oppression. The dress is a painful, uncomfortable thing that Ada is forced to made to wear by society. The dress comes to represent Ada’s cage, but she also uses it as protection. Not only does she uses it to keep her and her daughter warm at one point in the film, but it also shows her refusal to be affectionate, particularly to her husband. It becomes a barrier and she chooses who is allowed to come in and who is not. This symbolism is apparent in this scene as well when at 01:33:26 Alisdair tries to rip open her dress but she fights him off. In the scene, Ada is dressed in black. Perhaps this is condemnation for her adultery. Her daughter however, is wearing all-white and angel wings. This is symbolic of her innocence and her righteousness, since she did the proper thing to do and didn’t condone her mother’s affair. However, her clothes soon become dirtied in the scene. This represents her dissolving feeling of nobility as she sees what her actions are being done to her mother. This climaxes when she is sprayed with her mother’s blood. Both her and her mother Ada are gradually covered with dirt in the scene. At 01:33:39 there is a clothes up of Ada’s muddy hands. Seeing the two main and most likable character covered in dirt creates a feeling of discomfort in the audience. It adds to the horror of the scene.  It further emphasises the bleakness of the scene and the sadness experienced by the characters.