chapter 1 the white swan versus the Black Swan the Madonna and theore Toma Leroy enters the studio as the girls in the company are rehearsing and warming up and he begins to tell the story of Swan Lake as he surveys the girls we all know the story virginal girl pure and sweet trapped in the body of a swan she desires freedom but only true love can break the spell her wish is nearly granted in the form of a prince but before he can declare his love the lustful twin the Black Swan tricks and seduces him devastated the white swan leaps off a cliff killing herself and in death finds Freedom as tomal Leroy begins to discuss the plot of the ballet Swan Lake he is not just discussing the ballet but prophesizing what is to come prophesizing Nina's inevitable fate Toma announces that they will be doing the Swan Lake production a little differently this year they need a fresh face to present and she will be playing both the White Swan and the Black Swan the White Swan and the Black Swan are not merely characters and not merely characters that are relevant to Nina the Black Swan and the white swan are archetypes of women they are emblematic of the Madonna and the as we have discussed in previous video the white swan is the Madonna she is pure innocent the anenu the Black Swan is theore she is cunning and deviant the seductress nah and her ballet counterpart Odette are the perfect anenu ananus are characterized as young women and girls who possess qualities of Youth innocence naivity kindness and Purity she is the fond eyed Damsel in Distress and in literary fiction and film she is often the female lead or prot Agonist on the other side of the coin from the aanu we have the seductress embodied by Lily and her ballet counterpart odal the seductress is characterized by her promiscuity cunning nature and appeal she is the alluring fatal willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants she is most often framed as the villain as I've discussed in previous essays these archetypes of the anenu and the seductress draw parallels to Freud's psychoanalyst iCal theory of the Madonna and the mistress a theory that suggests that in the minds of some men they struggle to fully see women as fully realized and rather view them in these archetypal categories this theory was developed when Freud's patients repeatedly reported feeling unattractive to their wives though it wasn't a matter of libido as they remained attracted to sex workers the aanu is the girl you marry and the seductress is the girl you these archetypes are far older than Freud himself however and have shown up as two of the main representations of women throughout the history of art especially within puritanical culture nah is as mentioned the perfect anenu she possesses an air of sweetness and Purity though this is unfortunately not enough as tomas's production of the ballet is unlike other Productions of Swan Lake in which typically there would be one ballerina to play odet and another ballerina to play odal haa decided to fuse these roles however allowing the audience to truly be deceived by the dance of the Black Swan as they are in the ballet she must be played by the same girl as tomma quickly admits nah is the ideal White Swan and in any other scenario she would have been the perfect casting for the lead Odette though Nina fails to embody the seductive hypnotizing nature of the Black Swan ever since I was a little girl I was always torn between these two extremities of girlhood these two ideals of what women could be were laid out before us very young little girls are often ushered or encouraged towards the anenu of course but the media made the darker characters seem all appealing children's media aimed at girls often depicted these two archetypal extremities Ariel and Vanessa in The Little Mermaid Kim and sheo from Kimpossible Marina and ays from Sinbad or the fairies and the witches in wins club name a few nearly every year for Halloween as a child I would without fail dress as a princess or a witch though I remember being indecisive in my youth as the 31st of October creeped closer and closer which will I choose how do I want to be perceived interestingly enough The Princess and The Witch are emblematic of the archetypes in which we discuss the anenu and the seductress before we dive further into the video I would like to take a moment to introduce you to today's sponsor incog are you sure who knows your personal data such as your birthday for example maybe your friends maybe your family but also data Brokers thousands of companies are profiting off of your information your date of birth your employment history even your social security number by selling it online pretty scary right whilst you can track down that information and have companies delete it yourself this process can be very overwhelming complicated and take years this is where incog can help first create an incog account with your information second give incog permission to 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women are often forced into one of these two categories the Madonna or the the anenu or the seductress the white swan or the Black Swan we see this polaric standard enforced by seemingly harmless Tik Tock Trends are you a light feminine or a dark feminine do you have dough eyes or siren eyes are you deer pretty or Fox pretty are you a strawberry girl or cherry girl do you have prey eyes or Hunter eyes are you the anenu or the fetal the Madonna or the the prude or the White Swan or Black Swan as Susan Sant wrote in her essay the double standard of Aging to be a woman is to be an actress being feminine is a kind of theater with its appropriate costumes Decor lighting and stylized gestures from Early Childhood on girls are trained to care in a pathologically exaggerated way about their appearance and are profoundly mutilated by the extent of the stress put on presenting themselves as physically attractive objects women look in the mirror more frequently than men do it is virtually their duty to look at themselves to look often indeed a woman who is not narcissistic is considered unfeminine this pressure for Nina to embody the qualities of both the White Swan and the Black Swan Echoes the way in which women must walk a tight rope on our pathway into Womanhood to take on the impossible task of embodying both the Madonna and the in an attempt to remain humanized so as not to slip into the dehumanizing nature of both archetypes for if you embody only the characteristics of the Madonna you are Aude you're boring you lack the exciting appeal of the seductress and told that your husband will surely grow tired of you whereas if you are the seductress you are labeled as accused of being devalued unclean or even evil told that no man would ever make you a wife mirrors are a significant and prominent symbol within this story nah is persistently faced with mirrors and therefore must consistently confront the image of herself though she is not only faced with mirrors in the physical sense but also with mirrors in the form of doppelgangers Lily is of course the most obvious doppelganger casted very obviously due to the physical similarities milakunis and Natalie Portman possess she is Nina's most obvious double as she represents odal odette's double in the ballet though Lily is not the only doppelganger in the film Nina's mother acts as an additional double to Nina again the casting is uncanny as Barbara Hershey really looks as though she could be related to Portman and the third doppelganger being Beth played by Winona Ryder once again a very intentional casting decision as Portman and Ryder bear quite a few similarities though Lily is the primary representative for odal the three women mentioned all act as standin for the Black Swan in contrast to nah being the white swan these three women act as mirrors showing nah her potential outcomes Lily is who nah must become her mother is who she is afraid she may become and Beth is who she desires to be but also her inevitable fate Lily represents what Nina Needs to embody she is the perfect Black Swan casting had the production been cast in a traditional way it is a given that nah would have been cast as odet the white swan while Lily would have played odil the Black Swan Nina is threatened by this as she struggles to embody the essence of the Black Swan and Lily's presence is a constant reminder of what she must embody body and is failing to be I will be exploring the way in which Nina has a unique and yet symbiotic relationship with all four of these women within the film the way these four women act as reflections of nah her greatest desires her greatest fears her greatest insecurities and her greatest truths and as much as these four slim brown-eyed brunettes all represent the whites one and the blacks one in their own ways they also represent the dance of the Force One wands as they move in synchronicity their stories carefully intertwined with one another chapter 2 nenah versus her mother the suppression of Womanhood Nina's mother is perhaps the most subtle mirroring we see in Black Swan nah and her mother's relationship exhibit traits of the white swan Black Swan dynamic in the sense that it seems as though Nina's mother is constantly attempting to sabotage nah on a surface level one could glance at Nina's mother Erica and it would be evident that Erica is very supportive when it comes to her daughter Nina's career and her daughter in general though as the story unfolds one can come to realize that her mother is truthfully extremely overbearing and controlling of her daughter which has negative repercussions Nina's mother is a very important figure in the story and in Nina's Journey from White Swan to Black Swan I believe that much of wanina struggles throughout the film to tap into the Black Swan energy is a metaphor for her inability to tap into her Womanhood in a way her mother acts as a force pulling her towards the white swan archetype keeping her trapped within the confines of girlhood and stopping her from stepping into Womanhood the white swan as an archetype as discussed is characterized by qualities of Purity and innocence these are also qualities we associate with children especially girls the Black Swan is characterized by qualities such as seduction and deviant which are qualities often associated with women the Black Swan as discussed has roots in the archetype of the seductress and the witch these archetypes are culturally rooted in a fear of female sexuality and female power even within fairy tales and movies we often see the anenu portrayed by a child or teen girl whereas the witch is most commonly portrayed by either a sexually mature woman or an elderly woman though as stated there is a sort of cultural expectation for women to carefully balance and maintain a combination of attributes from both the White Swan and the Black Swan archetypes it is evident that most parents wish to only see their daughters embody the white swan as many parents struggle watching their daughters grow up and assert control over their lives and bodies throughout the film Nina's mother infantilizes nah nah is an adult presumably in her late teens or early 20s though throughout the film her mother treats her as far younger than her age Nina's mother keeps nah emotionally stunted in her maturity which contributes to Nina's confusion and anxiety surrounding the Black Swan role as the Black Swan represents a maturity that nah is stifled from branching into as she is so accustomed to the perceived safety of this infantilization Barbara Creed comments on this type of dynamic within Horror in their book the Monstrous feminine in these films psycho Carrie the birds the maternal figure is Con constructed as the Monstrous feminine by refusing to relinquish her hold on her child she prevents it from taking up its proper place in relation to the symbolic partially consumed by the desire to remain locked in a blissful relationship with the mother and partially terrified of Separation the child finds it easy to succumb to the comforting pleasure of the dietic relationship Nina's mother throughout the film repeatedly diminishes her daughter's capabilities in subtle yet J in ways when nah arrives home after her audition for the role of the Swan Queen upset that it didn't go well her mother Comforts her though moments later as nah is preparing to rehearse in the living room she can overhear her mother on the phone with an administrator of the ballet company nah attends stating you can't expect these girls to come back from break and dance like Beth McIntyre it's completely unrealistic I mean they can do the work but they don't have Beth's magic Nina's in the other room and she overhears this conversation and her mother knows she can hear Nina then begins to rehearse and while she does she cracks her toenail and is unable to finish the variation her mother helps her bandage her foot and says that nah is working too hard nah talks about Lily if that girl wouldn't have barged in to which her mother quickly replies I'm sure she didn't mean to her mother quickly changes the subject beginning to reminisce on when Nina first started ballet and if it wasn't for her mother taking her to each class she would have been completely lost her mother redirects the conversation to Center herself which is something her mother frequently does nah ignores her mother's comment and explains that she's going to tell tomma that she finished the dance her mother replies you don't need to lie it won't convince him one way or the other as her mother says this it feels in some way that her mother is trying to sabotage nah as she then tells her that maybe she'll get one of the smaller parts and either way she'll shine it is odd the way that Nina's mother is so convinced that nah won't get a larger role in the ballet when she really doesn't know what the outcome will be and especially when the audition didn't even go that badly considering tomma told nah her white swan was so good that she would certainly be cast as the white swan had it been a traditional casting later when nah is ultimately cast as the Swan Queen she calls her mother immediately and her mother is ecstatic when nah arrives home that night her mother surprises her with a cake to celebrate nah seems happy to share this moment with her mother until her mother begins to cut her a big slice of cake and requests a smaller slice but her mother ignores nah and continues to cut her a large slice of cake nah once again asks for a smaller portion but her mother brushes her off by stating it's just celebration it's just this one urging nah to eat the cake nah tries to explain that her stomach is still unsettled from the big day and her mother's smile drops and her personality splits fine then it's garbage her mother says as she lifts the cake and carries it over to the garbage can nah begins immediately apologizing and pleading with her mother expressing gratitude for the cake her mother stops and puts the cake back on the counter I'm just so proud of you she says a smile back on her face it looks so yummy nah reassures her mother her mother then puts some frosting on her finger and feeds it to nah as nah Smiles A seemingly forced smile this scene is important because it is a moment when nah is attempting to assert bodily autonomy and her mother ignores her and eventually becomes upset at n this then forces nah to backtrack and apologize for a reasonable request this behavior is consistent with Nina's mother as she displays a consistent desire for control over Nina's body and punishes Nah when she is not given that control after nah arrives home from a Gala that she attended with tomma her mother helped helps her get undressed from the gala taking the pins out of her hair and the earrings from her ears as her mother goes to unzip Nina's dress nah again attempts to assert bodily autonomy by declaring that she is able to undress herself though her mother ignores Nina's request and as she removes Nina's dress she notices the scratches on Nina's back nah attempts to reassure her that it's just a rash and her mother gets angry and starts scolding her expressing that it's a disgusting habit she drags Nina to the bathroom and Cuts Nina's Nails it's all this pressure I knew it would be too much she scolds nah in the bathroom as if nah is a child who is misbehaved nah is wearing only underwear and attempts to cover her body this is a clear dissonance in the age in which Nina's mother treats her and her actual age nah sits in the bathroom having her nails cut by her mother being treated like a child though she attempts to cover her body as she is visibly a woman we once again see an example of nah attempting to S bottle autonomy by standing she can undress herself I can do it and being punished for her body not belonging to her mother her mother behaves as if when nah scratches her own body she is somehow tarnishing a precious item that belongs to her mother as her mother angrily scolds her she trims her nails too deeply and accidentally Cuts nah as nah begins to bleed we see a sudden shift again in her mother's demeanor her mother kisses her hand saying sorry and asking if she all right after this moment we see nah repeatedly cutting and filing her nails likely paranoid that her mother will scold her again if she doesn't though despite her efforts the scratches on her back persist these scratches are to me emblematic of the inner Black Swan attempting to scratch her way out of Nina's body and as nah files her nails she attempts to tame the Beast of Womanhood that claws through her girlish exterior her mother's overbearing nature is again displayed when nah awakens the next morning and begins touching herself as tomma had instructed her to do the night before in a supposed attempt to connect her to the seductive nature of the Black Swan role as she touches herself nah opens her eyes and gasps as she sees her mother asleep in the corner of the room she covers herself with the blanket mortified this scene displays the way in which nah is in some ways stunted by her mother's overbearing nature she is unable to explore herself and her body due to the domineering presence of her mother her mother is unable to let go of the child nah once was and keeps nah in a state of childishness by being overprotective controlling and by constantly infantalism her daughter due to this nah is unable to step fully into her Womanhood and is perhaps the origin of the stifling of the Black Swan within her later in the film Nina sits in the living room with her mother and her mother asks if Toma has tried anything with with her she adds that he has a reputation with girls and she's worried that she's been spending so many late nights at his Studio nah lies telling her that he hasn't tried anything her mother then explains that she doesn't want nah making the same mistakes she did referring to getting pregnant nah says thanks sarcastically her mother attempts to reassure her no not like that I just mean as far as my career was con concerned nah mumbles what career her mother looks up H the one I gave up to have you 28 so and only only what nothing what nothing her mother again redirects the conversation to make Nina's achievements about herself she redirects the conversation to remind nah of the sacrifice she made in order to have her in an attempt to Garner sympathy from nah directly after this her mother asks how Nina's skin is this is an attempt to embarrass nah and take back control of the conversation by taking control of Nina's body nah attempts to reassure her mother that her skin is fine to which her mother responds by demanding nah take off her shirt her mother attempts to gain control of the situation by controlling Nina's bodily autonomy embarrassing her and patronizing her as she has done repeatedly in the film but for the first time in the film lenina sternly says no and her mother is taken AB the tension in this moment is broken when the doorbell rings her mother answers the door and promptly closes it after a brief interaction suspicious nah asks who it was and her mother says no one nah walks to the door and checks to her surprise it's Lily Lily apologizes for speaking to tomama about her and offers to take her out to dinner to make up for it nah begins to decline when her mother pokes her head out saying she needs to rest in defiance Dina quickly grabs her coat and rushes out with Lily whilst out nah ends up drinking and doing drugs until the late hours of the night nah eventually returns home visibly drunk and giggling her mother is angry and questions her on where she's been and what she's doing her mother starts yelling at her and slaps her in the conversation nah also alludes to sleeping with men which further infuriates her mother the act of engaging in substance use and is in this context the ultimate form of nah asserting her bodily autonomy nah runs to her room and slams the door her mother attempts to come in but nah places a board in front of the door so it can't be opened the bedroom in fiction is off often used to express an extension of the body especially for adolescents and young people as it is the only space that is truly their own therefore by shutting her mother out of her room and locking her out this is a further assertion of Nina's bodily autonomy as keeping her mother out of her space especially as her mother persistently invades Nina's privacy nah awakens the next morning late and hung over as her mother didn't wake her up as she usually would when nah arrives home that night she plays her childhood music box and and lays on her bed suddenly she throws the Box on the floor She gathers all of her stuffed animals and throws them down the garbage shoot this is an important moment as stated nah is emotionally stunted into girlhood due to the dominating nature of her mother which is why she's able to tap into the childlike innocence and purity of the white swan with ease but experiences blockages when attempting to access her inner Black Swan as stated the bedroom is often used as an extension of the body in fiction especially for young characters Nina's bedroom is likewise reflective of her inner reality of being stuck in girlhood when one glances at Nina's bedroom one would sooner believe that the room belonged to a young child rather than an adult woman in her 20s nah discarding her childhood items and iconography from her room is therefore a further assertion of her bodily autonomy freeing herself from the grasp of her mother pulling her towards the safety of girlhood as she continues to step into her Womanhood later on in the film when Nina is having a series of hallucinations she hears whimpering coming from her mother's painting room the room is empty though suddenly the paintings come to life and start talking to her and crying echoing the words of her mother nah screams for them to stop and starts ripping them down nah turns around and her mother is there questioning what she's doing nah runs to her room and locks the door her mother tells her to open the door and nah tells her to go away nah begins to contort into a creature her eyes turn red and Feathers begin to sprout from her skin her mother opens the door and attempts to enter but nah screams at her and slams the door on her Nina backs away and continues her metamorphosis into a creature her legs contort into a swan-like posture causing her to fall on the floor and pass out the broken ballerina from her music box also lay on the floor twirling nah now repeatedly keeping her mother out of her bedroom as the film progresses is a further example of nah stepping into Womanhood which allows her to transform for girls during and after adolescence our most significant ific transformation often occur in the isolation of our bedrooms in the next scene nah wakes up with socks on her hands placed there by her mother this reestablishes the infantilization of Nah by her mother as she makes an extreme attempt to gain back control of her daughter's bodily autonomy the socks on Nina's hands are reminiscent of the mittens a mother would place on their infant baby to prevent them from scratching themselves in their sleep the same reason Nina's mother put the socks on her Nina's mother sits in the room watching over her and nah is concerned and confused she questions where the clock is and what time it is though her mother tells her not to worry show was to which her mother explains that she called the theater and told them nah wasn't feeling well nah pushes her mother off of and goes to the door when she realizes the handle is missing Nina's mother attempts to assert dominance by ordering nah to stay in the room until she feels better again referencing the way in which Nina's room is a metaphor for her psyche and her body her mother forcing her way in and locking them both inside is representative of a overbearing nature and the way she is abusively forcing herself on to nah nah questions where the handle is and begins looking around for it this role is destroying you what happened to my sweet girl nah shoves past her trying to retrieve the door handle she's gone nah yells as she crushes her mother's hand her mother tries to stop her from leaving I can't handle this I can't I'm Swan Queen you're the one who never left the core this interaction is important as the question where is my sweet girl is a question many parents ask themselves especially when it comes to their daughters once their daughters hit puberty and begin to transform from a docile child to a more independent person Nina's mother wishes for nah to stay frozen in a Perpetual state of girlhood but fails to realize that this is suffocating her daughter I am reminded of a passage in Jude Doyle's novel dead blondes and bad mothers when discussing the film Carrie when Carrie shows signs of falling in love or embracing her sexuality Margaret comes at her with a butcher knife she would rather see her daughter dead than in control of her own body this is the last time we see Nina's mother until the final scene of the film Nina is dancing the white swan in the final dance of the dying Swan the scene in which the white swan herself she dances her final dance beautifully as she stands on the cliff her stomach bleeds she bids farewell to her dancers she looks out into the audience and makes eye contact for the first time with her mother her mother is crying as is nah nah jumps and the audience erupts in Applause nah and her mother act as Reflections to each other Nina's mother sees herself and her daughter nah has her mother's passion for ballet and nah represents what her mother wishes she could have been or what she may have been it is insu ated through her conversation in the living room that her mother wasn't getting the success in her career that she aspired for and she eventually sacrificed her career in order to have her daughter nah nah represents to Erica what she wishes she was or perhaps what she could have been for this reason feelings of jealousy over Nina's success are continuously triggered and this manifests in her mother subtly trying to sabotage her or remind nah of the role she played in her success and how nah wouldn't be successful if it wasn't for her and all the sacrifices she made for her daughter likewise these negative feelings manifest as the need to control nah and her body what she eats what she wears how she cuts her nails where she goes Etc nah on the other hand sees herself reflected in her mother though as a reflection of what she may become if she doesn't work hard enough if she doesn't work hard enough if she doesn't dedicate herself fully to her craft she believes she will end up like her mother Nina's mother acts as one one side of a polarity pulling Nina towards the confines and safety of girlhood the white swan to be docile sweet innocent and safe though on the other side of that coin is Lily who temps Nina into her Womanhood and to embracing her darker side the Black Swan chapter 3 Nina versus Lily the Temptation into Womanhood Lily and Nina embody an incredibly complex and multifaceted Dynamic symbolic of many aspects of girlhood and Womanhood this chapter will be broken up into three sections first exploring Lily's role as a temptress as I expressed earlier this film potently explores the dichotomy of feminine archetypes primarily the anenu and the seductress Lily on a surface level seemingly embodies the role of odal the Black Swan with in the ballet and the seductress who hopes to sabotage odet the white swan ultimately leading to her death and though Lily does act as a seductress I believe it is not tomma Lily seduces but rather she seduces nah into embracing her darker nature secondly nah and Lily are the most potent examples of the Madonna and the within the film very much opposites though still very similar they act as inverted reflections of the other though they are constantly compared to one another in a way that is reflective of the way in which the Madonna and the horror are contrasted culturally and the way in which the ideal woman must balance these roles thirdly I will explore the way in which Lily embodies a disillusionment of the self the way in which nah falsely projects her own reality onto Lily and how this disillusionment ultimately leads to her own downfall and a false perception of reality part one lily as temptress into Womanhood Lily juxtaposes the dynamic nah has with her mother who attempts to keep nah within the confines of girlhood symbolized by the White Swan Nina's mother and Lily act as polaric forces pulling nah in the opposite direction of girlhood and Womanhood between the White Swan and the Black Swan between innocence and deviant between Purity and seduction this polarity is additionally emblematic of the battle going on internally within Nina as I will further explore in the next chapters she feels the safety and comfort of the white swan her girlhood though she feels curious and tempted by the Black Swan within her her Womanhood Lily is in a sense emblematic of the Black Swan that lay dormant within nah waiting to come out Lily is the reflection of nah that nah refuses to see this is showcased in the way that Lily's face frequently morphs into Nina's throughout the film lily in a way does act as a temptress though not towards tomma as nah leads us to believe Lily is a temptress in the sense that she tempts nah into embracing the Black Swan within her in this way I find the dynamic between Lily and nah to be very similar to the dynamic in the 2003 film 13 nah being very similar to honor student Tracy and Lily being similar to cool girl Eevee in this way nah and Lily's d dyamics similarly walks a fine line between rivalry and idolatry often specific to Dynamics between women especially young women nah and Lily Express the feeling of confused Envy fueled obsession with another woman not knowing if you want to kill her kiss her or be her the party scenes are the most prominent scenes within the movie that cement lily as a temptress not towards tomma but tunina and as eject opposing force from Nina's mother Lily shows up at Nina's House in an attempt to apologize for speaking to Tamal to go easy on nah without Nina's permission and offers to take her out for dinner to make up for it nah initially begins to decline though when her mother pokes her head out saying she needs to rest nah quickly grabs her coat and rushes out with Lily Lily offers nah a spare black tank top to wear out nah goes to the bathroom to put on the spare black tank top Lily gave her a metaphor for her transition into the Black Swan this is the first time we see her wearing black as opposed to the light pink and white Shades she's usually wearing symbolizing girlhood while in the bathroom Nina ignores a call from her mother and comes back upstairs where she sees Lily spiking her drink with the powder from the pill she tried to give nah earlier though one could rightfully perceive the spiking of the drink to be sabotaged nah does witness this and does make the decision for herself to consume the drug drink after after their night out when nah arrives home she is with Lily and the two enter the house giggling her mother is angry and questions her nah looks to Lily for what to say nah is deviant and her mother starts yelling at her and slaps her nah runs to her room and closes the door placing a board in front of the door so it can't be opened nah begins making out with Lily and the girls engage in Intercourse from the moment the girls go out to the moment they go home Lily is acting as the antithesis of what Nina's mother represents as stated before Lily and Nina's Mother act as magnets pulling nah between the two parts of her rivaling identity Nina's mother pulls her towards the Safety and Security of girlhood while Lily tempts her into budding and suppressed Womanhood with Lily we witness Nina gain the bodily autonomy she has been robbed of by her mother and by her dedication to her craft where as before we saw her anxious about consuming a piece of cake and caged by her diligent routines we now witness her drinking staying out late and having sex where she usually abides by her mother meekly apologizing for things that aren't her fault or staying quiet to keep her mother happy we now witness as nah ignores her mother's calls fights back and locks her mother out of her room asserting control over herself and severing the childlike dependency she has on her mother though it is later revealed that Lily's presence within Nina's home was a hallucination her presence is still important as it was the belief that Lily was with her that gave Nina the confidence to stick up for herself and assert her bodily autonomy against her Mother Lily's presence pulled something out with a Nina that has been stifled and suppressed for a long time Awakening the Black Swan that lay dormant within her part two nah and Lily as the Madonna and the Lily and nah additionally are the most potent contrasted symbols of the Madonna in the within the film in the way in which tomma fetishistically expects them to perfectly embody the qualities of the other as he merges the White Swan and the Black Swan to create the idealic Swan Queen this is emblematic of the way in which women are expected to perfectly encapsulate and balance these two archetypes and the way in which women who embody the Madonna versus the hor in their archetypal entirety are are often socially pitted against each other as Rivals for male attention and validation within puritanical patriarchal society after tomma announced that he will be adapting Swan Lake and unconventionally having one curl play both the White Swan and the Black Swan he selects the girls he wishes to audition for him in the audition nah excels at odet as expected she perfectly encapsulates the energy of the white swan Leroy Whispers to her if I was only guessing the white swan she'd be yours but I'm not now show me your Black Swan Nina nah begins to dance the Black Swan and Toma is less impressed beginning to yell Corrections at her when suddenly a dancer enters the studio she is late the disruption causes nah to lose focus and go over slightly on her ankle so ma introduces Lily to the girls as a new dancer within the company and orders Lily to get warmed up Lily says no it's okay I'm good her demeanor is cool and Casual she embodies everything that is opposite of the controlled and disciplined nah Nina asked Toma if she should go again as she was disrupted Toma declines saying he's seen enough dismiss s Nina afterwards as her mother helps her bandage her foot her mother says you're working yourself too hard we all have off days we all have off days that girl had barged in I'm sure she didn't mean to in these scenes we witness the seeds of animosity towards Lily being planted in Nina's mind as she already begins to see nah as a threat throughout the film The consistent contrast and comparison of nah and Lily persist nah is ultimately cast as the Swan Queen though as she prepares for the role tomama repeatedly uses lily as a reference for what nah needs to embody for her performance as the Black Swan for example soon after she's cast as the Swan Queen nah overhears a rehearsal and walks onto the balcony overlooking the rehearsal space she watches Lily who is rehearsing her hair is down she looks Carefree her movements are effortless free-spirited and fun she has a wide genuine smile on her face Leroy approaches from behind nah what The Way She Moves imprecise but effortless she's not faking it intentionally comparing Lily to nah and pointing out what nah lacks in her own performance where Nina is controlled and poised Lily is intuitive and free not only is this emblematic of the pressure for Nina to perfectly balance the Madonna and the it additionally creates a greater wedge between nah and Lily the constant comparison deepens Nina's animosity towards Lily and as her animosity grows so do her delusions about Lily when nah sits on the studio floor crying after a bad rehearsal with tomma a shadowy figure enters the studio soon revealed to be Lily nah explains that she's had a hard day and Lily attempts to comfort her by saying Tom ma is a prick nah grows slightly defensive and says he's brilliant to which Lily replies sure but he's not all warm and fuzzy well you don't know it someone's Hot for Teacher nah doesn't take the comment well and leaves the next day nah is rehearsing and Toma makes them perform the same dance over and over without any direction or Corrections eventually nah stops and asks if he has any corrections for them and Tomas seemingly irritated explains that Lily spoke to him Lily told me that she saw you crying that you were very upset and that I should take it easy on you Nina explains that she didn't say that but Tom is annoyed saying perhaps Nina should take a break she shouldn't have said anything no you shouldn't be whining in the first place I didn't you could be brilliant but you're a coward now stop saying that that's exactly what I'm talking about stop being so weak Nina goes to the dressing room looking for Lily and in this moment we see interestingly that Lily has Nina's old vanity table nah asks Lily about what she said to tomma and Lily says that she was just trying to help to which nah says she shouldn't have said anything we see that Nina's animosity towards Lily continues to escalate one could interpret Lily's actions as devious and Ill intended but her intentions are purposely blurred and skewed through Nina's unreliable narration and perception later on in the movie nah wakes up late after her night out with Lily she arrives late to the studio and finds lily dancing her role in rehearsal nah apologizes for being late and Tomas sternly tells her to get warmed up nah watches as Lily performs the Black Swan in rehearsal Toma comments on how well Lily did that was good actually really good Lily approaches nah immediately and says hey he just asked me to step in attempting to reassure her when nah takes her place the rehearsal continues as normal Toma makes eye contact with Lily as nah performs once again the consistent comparison of nah to Lily leads nah to become increasingly disillusioned by Lily and leads to nah projecting herself and her own insecurities on to Lily as she grows mad from paranoia this leads to a persistent inability for nah to decipher reality from fiction as she begins to hallucinate part three lily as Nina's false projection of herself Lily is very obviously intended to be on a surface level the most prominent mirror image of Nina aside from Nina herself they are very much alike and yet at the same time opposites inverted like a reflection Lily is intentionally very emblematic of odal or the Black Swan from the ballet as the threat of Lily replacing her continuously haunts Nina in the same way odil tricks The Prince and replaces odet in the Swan Lake Ballet leading to odette's death though in my opinion Lily is not the true antagonist of the story rather Lily acts as a Gateway for Nina discovering and revealing the darker side of herself we are first introduced to Lily on the subway nah notices the back of a girl's head and from behind the girl looks uncomfortably like nah herself this confuses nah as she looks slightly unsettled she tries to catch a glimpse of the girl but she exits the subway train before she can get a clear view that day a dancer enters the dressing room Anita quickly recognizes the girl as her doppelganger from the subway the girl who looked strangely similar to herself this physical similarity continues to feed into the idea of the inverted reflection throughout the film Nina hallucinates that Lily's face morphs into her own the first time Lily's face morphs into Nina's is when the two are sleeping together after Lily's face morphs into Nina's own her doppelganger shoves a pillow on top of her face as if to suffocate her the film cuts to Black and Nina wakes up late to go to the studio she is confused as to where Lily is as she believes she slept over but Lily confirms that she did not sleep over and that she went home with a guy named Tom that indicating that their SE was merely a hallucination as was their Intimacy in the cab on the way to Nina's house as a result of her paranoia Nina's animosity towards Lily grows as she becomes increasingly paranoid that Lily is trying to sabotage her and steal her role as the Swan Queen as nah is getting fitted for her Swan costumes Lily enters the fitting room and nah questions what she is doing in the fitting room Lily explains that she was made Nina's alternative should she get sick or injured before the show nah storms out of the room upset as she rushes to find Toma when she finds Toma she pleads for Lily not to be her alternative claiming that Lily wants her role as the Swan Queen Toma attempts to reassure her that Lily is not out to get her though States every dancer in the world wants your role Nina continues to plead with Tomas stating that Lily is trying to replace her but once again Toma attempts to reassure her that no one is out to get her and tells her to go home and rest nah doesn't follow tomas's advice and stays late to rehearse as she is alone in the studio the lights cut and she begins to see figures in the darkness she has another hallucination seeing Lily and tomma having backstage Leroy turns into rothbart and Nina rushes into her dressing room crying she is frightened and rushes home the next time we see Lily's face morph into Nina's own is during the opening performance when the prince lifts her she grows frightened as Lily's face transforms into her own face causing her to fall nah returns to her dressing room and Lily is sitting in her vanity chair applying the makeup for the Black Swan Nina tells her to get out and Lily begins to taunt her I'm just worried about the next ACT I'm not sure you're feeling up for it nah pleads with her to stop and suddenly Lily's face transforms into nah continuing to taunt her from here she battles with herself smashing her double into the mirror her double lay there lifeless and then opens her eyes and starts choking nah nah stabs her double With A Shard of glass declaring it's my turn her voice sounding almost demonic her double morphs back into Lily again and she spits blood before falling on the floor lifeless nah cries and hides Lily's body in the shower Panic before returning to doing her makeup for the stage where she performs her Black Swan beautifully as nah later re-enters her dressing room after her striking Black Swamp performance it is still destroyed glass shattered and she sees blood pooling under the bathroom door she covers it with a white towel as she does her makeup she hears a knock it's Lily nah gasps Lily excitedly and earnestly praise nah for her fantastic performance nah confused says nothing and and closes the door she removes a towel that she placed over Lily's blood and it is completely clean she opens the bathroom door and no one is there nah doesn't have time to investigate her own Madness and begins getting ready for the finale when the ballet ends anina is revealed to be stabbed and bleeding from her stomach it is Lily who notices her wound first and gasps the shift in Lily's face to Nina's is emblematic of the way in which nah was never fighting with Lily to begin with but herself as I will further explore in the Final Chapter she was fighting with the Deviant nature that lay suppressed within her that was awoken partially by Lily Lily acts as a scapegoat for Nina's own insecurities and inner turmoil the reality is that Nina has been the Black Swan all along though her exterior is that of the white swan her true nature is more similar to the Black Swan though Lily's exterior is more similar to the Black Swan on a surface level she's ultimately more like the the white swan than we initially expect where Lily persistently displays kindness towards nah nah is willing to sabotage and even kill to get what she desires as Tomas says in the dressing room before Nina's performance the only person standing in your way is you it was never Lily nah was fighting with it was herself all along she was always the Black Swan chapter 4 nah versus Beth the impermanence of Youth nah and Beth's Dynamic is one of the most compelling and revealing Dynamics within the film when one comes to analyze the relationship nah has to Beth one discovers that nah has been the Black Swan all along but more specifically Beth's Black Swan Beth acts as a mirror into Nina's inevitable fate Beth is the former Muse of tal Leroy having previously been the principal dancer of the company though as what inevitably happens to all great dancers the company feels as though she has aged out of her position and therefore must be replaced as much as Beth represents elements of the Black Swan she is just as much the dying white swan in her final act as does the wh swan in the ballet Beth attempts to once she is replaced in one of the first scenes of the film we see nah arriving at the ballet studio where there is a photo of a ballerina as the wh SW in the front of the building nah stares at the poster mesmerized at a glance one could almost mistake the girl in the photo for nah herself as they look rather similar though the girl is later revealed to be Beth McIntyre the star of the company moments later nah is in her dressing room with the other ballerinas and she overhears the girls gossiping about Beth they primarily discuss Beth's age they need to hire someone who's not approaching menopause one dancer scoffs nah tries to defend her it's sad Beth's such a beautiful dancer to which one dancer replies yeah so is my grandmother Nina quickly rebuttal with Fontaine danced and until her 50s to which the dancer just merely rolls their eyes at nah later that day whilst nah is waiting in the hallway she hears someone yelling in frustration Beth is destroying her dressing room upset that unbeknownst to nah she has been forced into retirement nah watches as Beth storms out of the room and once Beth is gone she slips into her dressing room nah stares at her reflection in the vanity mirror and surveys Beth's belongings stealing a series of items including her lipstick perfume earrings and a nail file after her audition for the Swan Queen nah arrives home that night upset at how it went as she was unable to finish her Black Swan variation Nina puts on her ballet she's in the living room and she can hear her mother on the phone in the Next Room talking to one of the women who work for the ballet company she says you can't expect these girls to come back from break and dance like Beth McIntyre it's completely unrealistic I mean they can do the work but they don't have Beth's magic nah can hear this the next day we see nah applying Beth's lipstick on the subway she gazes at her reflection a darkened version of herself staring back at her in the dim window reflection perhaps an illusion for what is to come or a hint at her true nature nah arrives at the ballet studio and spots tomma asking if she can speak to him he brings her to his office and nah tells him that she practiced the Black Swan variation and lies saying that she finished it nah applying Beth's lipstick before talking to tamama was intentional and mirrors the behavior of the Black Swan within the Swan Lake Ballet in this Nina is the Black Swan and tomma is the prince in the ballet odil the Black Swan takes on the appearance of odet in order to trick and seduce the prince into believing that she is odet the woman that he loves in the same way nah is aware of the fondness that TMA has for Beth she is his Muse and the former star of the company by wearing her lipstick nah hopes that some of Beth's magic will rub off on her and that Tom will see something in her that reminds him of his aging star or little Prin princess as he refers to Beth and this is not the first time that nah uses this Black Swan strategy to imitate Beth nah is eventually cast as the Swan Queen and there is a Gala held in which Toma will introduce nah to the public as his new star Toma addresses the crowd with nah at his side tomma begins to make a speech praising Beth for her work within the company and as tomas's Muse before announcing her retirement he begins to address her as my little princess and as he says this Beth rolls her eyes seemingly pissed off and overwhelmed with emotions she begins to walk out of the room Leroy continues we honor you you will be greatly missed and never forgotten but as we bid as you to one star we welcome another taking the role of our Swan Queen the Exquisite nah sers nah smiles and curtsies Leroy begins speaking again you will soon have the pleasure of seeing her perform but for now please let's raise a glass to all of us to Beth to Nina to Beauty nah is dressed in a white gown and diamond earrings the diamond earrings in which she stole from Beth another example of nah replicating Beth's appearance in this way this scene in the film mirrors the scene in the ballet in which odil attends the ball to seduce The Prince and the court by masquerading herself as Odette in the ballet her masquerade is successful and the prince ultimately chooses the Black Swan as he mistakes her for odet similarly in this scene we witness Toma choose Nina over Beth as his new quote unquote princess at the end of the night nah waits in the hallway alone she stares at a statue in the middle of the room depicting some sort of ominous angel-like creature nah turns and Beth is standing directly behind her she's startled but says I'm sorry to hear that you're leaving the company but Beth doesn't receive her comment as genuine what you do to get this role you always said you were such a frigid little girl what did you do to make him change his mind did you you suck his Nina frowns not all of us have to you fing you're little tomma returns and questions what is going on Beth says she needs to talk to him and Tomas says he thinks that she should go home no don't you do that don't you dismiss me like that upset with the way in which once his Muse and star she is now discarded and replaced tomal responds my little princess please hold it together he says as he walks back to and begins to leave with her I'm coming by later I have something for you it's a token of my appreciation right you make the most of it nah a warning not of anything Beth will do but of Nina's inevitable fate as the white swan as the white swan always dies and is always replaced the next day when everyone is rehearsing a ballerina runs into the studio crying she says Beth's in the hospital and there's been an accident tomal later tells Nina that last night after the gala Beth walked into traffic and was hit by a car presumably an attempt to take her own life that evening nah visits Beth in the hospital to give her flowers Beth lay in a hospital bed unconscious surrounded by flowers mirroring the way in which the white swan in her final dance of the dying Swan takes her own life when she is replaced by the Black Swan the flowers surrounding her are reminiscent of flowers thrown on stage after one's final performance Nina gasps when she sees the injuries on Beth's legs they are broken she will never dance again that same evening nah returns to her dressing room the dressing room that once belonged to Beth she is at her vanity and places the items she stole from Beth before her placing them back from where she stole them from as she looks in the mirror she is the Black Swan who impersonated Beth she wore her lipstick to seduce tomma into giving her the role she wore her earrings when she was introduced At The Gala in her pursuit of perfection she is perhaps more like the Black Swan than she realizes later towards the end of the film when nah is being haunted by her paranoia that Lily is trying to steal her role nah rushes out of the studio though as she exits the building she stops and stares at the photo of herself on the front of the building of the ballet the same place where the photo of Beth used to be nah decides to visit Beth again in the hospital believing that Beth is still unconscious she leaves her a note beside her and returns her stolen items Beth awakens and sees her and questions what she's doing so sorry I know how it feels now she's trying to replace me what do I do beth stares at her returning her belongings you stole my things she says in almost disbelief Nina attempts to explain herself I was just trying to be perfect like you Beth picks up a nail file I'm not perfect I'm nothing she says as she stabs her face with the nail file Beth's face suddenly changes into Nina's as she stabs herself nothing she repeats as she does nah runs into the escal later her hands are covered in blood and she actually has the nail file not be she drops it and it's covered in blood Nina goes home she's paranoid and goes into the kitchen to wash her hands evoking imagery of Lady MC Beth obsessively washing imaginary blood from her hands as an expression of her guilt for killing the King in a similar sense we can assume nah is not washing real blood from her hands but a mirage of blood symbolizing her guilt for replacing Beth and being her Black Swan the way in which lady McBeth cannot rid her hands of blood stains are used to convey her declining psychological condition in the same sense that Nina's visions and hallucinations indicate the same the scenes in which Beth is depicted as a murderous version of Nina's own self is the last time we see Beth the broken ballerina draws parallels to Beth though a mirrored opposite version like Beth the ballerina figure is broken though her legs remain intact continuing to dance whereas best legs are broken and she will never dance again the figure is a direct representation of nah as the figure continues to dance without the top half of her body without her head insinuating nah has lost her mind Beth acts not only as Nina's fear of her inevitable fate as the white swan but this Dynamic can also be looked at as women's inevitable fear of Aging within a culture in which women's value is synonymous with youth within the film ballet as a craft repeatedly mirrors the experience of Womanhood there is a fear that is ingrained within many women and fem at a very young age a fear that haunts us into adulthood both consciously and subconsciously that no matter how much your partner loves you now they may one day leave you for someone younger more beautiful of higher value this is emphasized within Beth and Nina's dynamic because in the end it didn't matter how talented magical and breathtaking Beth was as is repeatedly emphasized throughout the film it didn't matter the history that her and Toma had together that she starred in his first ballet and was his Muse since the beginning of his career there was a girl so ready to replace her as soon as she was perceived as wilting though Toma is still thriving in his career despite being older than Beth he shows no signs of being perceived as washed up or old or retired he is merely a genius of his craft who has likely yet to even enter his prime as Susan Sant wrote in the double standard of Aging masculinity is identified with competence autonomy self-control qualities which The Disappearance of Youth does not threaten competence in most of the activities expected from men physical Sports accepted increases with age femininity is identified with incompetence helplessness passivity non-competitiveness being nice age does not improve these qualities we see these qualities of masculinity perfectly embodied by Toma though these qualities of femininity have faded in Beth as she has matured they are however incredibly prevalent within the girlish and emotionally stunted Nina to quote s again the desire to be the right age has a special urgency for a woman it never has for a man a much greater part of her self-esteem and pleasure in life is threatened when she ceases to be young most men experience getting older with regret apprehension but most women experience it even more painfully with shame aging is a man's Destiny something that must happen because he is a human being for a woman aging is not only her her Destiny because she is that more narrowly defined kind of human being a woman it is also her vulnerability likewise the destiny of the white swan is to be discarded even mistakenly so in the context of Performing the ballet as seen with Beth the destiny of the Muse is to likewise be replaced and discarded once one ages out of the role no matter how perfect one seems to be they cannot out out run this Destiny nah is aware of this she is aware of her Destiny and it haunts her driving her to Madness chapter 5 nah versus herself the feminine urge to be perfect arguably the most important Dynamic is the relationship with nah and herself as the relationship she has with the previously mentioned three women are largely a reflection and projection of the way that she feels about and perceives herself mirrors are the most prominent and important symbols within this film not only is this film filled to the brim with literal mirrors and Reflections but also the mirror images that take place as the women who reflect Nina's perceived reality back at her these women act as mirrors shining a light on Nina's greatest desires and her greatest fears of what she may become or who she is meant to be it was written in theory of the young girl nothing in the identity of the young girl truly belongs to her even less her youth than her femininity she does not possess attributes instead her attributes possess her in this film we witness as nah becomes possessed by her maddening self-awareness and strive for Perfection over the course of the film mirrors are repeatedly and overwhelmingly utilized the first reflection of nah is in the window of the subway her reflection is dark and unclear perhaps alluding to her dual nature as the Black Swan or perhaps alluding to her unclear perception of herself we next see nah looking at her reflection in the vanity mirror of the dressing room she is surrounded by other ballerinas as they gossip about Beth at times the volume of mirrors in the room combined with the ballerinas almost get the reflection of a funh house mirror cascading multiple reflections of Nina when in reality they are individual reflections of other ballerinas ballerinas in reality often do have a uniform look being of similar weight and age so the film takes this a step further as there is a lack of variation in even hair color they're all slim young brunettes just like nah perhaps a reflection of the reality in which she is disposable no matter what happens there will always be another girl just like her to take her place in one scene we watch as nah prepares her point shoes and it is a beautiful example of the dichotomy of ballet and also the female experience most people are typically quite shocked shocked and surprised to see how ballerinas prepare their point shoes from an outside perspective point shoes are so delicate and beautiful they're satin pristine and seemingly fragile it is jarring to witness a ballerina pull out a knife and unapologetically Slash the bottom of the shoe snap the soulle in half and violently smash the shoe against a concrete floor a reference to the way in which ballerinas are treated they must be broken in through pain Blood and Tears For Years their bodies endure being pushed to their physical limits and they often withstand the verbal abuse of teachers all in hopes of having their Moment On Stage though just like the point shoe that is perfectly broken in once the performance is over the shoe will eventually be discarded and replaced an illusion as to what will inevitably happen to Nina in the Swan Lake Ballet when odet is turned into a swan the spell can only be broken if one who has Never Loved Before swears to love odet forever the fleeting nature of ballet prevents Nina from being loved forever no matter how much tomma loves her she will inevitably be replaced as Beth was before her and there like odet nah is indebted to her cursed fate earlier that day when nah is on the subway we saw a woman who looked eily similar to herself from behind though was later revealed to be Lily this is the first sign of nah falsely seeing herself represented back to her in other people's faces later on that day she was walking home alone down a dark Street when a person walks towards her as the woman walks by her she is dressed in black and wearing Nina's face nah looks back frightened as the film progresses nah continues to encounter these doppelgangers reflected back at her in the bodies of other women and the severity in which they engage with her intensifies the next time we see nah looking at her own reflection is again the darkened Reflection from the subway window as she applies Beth's lipstick as she is Beth's Black Swan nah is applying the lipstick as she prepares to meet with tomma and ask for the role of the Swan Queen tomma replies the truth is when I look at you all I see is the white swan you're beautiful fearful fragile ideal casting but the Black Swan it's a Harding job to dance both nah says she can dance the Black Swan though tomma is doubtful saying she never loses herself in the art form and is too disciplined nah admits I just want to be perfect and tomal replies perfect is not just about control nah tries to further defend herself when tomat interrupts her by kissing her and she bites him tomat is shocked but slightly satisfied as she shows the glimmer of the feistiness of the Black Swan he was looking for nah is later revealed to have been cast as the Swan Queen leader that day in rehearsals the next day nah is seen rehearsing the white swan dance tomma Praises her thank you nah it's very nice it's very nice but I knew the white swan wouldn't be a problem the real work will be the metamorphosis into her e evil twin and I know I saw a flash of her yesterday so get ready to give me more of that bite metamorphosis is an interesting word choice here as metamorphosis can be generally used to describe the process of changing but also the term metamorphosis is used to describe the process in an insect or amphibian of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages this ascribes further relevance to the idea discussed earlier that Nina is experiencing ing a sort of delayed puberty from her suppressed Womanhood and can explain the way in which Nina's body has begun to change not just her internal reality but her external when nah attends the gala with tomma she goes to the bathroom and while she is washing her hands she notices a strange hangnail nah pulls on the Hang nail and rips a piece of skin the length of her entire finger off she hurries to put her hands under the water but when she looks at her hands again her finger is completely normal this is perhaps happs when nah begins to clearly be an unreliable narrator later when nah is in the bath and tries to touch herself she soon gives up and lays under the water we see blood starting to drip onto the water and when nah opens her eyes a demon version of herself leans over her this is perhaps manifest of the guilt she feels from exploring her body as this act pulls her away from the safety of the archetype that she sits comfortably within the pure and innocent Madonna she lifts out of the water and it was Her Imagination though her finger is bleeding she has Fresh Cuts on her back she grabs scissors and cuts her nails the camera pans to the mirror where her face is malicious and she intentionally cuts her finger her face turns back to normal and she tries to stop her finger from bleeding nah looks in the mirror and her face grows slightly malicious again when nah is out partying with Lily one of the men say you haven't told me who you are I'm a dancer no I mean your name oh uh Nina this line is important as it reflects the fact that dance has become more of her identity than her name after the night out nah begins to persistently hallucinate lily as herself when she hallucinates Lily and her being intimate Lily's face morphs into her own and she puts a pillow over her face to suffocate her this is emblematic of the perceived threat that Lily is and also the reality of Nina's self- sabotage when nah is getting fitted for her Swan Queen costume she stares at herself in the mirror looking at the scratches on her back as she examines herself in the mirror curiously her reflection scratches back though she does not later on after the scene in which Beth chases her into her house and she locks herself in the room she undergoes her most significant physical metamorphosis yet as her mother bangs on her door nah yells at her to go away nah begins to contort into a creature her eyes turn red and Feathers begin to sprout from her skin nah backs away from the door and her legs contort into a swan-like posture causing her her to fall on the floor and pass out her broken ballerina box lays on the floor beside her twirling as mentioned before the ballerina with the broken head is a symbol for nah the ballerina in the music box is headless though continues to Twirl in her box in the same way nah continues to lose her mind through the pursuit of perfection as a dancer she perseveres as she succumbs to Madness Nina's physical metamorphosis as she Embraces her Black Swan nature can also be a reference to puberty as mentioned earlier she is caught between her girlhood and her Womanhood a feeling many girls in their teens and even early 20s can relate to she has suppressed many aspects of her Womanhood and therefore is experiencing an almost delayed puberty as she metamorphosizes into the Black Swan not only emotionally but physically this scene especially highlights this as the way nah and her mother fight is a scene I'm sure most mothers and daughters can relate to in some sense the way nah screams at her mother demanding her privacy as she undergos rapid physical changes and the way her mother is petrified by her daughter sudden aggression and in a later scene her mother cries what happened to my sweet girl in response to Nina's sudden shift in character a question I'm sure many mothers ask themselves as their daughters become teenagers I'm reminded of a quote by Mary pyer from the book Reviving opilia girls know they are losing themselves girls become fragmented they theirselves split into mysterious contradictions they are sensitive and tenderhearted mean and competitive superficial and idealistic they are confident in the morning and overwhelmed with anxiety by Nightfall they rush through their days with wild energy and then collapse into lethargy they try on new roles every week this week the good student the next week the delinquent and the next the Artist as Nina prepares for the opening show she notices her toes have become wet webbed her metamorphosis continues after the First Act nah returns to her dressing room where she finds Lily sitting at her vanity perhaps referencing the way in which nah stole Beth's vanity when she replaced her Lily's face quickly mors into Nina's own and the two fight until nah eventually stabs her doppelganger With A Shard of broken glass and the doppelganger turns back into lily as she spits blood before laying lifeless on the floor nah cries as she is panicked and hides Lily's body in the shower suddenly her eyes turn red and she gains Focus we next see Nina as she performs the Black Swan she is completely changed her energy is unlike anything we've ever seen before she is powerful seductive even scary everyone is impressed with her transformation praising her performance as she exits the stage she remains in this Black Swan Essence as if she has merged with the character becoming one her body begins to sprout chicken skin she enters the stage again and as she turns her arms turn into Black Swan wings as the camera pans out she has regular arms though her Shadow has Swan Wings still indicating that her metamorphosis is real although perhaps internal nah goes back on the stage and the audience throws flowers at her showering her with the love and adoration that she'd so desperately crave when Nina returns to her dressing room the room is still destroyed and the glass is shattered and blood pooling under the bathroom Nina covers the blood with the white towel and begins her makeup for the finale as the white swan suddenly she hears a knock on the door and she's shocked to find Lily on the other side Lily congratulates her on her amazing performance nah slowly closes the door without a word she is shocked she removes the towel from the bathroom doorway and it is completely clean she opens the bathroom door and no one is there Nina spirals as she questions her sanity tearing up she looks down at her abdomen and her stomach is bleeding she looks down and she pulls a shard from her stomach it wasn't Lily she stabbed but rather herself she sits down at the vanity crying she picks up her makeup and swipes it on her face she stops crying and smiles The Show Must Go On nah dances her final dance beautifully all the framing is done purposely so that cinematic viewers can't see her stomach until the last moment as she stands on the cliff preparing to jump her stomach bleeds she bids farewell to her dancers she looks out into to the audience and sees her mother crying Nina is also crying she jumps the crowd erupts in Applause and Tom ma approaches her excited my little princess I always knew you had it in you he says cupping her face Come On Let's Take Your Bow he urges her as she lay though the cheers quickly shift to concern it is Lily who notices the wound first and gasp tomal looks down and sees the pool of blood get some help he orders what did you do nah says I F it what perfect as she looks at Toma her eyes then wander upwards towards the stage lights before she repeats is perfect the crowd cheers her name tomas's Declaration of adoration for nah in her final moments parallel the end of the ballet when Prince sigfred returns to the lake and makes a passionate apology after mistakenly confessing his love for the wrong girl the Black Swan odet forgives the prince but his betrayal cannot be undone rather than remain a swan forever she chooses to die Toma lovingly refers to nah as his princess but the damage has already been done interestingly Nina's death parallels Beth's to nah and Beth their image is everything the way they perceive themselves and the way others perceive them is what drives them to Madness also one may notice that the blood from Nina's Stab Wound never appeared in her Black Swan costume or inhibited her during the Black Swan performance the blood only appeared after she had transformed back into the White Swan as this was the part of herself that she killed when she believed she was fighting Lily she was her own Black Swan leading to the death of the white swan as seen in the ballet as Tomaso aptly said to nah before her opening performance the only person standing in your way is you it's time to let her go Lose Yourself Gia talentino wrote in her essay always be optimizing these days it is perhaps perhaps even more psychologically seamless than ever for an ordinary woman to spend her life walking towards the idealized Mirage of her own self-image she can believe reasonably enough with the full encouragement of feminism that she herself is the architect of the Exquisite constant and often pleasurable type of power that this image holds over time her money her decisions her selfhood and her soul this strive for Perfection is the Catalyst for Nina's Madness the obsessed artist takes form as Nina is driven to Insanity through her pursuit of perfection as ballerina this obsession with perfection is what leads Lily Beth and her mother to become such significant reflections of her greatest fears desires and truths one could see the art of ballet as an allegory for the female experience itself from the outside looking in the art of ballet is delicate beautiful and dainty the ultimate feminine art form though closer examination will reveal the pain underneath the skipped dinners and bloodied feet the endless rehearsal tears The everpresent Haunting fear of not being good enough of being anything short of perfect also that the ballerina in spite of her cracked toenails can maintain the illusion of effortlessness as she elegantly Glides across the stage with a smile on her face like ballet Womanhood is bleeding in isolation skipped meals and a masking of one's pain behind a smile all in pursuit of idealized perfection one must not disrupt the spectacle the [Music] voyerism as tomama referenced in the beginning of the film The White Swan finds Freedom only in her death it is only in Nina's death that she finds freedom from her desire to be perfect as Sylvia PL once wrote the woman is perfected her dead body wears the smile of an accomplishment thank you for watching I hope you enjoyed this Black Swan Deep dive there are so many layers to this film and many aspects that I didn't even touch on I would love to know your thoughts on this film Below in the comment section and thank you again to incog for sponsoring this video remember to click the link in my description for 60% off and that's all from me bye