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SPOILERS FOR THE HOUSE IN FATA MORGANA Fata Morgana is a story of many themes: love, trauma, identity...
But my favorite of those themes has got to be pain. Fata Morgana is a human tragedy and its greatly tied to pain, but what is consequences of that pain?
Well the answer is not that simple, the answer ties into all the before mentioned themes, but there is one pattern all the characters exemplify: illusion.
Lets take Yukimasa for example, throughout the story we are led to believe that beast is terrorizing the mansion.
Lets take Yukimasa for example, throughout the story we are led to believe that beast is terrorizing the mansion.
When that veil of shadows comes down we and Yukimasa himself have to face the fact that no fantasy creature is killing everyone but a man, a human. Yukimasa calls himself a beast and treats himself as such but a hard pill to swallow for Morgana, him and us is that he is human -
- with his own circumstances and those circumstances are terrifying. Another more tame but explored example is Mell and Nellie. The Prince and Princess. Mell is pushed into a role of Nellies Prince and Nellie pushes herself into a role of a a Princess.
Both of these cases are done so Nellie can escape her own isolation. Whether it being a sick girl fighting for her life or a noble to be married off, the only way Nellie can cope with that is to create a fake identity.
And the only way Mell can feel validated is to accept that role. Even though it destroys him. A major point in their collective character arc is learning to shed those shells and accept themselves. Mell is not a Prince he is a troubled young man, Nellie is an shut off girl.
Pauline is a someone who is rightfully not in everyone top 5 list, but there is one detail people overlook about her. Pauline never wanted to be a Saint, Pauline was a convenient pawn pushed onto that role cause she portrayed perfect characteristics for a woman at the time.
Which resulted into leeching onto Yukimasa and loving him in a faint dream that she can live her life how she wanted.
If we are speaking of pushed on role we need look no further than Michel. From as early as his birth till his dying moments he forced to bear a role.
If we are speaking of pushed on role we need look no further than Michel. From as early as his birth till his dying moments he forced to bear a role.
Of an angelic girl born out of his mothers frustration, to the demon child, cause that role was the only way people could understand him. Like Mell he was forced to bear the burden of other people who didn't want to understand his pain.
Interesting with Michel is that he accepts his role as an angel so he can relieve Morgana of her pain. He accepts that mantle in order to what's right. It's a major part of his character arc.
Giselle on the other hand is a complete opposite. She more resembles Jacopo.
Giselle on the other hand is a complete opposite. She more resembles Jacopo.
Giselle in order to cope in order to survive and not fall apart creates a persona she hides in. This characteristic can traced back to her flashback with Antonim. While Antonim is violating her, she disregards her body as only a vessel and that Antonim could never touch her soul.
The Maid is an extension of that line of thinking in order to keep her pure hearted self she needs hide deep beneath the cold Maid. She will cook a man, she will kill Michel, after all she isn't Giselle, she is servant of the mansion.
Jacopo is similar in a sense that Jacopo by the end of Requiem completely submits to role of Lord. He came to terms that he is the villain everyone paints him to be, he accepts his own self hatred and displays it to everyone. The pain of loss twisted so much of him, that only -
- the Lord is left. So as a pragmatist that he think he is he accepts it. Like a twisted version of Michels character arc.
But where does Morgana come into all of this? Morgana embodies all of this. Her mother to cope with her own wrong doing crafted the role of a Saint for her which Morgana accepted, she struggled to keep that identity and do good with it.
But when she failed she forced herself to wear a mantle of a witch. The only way to channel that anger, to cope with that tragedy was to create persona with no constrains.
Okay but what was the point of this? What is Fata Morgana trying to say?
Fata Morgana is a story about facing your own pain. It's a story that shows what it takes to look your own beast in the eyes. How hard it is to see your own suffering.
Fata Morgana is a story about facing your own pain. It's a story that shows what it takes to look your own beast in the eyes. How hard it is to see your own suffering.
And what people do to avoid seeing the hand that is strangling them. Remember how I said it's also a story of love? Though out the story all these characters had someone who truly loves them see through their shells, which in turn help them face their pain.
People say Fata Morgana is tragedy which is true, but tragedy is only tool to explore human pain, coping and prevailing.
"Wil you be able to accept your own tragedy?"
- Man in the painting
- Man in the painting
Special thanks to @TaoretaAngel for discussing this with me for 6 hours approximately
