The Story Archive

The Color Purple

Steven Spielberg · 1985 CE · Film · Modern / American · Contemporary

Celie is married off in rural Georgia to a widower who wants a field hand and a nurse for his children, and writes to God because there is nobody else to tell. Her sister is driven off the property, and years later a blues singer arrives at the house sick and takes an interest in her. Spielberg's first prestige drama drew eleven Academy nominations, won nothing, and was picketed over its portrait of Black men.

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Lineage

Attributes

Genre
HistoricalTragicomedy
Theme
Race & IdentitySuffering & EnduranceTransformationClass & Inequality
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
HeroineVillain / TyrantAlly / Companion
Plot structure
EpistolaryGenerational SagaSeparation and Reunion
Symbol / motif
The LetterThe GarmentFlowers
Conflict
vs Personvs Society
Mode / tone
RealistElegiac
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

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