In the scene
from Machinal called “Intimate”, it
takes place in a basement apartment in a dark room. The darkness and
downwardness of this scene makes me think that it is supposed to reflect how
what she is doing is wrong. Having the scene take place in a dark basement rather
than somewhere like, say, a first floor apartment with windows makes me think that
the situation is scary or risky, or maybe even bad or shameful. The scary feel
of it could be reflecting on how scared she feels about her life, which is
somewhat talked about in the next scene. The enclosed feeling of a basement
also feels how suffocated that the woman is feeling by her life, and how she
wished to escape this suffocating feeling. In the scene “Domestic.” Young Woman
says to her husband that she is scared, and that she needs to get away. She
also says to him that she feels like she is being suffocated by stones. When I
think of stones I think of the stone in an engagement ring, or precious stones
which they compare in this scene to thinks like mothers and children. So by
saying that she is being suffocated by stones she could mean that she is
feeling suffocated by those things in her life like her husband, child, and
mother, which are the reasons that she needs to stay in her marriage.
