Friday, August 17, 2012

Blue Room as Mystery

I was trying to figure out why the Blue Room is known as the Blue Room in the sense that when talked about it, everyone is knowledgeable of one of the two main ideas it triggers:

1. A place for hidden lovers
2. A place of death

In typing it into google just to see what possible definitions I could find, I found these two definitions:

1. A room where movie special effects are shot.
2. Definition of the morgue and autopsy rooms

I found the second far more interesting then the first for it ties into the thought of the Blue Room being associated with death and overall linking to the mystery of this notion so to say, of this Blue Room. My order of thoughts on this were/are:
  1. The idea of someone being "stone cold", a blue tinge to the skin jumps to mind. 
  2. The room glistening of aluminum cabinetry and tables.
  3. A body that's being worked on that has been injected with blue latex so that the veins are more visible.
  4. Blood runs blue before it is oxidized.  
This all not exactly clarifying anything for me, furthered my search of just the phrase The Blue Room. It was then I stumbled upon a story by Kenneth Grahame labeled low and behold, The Blue Room. Noting that Kenneth wrote a personal childhood favourite, The Wind in the Willows, I gave it a quick look through and found this passage that caught my eye:

  Our commander now enjoined on us a silence deep as the grave, reminding us that Aunt Eliza usually slept with an open door, past which we had to file.
 
 "But we'll take the short cut through the Blue Room," said the wary Selina.

 "Of course," said Edward, approvingly. "I forgot about that. Now then! You lead the way!"

 The Blue Room had in prehistoric times been added to by taking in a superfluous passage, and so not only had the advantage of two doors, but enabled us to get to the head of the stairs without passing the chamber wherein our dragon-aunt lay couched. It was rarely occupied, except when a casual uncle came down for the night. We entered in noiseless file, the room being plunged in darkness, except for a bright strip of moonlight on the floor, across which we must pass for our exit. On this our leading lady chose to pause, seizing the opportunity to study the hang of her new dressing-gown. Greatly satisfied thereat, she proceeded, after the feminine fashion, to peacock and pose, pacing a minuet down the moonlit patch with an imaginary partner. This was too much for Edward's histrionic instincts and after a moment's pause he drew his single-stick, and with flourishes meet for the occasion, strode onto the stage. A struggle ensued on approved lines, at the end of which Selina was stabbed slowly and with unction, and her corpse borne from the chamber by the ruthless cavalier. The rest of us rushed after in a clump, with capers and gesticulations of delight; the special charm of the performance lying in the necessity for its being carried out with the dumbest of dumb shows.

http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/blueroom.htm

It was after this that I could not help but think that possibly the only definition of Blue Room, is mystery. Even though some instances are explained, we can not help but ask the question "why". Whether it be runaway hidden lovers, a murder room or a morgue, there is still the thoughts of:
  1. Why did these two chose to hide here?
  2. Why are they hiding?
  3. Why did they die?
  4. How did they die?
  5. What is the overall cause of action and what would cause a person to result to this situation?
  6. Why in this place?

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