Human Pride On The Example Of Charles Foster's Kane From The Film "Citizen Kane"

Pride is a complex characteristic that many people possess. It can be good to have a certain amount of pride. However, when one has too much pride, it can be detrimental to their life and ability to connect with others as they can become so consumed by their need to be superior. Charles Foster Kane from the film, Citizen Kane, is a prime example of pride interfering with relationships. Kane is an extremely prideful character who constantly attempts to prove himself to the world that he is deserving of their love. From running a popular newspaper to campaigning for governor, Kane consistently goes over the top in extravagant displays of power and wealth.

One of the largest displays being his massive mansion, Xanadu, that he constructed for his wife, Susan. In a scene inside Xanadu, Susan is seen solving a jigsaw puzzle as she complains about how unhappy she is in the mansion with Kane. Arguments ensue between the couple as the scene progresses. Throughout Citizen Kane, pride prevents Charles Foster Kane from maintaining meaningful, lasting relationships. The director, Orson Welles, employs mise en scene to display Kane massive wealth and Xanadu to the audience as Kane and Susan argue. Mise en scene is the arrangement of everything seen by the audience within a shot. Welles also utilizes blocking, the staging of actors, to physically represent the emotional distance dividing the couple as they disagree on Kane’s displays of wealth. In the Jigsaw Puzzle scene, the grandeur and immense size of Xanadu is exhibited to the audience through the use of mise en scene as it contributes to the unhappiness of his marriage with Susan.

At the beginning of the scene, a long shot of Kane walking into the room displays the unreal extravagance of the mansion he has built to the audience. As he enters through a huge, ornate entryway, the audience is able to view various expensive statues he has purchased lining the wall to his right. A glorious grand stairwell is also displayed within the shot as he approaches Susan. The mise en scene within this shot clearly depicts the immense size of Xanadu. Every detail is ridiculously ornate. Kane and Susan’s voices also appear to echo due to the size and emptiness of the room as they begin their conversation.

Xanadu is the accumulation of Kane’s massive wealth and his desire to appear as magnificent as possible to the public. It is meant to impress and draw attention to Kane as he wants to be loved by all and believes greatness is the way to accomplish it. Therefore, Xanadu is a physical representation of Kane’s pride. As Susan and Kane argue over whether Xanadu is the place they belong, it is as if Kane’s pride is being called into question. Susan and Kane have opposing views of whether Xanadu is a home. Susan believes it is too grand and massive to be a proper home as it can be quite lonely since “There’s nobody to talk to, nobody to have fun with” (Welles Citizen Kane 1941). However, Kane believes it is their only possible home. This physical representation of Kane’s pride is creating a divide between the couple.

The disharmony in the marriage continues in the second part of the scene as the mise en scene displays Susan solving a jigsaw puzzle adjacent to a massive fireplace. The fireplace of Xanadu looks like it is swallowing her whole as she appears small and isolated in its presence due to it being unnecessarily tall and wide. It is not only for housing fires but drawing more of the audience’s attention to the grandeur of the mansion. Susan is clearly unhappy with her life with Kane here. As Kane’s pride caused the creation of Xanadu and his need for them to live there, it is therefore causing a disconnect in his marriage. The mise en scene of the Jigsaw Puzzle scene displays to the audience how massive Xanadu is while Kane opposes his wife’s desires. Pride prevents Kane from listening to what his wife really wants and needs as he is so consumed by his need to impress the world with his greatness.

In addition, the blocking of the Jigsaw Puzzle scene contributes to the overarching theme of pride interfering with Kane’s relationships. Susan and Kane are blocked to be at a great physical distance from each other when they argue. As their initial argument over whether Xanadu is a home comes to an end, Kane moves away from Susan, creating a large physical distance between them. By moving away, he creates a uncaring atmosphere around him signaling to Susan that this is the end of their argument and her desires do not matter. Only his need to maintain a glowing, magnificent public appearance through his mansion matters to him. This creates an emotional disconnect between the couple. They are unable to agree and healthily communicate.

The more emotionally distant they become from each other due to distress over Xanadu, the more space comes between them physically. This displays their failing marriage clearly to the audience. In the second half of the scene, Susan is seated by the vast fireplace and Kane places himself extremely far away from her. They are so distant from each other that they have to shout to be able to hear each other. They are further apart in this shot than in the prior one due to the increase in emotional distance as Susan is even more unhappy with her life with Kane. As if they were still a happy couple, Kane proposes to go on an extravagant picnic. This upsets Susan because this additional display of wealth is not what she wanted and further pushes them apart emotionally. Susan is unwilling to do anything he wants because, “You never give me what I really want” (Welles Citizen Kane 1941). The couple is so disconnected from each other and unable to make the marriage work healthily for them. The emotional distance between the couple due to Kane’s immense pride is represented in physical distance between them through the blocking of the scene.

A prideful personality prevents people from creating and maintaining meaningful relationships. The physical representation of Kane’s pride, Xanadu, causes disagreements between him and his wife, Susan. Xanadu drives a wedge between them emotionally, preventing Kane from maintaining a healthy marriage with her. The blocking of the scene displays this emotional divide by pushing the couple apart physically. The use of mise en scene and blocking exhibit to the audience the deterioration of Kane’s relationship as a result of his immense pride. Kane, in his attempt to appear extravagantly amazing to the public, loses his wife. Pride can morph an otherwise healthy relationship into an extremely unhealthy one for both parties.