The Emotional Significance of Yellow in Normal People

Normal People, the Hulu limited series based on Sally Rooney’s novel, checks every box. The show's main theme is codependency. The two main characters, Connell and Marianne, navigate a turbulent romantic relationship with consistent intimate friendship through high school and university. One thing that worried me as a lover of the novel was how the show was going to display Connell and Marianne’s inner thoughts. Most of the book is discussion within the two characters' minds. They do not often discuss to each other how they feel, that being a big roadblock in their relationship, but it is conveyed in their mind. One way the show conveys where the two characters are emotionally is through color.

Marianne has a special relationship with the color yellow. She wears or lives in yellow whenever she is trying to prove, often to Connell, that she is happy. For the first two episodes, we do not see Marianne in yellow, because it is understood that she is unhappy. We, as an audience, have not seen Marianne happy, although Marianne does interact with the color in a defining way. When Marianne visits Connells home for the first time (episode two) Connell’s whole house appears to glow with the yellow tone. This illusion is due to the tinted window in the front door, but its significance is rooted deeper. Later in the series, Connell’s home becomes a safe place for Marianne. A place where the world doesn’t really exist outside, and it can just be her and Connell, together. In highschool, she is an outsider and also has an extremely hard home life. Connell and Marianne first kiss in episode one and then grow in their intimacy. The two go through a progressive sexual and emotional awakening together and start to hook up secretly during the end of high school.

All seems to be going fine until episode three when Connell asks another girl, Rachel, to the Debs (basically the Irish prom), leaving Marianne disappointed. They have been sleeping together and growing in their relationship, but only when no one is around. Their relationship is a secret because Connell is nervous about his image and what dating Marianne will do to that image. After Connell prioritized his popularity over Marianne’s feelings, we see Marianne wear yellow. Marianne stops going to school after this rejection by Connell and sees him for the first time taking their A level (basically the Irish equivalent of the SAT or ACT), and she is wearing a yellow sweater; she wears a happy and cutesy color to show her happiness without him. She continues to do this throughout the series. After feeling this glimpse of happiness and love from Connell and now losing it, she tries to prove that she was fine without him.

In episode four, Connell and Marianne are in college at Trinity in Dublin. They reconnect with each other for the first time since their secret relationship in school. We see Marianne and Connell living their separate lives in college, and they have completely swapped positions on the social spectrum. Connell is now the loner who feels out of place, while Marianne is thriving in her classes and has a boyfriend and group of friends. One night, Connell is invited to a party by Gareth, his smug classmate, who eventually reconnects Marianne and Connell when he realizes they are from the same town. Gareth is then revealed to be Marianne’s boyfriend. After a bit of an uncomfortable reencounter at the party, the two begin to talk and immediately fall back into step with their specific rhythm of intellectual conversation, skipping the pleasantries and talking in a way that they couldn’t talk with anyone else. Later in the episode, Marianne is at her flat with her friends in Dublin just lounging around and eating dinner before a night on the town. Marianne is in a yellow blouse. This is the first time she has been in yellow in Dublin. (Another important note: the walls of her new kitchen are yellow!) After running into Connell at the party, she is reminded of both the hurt that he caused her and why she was drawn to him in the first place. Again, she is trying to prove to those around her that she is happy in her life without Connell, letting the audience into her inner thoughts. But after some consideration, Marianne decides to skip her night out with friends for an early night in and snuggles up in bed under her, you guessed it, yellow comforter, and gives Connell a call just because.

Throughout episodes five and six Marianne and Connell rekindle their friendship, Marianne breaks up with Gareth, and our two leads decide to give in to their connection and begin a relationship. Connell and Marianne discuss the Debs situation and Marianne lets herself show Connell how much it hurts and is still affecting her. After this, their relationship seems to be all happiness and sex. Marianne switches the comforter on her bed from yellow to navy blue, sometime around when Connell starts staying at her flat in Dublin. Coincidence, I think not. Marianne is happy. She doesn’t have to pretend to everyone else that she is, because she has this person in her life who understands who she is and she can be honest and grow with him. All appears well until Connell loses his job, can’t afford rent in Dublin for the summer, and is too nervous to ask Marianne to live with her all summer. Although the audience, and later Connell, knows that, of course, he could’ve stayed with her. To quote Marianne, “Obviously. Always.” But, the tragic truth of these two people is that they often assume the other gets their “obvious” feelings when they do not, which leads to misunderstandings resulting in hurt.

Marianne returns to Sligo for some time in the summer in episode seven. During this time, Marianne and Connell are not together. The two “broke up” after Connell said that he was returning to Sligo for the summer and assumed Marianne would probably want to see other people. That conversation resulted in a lot of confusion and hurt for the two main characters, and me too if we’re being honest. Marianne is in a lot of yellow this summer. Although, in this case, I do not think she is trying to convince others she is happy. She has nothing to prove to those in Sligo; I think this is more for herself. Marianne is trying to convince herself that she can be okay on her own and without having any sort of relationship with Connell. It is also important to note that it is not a man that is making Marianne happy. It is someone who understands her on a deeper and more intimate level; he just happens to be a boy. Marianne has three other boyfriends throughout the novel/series who directly oppose the happiness she feels when she is with Connell. He gives her an acceptance that she has never experienced, and she is naturally hesitant to allow herself to be accepted by another person.

In episode eight Marianne is shown in a bad relationship. Jamie, her possessive friend turned possessive boyfriend, the two, plus their mutual friend Peggy, are staying in Marianne’s summer house in Italy. Connell and his roommate Niall come to stay for a little bit while backpacking, and it sets Jamie over the edge. After he throws a champagne glass on the ground in a heated argument, Marianne breaks up with Jamie and has to stay the night in Connell’s room. When he and Marianne are together behind closed doors, they begin to talk. Marianne opens up about the relationship with Jamie and how he reminded her of her brother, who is very aggressive towards her. This is the most emotional information Connell and the audience have received at the same time from Marianne since she told Connell about her father being abusive to her and her mother. Connell is at a loss for words after this discussion and starts to kiss Marianne, his go to move when he really doesn’t know the right thing to say to her. The two decide that the kiss was probably a bad idea (considering Connell is with girlfriend Helen at the time) and then, a bit awkwardly, go to sleep. The next scene cuts to Connell and Marianne on a train after this big night of emotional discourse. Of course, Marianne is wearing yellow, putting her “happiness” on display again. This time, she tries to show Connell that despite everything that happened last night with the breakup and the fighting — she is okay. Marianne continues to push back against Connell’s love and acceptance, because everyone else, including family and other boyfriends, are not giving her the same.

The pair do not get back together throughout episodes nine, ten, or eleven. Although, they still maintain a healthy and consistent friendship. Marianne goes through a masochistic relationship while on a study abroad program in Sweden, and near the same time, Connell goes into a deep depressive state and begins therapy, due to guilt over the death of a friend. Marianne and Connell are not in good places, but they email and Skype to help each other through the impossible situations. In episode eleven, we see Marianne wear yellow again. She has been home in Sligo causing arguments with her verbally abusive brother, and her mother always takes her brother's side, even if he is totally in the wrong. Marianne confides this struggle in Connell during a day at the beach. She recalls a conversation where her brother calls her awful things and wishes she was dead — all while wearing a yellow sweater. In confiding this to Connell, he wants to help her, but she still feels like she has to have her guard up and convince both him and herself that she is okay. Maybe this is because she feels like Connell could still leave her if he sees the depths of her brokenness.

The final time we see Marianne wearing a yellow sweater is different from all the other times. This time, we see Marianne physically put on the sweater mid-scene rather than just have it on from the start. Marianne is at Connell’s mother’s house for Christmas after breaking all contact with her own family. While Connell and Marianne are together, Marianne still appears in yellow, which is also a first. During this Christmas dinner Connell has extended family there; they are playing games and genuinely having a good time. Marianne appears to be as well, but the audience, and Connell, know that this is probably in direct opposition to any family gathering she has experienced. After dinner and games, Marianne disappears, and Connell finds her upstairs putting on her yellow sweater. He immediately asks if she is okay and enjoying herself, to which she replies yes. I believe that she is, but she is also feeling a loss from her own familial gathering. She has never experienced this sort of familial love, so while she is having a good time, the feelings of Christmas past are coming in, hence the yellow sweater.

Marianne is an extremely complex character. She contains multitudes that could be easily missed out in creation from a novel to screen. Much of the novel and what you know about Marianne is learned from conversation that goes on inside her mind. She creates the facade of happiness through the color yellow in both her clothing and decor. I applaud both directors and costume designers, and don’t even get me started on the fabulous Daily Edgar- Jones, for throwing in these subtle details to give you a hint of what is going on inside the minds of our two leads. I could write ten different essays on various aspects of Normal People, but this one will just have to do for now.