Citizen Kane- initial thoughts

In the film Citizen Kane, a reporter is assigned to discover the meaning of Charles Foster Kane’s dying words; ‘Rosebud’. Throughout the film we see a flashback of Charles as a child playing happily with a sled before being sent away to live with Thatcher. At the very end of the film we find out that this sled has the name ‘Rosebud’ printed across it. This symbolises the last time Charles experienced authentic love and happiness while living with his family. Charles is characterised as the tragic hero as although he is a major figure in the public eye, he attempted to fill his life with materialistic objects. Charles obtains a fatal flaw of believing that money is the reason for all the good things in life. The narrative structure is manipulated as the film doesn’t follow the typical tragic hero structure. We view peripetia at the end of the film when Susan walks out on Charles. At this point Charles has no one and lives in a big house filled with meaningless objects, this is where he experiences his reversal of fortune. Anagnorisis is highlighted at the beginning of the film on his death bed as he drops the snow globe and states “Rosebud”. The audience is in a position to view Charles differently than we would in another tragic hero text such as King Lear. Charles differentiates from King Lear as Lear is overly reactive to loss while Charles attempts to dismiss his problems. This change in method of delivery results in a more cathartic experience for the viewer as the audience has more empathy for Lear. An issue Orson Welles wants us to reflect on is the idea of the wealth his parents believed would allow him a better life was not the same idea of what Charles believed is a good life. This explores the idea that one persons perception of a good life may differentiate from another’s.