Eyes in Novels

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 8:23 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]I'm working my way through Queen by Right and one character is described as having purple eyes. Really? I know Elizabeth Taylor was lauded for her violet colored eyes (I never could tell in the movies), but purple is such a weird color.

[/quote] It is my (cynical) opinion that ET's eyes weren't actually "violet" but just a very dark blue that looked purple in certain lights. But, of course, they were always called "violet" because that just sounds oh, so much more glamorous.

SGM · Post by **SGM** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 9:52 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]My Mom said she was taught in school that brown eyes are dominant. Well she had six kids and only one of them has her brown eyes. [/quote]

There's such a thing as a statistical cluster. I can't remember what the ratio for blue or brown eyes is but if, say, it was 4-1, it doesn't mean that if you have five kids it will follow that split.

I thought two brown-eyed parents could have blue-eyed kids if there were blue eyes amongst their parents (hence recessive) but it's a long time since I had to study it so I have forgotten the details and could be wrong. Isn't it about probability as well as statistics? -- really not my subject.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 10:26 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Don't forget that eye color is affected by what we wear as well.
.[/quote]

Alas! My eyes are always the same crappy brown. How I do envy you!

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 10:34 pm

Yeah, brown eyes that are "pure" brown without any green don't tend to change. No matter what you wear or what light you are in, they are always brown.

DianeL · Post by **DianeL** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 10:43 pm

Michy, here I sit at age forty-three, absolutely astounded - because I never thought about it at all, but I think you may be right. I don't see many people with eyes my color. They're strange because, as light as they are, they're definitely brown, not hazel nor green. But not an amber, warm color. They're a cool brown. I have a grey rim around the iris, so that probably keeps it from a honey or golden tone. To my knowledge and experience, they don't change except in color value (relative lightness or darkness), as opposed to hue. Nobody's ever told me they vary from brown, though one friend I"d known for many years exclaimed once when he saw me in bright sunlight (I guess one doesn't see vampires like me in the daytime all that much!).

I can remember as a child staring at the way my irises worked - so I was actually very intimately familiar with the detail of my eyes from a pretty young age. The way the pigment to me almost appeared like a fine dust, like some powdered finish, protected under glass (my juvenile powers of description would not have gone much beyond that) really fascinated me. The way the pupil contracted, the way the color responded to dilation and constriction just LOOKED so neat to me. I didn't feel one way or the other about the things themselves - the color, my eyes' shape, or any of that. I just thought they were impossibly amazing little machines.

It was probably in high school I decided I wished they were much much darker brown - owing to my friend with the almost-black eyes which I still find so very beautiful. It wasn't a particularly strong thing, but I did think black-brown eyes were so mysterious and lovely and striking.

My person-who-is-not-a-boyfriend-oh-when-will-they-ever-come-up-with-a-bearable-word-for-these-relationships helped me come out of neutrality and realize how nice the very light brown is. I never thought they were extremely special - but ah what a mirror some people can make of themselves.

Genetic datum: dad's eyes (which we donated when he died - it was all he had that could be used - bless them) were hazel, and mom's are brown, but not as light as mine. So I suppose I"m between the two of them. Where the grey rim came from I am unsure. I'll have to peer closer at mom when she returns from vacation. Dad's I can't really peer at anymore. Heh.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Wed August 24th, 2011, 7:11 pm

[quote=""Michy""]Even though your mother's eyes are brown she could be (and probably is) carrying a gene for blue/green. She could pass the blue/green gene on to her children (rather than the brown gene). Depending on what gene is inherited from the other parent, it's possible for the kids to end up with blue or green eyes even though one or both parents have brown eyes.[/quote]

In Mom's case her first husband's eyes were gray and the kids from that marriage all got grey eyes. My Dad's are blue as are two of my full sisters', the third sister having gotten Mom's brown. To my knowledge both of my maternal grandparents also had brown eyes.

Fascinating stuff.

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Wed August 24th, 2011, 9:02 pm

[quote=""Divia""]I have to say I obsesses about eye color.

I think part of it comes from that I have crappy brown eyes while my mother has brown hair and the most beautiful blue eyes ya ever did see. My step brother has black hair and stunning icy blue eyes.

I hate my eyes. HATE THEM. I want pretty blue ones. And I lament over it. I can't wear contacts because I hate things near my eyes.

[/quote]

LOL, I'm the same way - I refer to my eye color as "poop brown". But actually, I was putting on some make-up in the car the other day and in the bright sunlight, I noticed they actually had an amber-glow to them! I guess because I normally view myself inside where the lighting is darker and my pupils are bigger, I never noticed. Lighting definitely makes a difference.

I also love the dark hair/blue eyes combo. I especially love blue/grey/green eyes which have that darker rim around the outside of the iris.

DianeL · Post by **DianeL** » Wed August 24th, 2011, 10:37 pm

I must be vainer even than I thought, because all this I-hate-my-brown-eyes simply baffles me. Brown is deep. Brown can be cool, or warm - or, frankly, flat out hot. Brown can have mystery. Mahogany eyes. Black eyes. Glossy eyes. My dog's a brown-eye, and d*mn me seriously if there has ever been a more beautiful gaze. My mom used to smilingly describe my eyes as big beautiful cow eyes, and "Moo" was the silly nickname this earned when a couple of us were talking about this freshman year in college. Hee. My eyes are friendly, my eyes are soft, my eyes are second to no other color at all.

Brown PEOPLE have brown eyes - do we dismiss every one of these people as unlovely? It's such a strange and sad idea to me.

Brown is a color of evocative age and depth. Brown has strength. Brown is beautiful.

AND so are the other colors.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Thu August 25th, 2011, 3:10 am

Brown eyes of the right shade remind me of chocolate. And chocolate is a beautiful thing.

I don't think anyone was referring to all people with brown eyes, just themselves.

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Thu August 25th, 2011, 8:24 am

[quote=""DianeL""]I must be vainer even than I thought, because all this I-hate-my-brown-eyes simply baffles me. Brown is deep. Brown can be cool, or warm - or, frankly, flat out hot. Brown can have mystery. Mahogany eyes. Black eyes. Glossy eyes. My dog's a brown-eye, and d*mn me seriously if there has ever been a more beautiful gaze. My mom used to smilingly describe my eyes as big beautiful cow eyes, and "Moo" was the silly nickname this earned when a couple of us were talking about this freshman year in college. Hee. My eyes are friendly, my eyes are soft, my eyes are second to no other color at all.

Brown PEOPLE have brown eyes - do we dismiss every one of these people as unlovely? It's such a strange and sad idea to me.

Brown is a color of evocative age and depth. Brown has strength. Brown is beautiful.

AND so are the other colors.[/quote]

I don't think it's strange and sad to have a personal preference. Some people prefer a certain hair color and will dye their hair to get it - why can't we have the same preferences for eye color?

I don't think anyone was referring to all people with brown eyes, just themselves.

^This. My mom has brown eyes - I got them from her - and I think she's beautiful. I just wish I had grey/blue eyes like my dad and brother.

A friend of mine has the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. They are so rich and brilliant blue, I thought for sure when I first met her that she was wearing colored contacts but she doesn't.