From Written Assignment #1 - Effective Description

From S. Allen

We see the side of a primitive castle in the background, fairly small and more likely meant to

house a gentry-class family as opposed to royalty. This manor likely belongs to the woman.

Unlike her Lady Godiva-influenced mate, she is (or was) fully clothed in a peach-coloured dress

with jacquard trim and a necklace of undefined material. It could be silver as soon as gold; either

way, jewellery was not cheap in that day and age nor was it practical. For working classes,

jewellery was likely to be broken, poorly cared for, stolen or sold off for whatever was needed by

the family. Notably, her hair is also loose and flowing, blown about and mussed by the wind. Its

appearance adds even further to to historical setting, but with modern-day ideals –

anachronistic, in other words.


The sky is dark and windswept, possibly resembling that of a coming storm and the foliage is

pointedly dead and the ground painted darker than the sky. The man and the woman contrast

the cold, gloomy landscape with their warm colour, dramatic poses and garb, as well as

composition; the wind on the cover is shown as blowing from left to right, while their pose draws

the eye upward. A lot of attention and detail is put into the man and woman while hardly any is

given to the background. It looks as if the artist (or artists) spent hours upon hours on the male

and female and maybe twenty minutes on the background.


This 'perfect mate' – in this case, the man – is seen as standing tall and strong (while she is

falling) and quite muscular with a strong frame, but not suffering from muscles-that-don't-exist

syndrome (thank goodness!). He is shirtless, tan, long-haired and obviously physically strong

and powerful, but tuned in to himself, the situation and the woman before him; one could say he

is easily 'in control' of what is going on; this is emphasized even more by the title of the book:

Master of Desire. One arm is wrapped about the woman's ribs to support her and she seems

absolutely oblivious to anything that is not him. She is practically falling over herself to be near

and touching the man, one hand placed on his diaphragm and the other out of sight, probably

around his back … or maybe down his pants. Who knows.