Saltburn: Motifs | SparkNotes

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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the film’s major themes. 

Motifs in the movie Saltburn

Masks and False Identities

The birthday party thrown by the Cattons at Saltburn for Oliver is a costume party, themed around the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play is full of characters who assume, voluntarily or involuntarily, various false or altered identities, and the costume element of the party reflects this aspect of the play. However, the costumes and masks of the party carry a deeper significance for Oliver, who has been assuming something of a false identity all summer. At Oxford, he lied to Felix about his background, pretending that his parents are impoverished and suffer from substance abuse when, in fact, they live in a respectable middle-class suburb. At Saltburn, he carefully modified his behavior in order to ingratiate himself with the Cattons, feigning familiarity with the pottery of Bernard Palissy, for example, because he knows that Sir James collects his works. At the party thrown for Oliver, Oliver confronts Felix, who was stung by the revelation of Oliver’s lies. During their final argument, Oliver claims that his deceit was motivated by a desire to entertain Felix, and further, argues that everyone in Felix’s orbit is in some sense performing for his benefit, hoping to keep his interest. Oliver suggests that Felix unconsciously expects people to bend to his will, donning whatever 'mask' they think will please him.

Outsiders

When Oliver first arrives at Saltburn at the beginning of the summer, he feels like an outsider in the palatial mansion, awed by the history and splendor of the building. When he meets Felix’s family, he overhears their condescending discussion of Prescot, the town where he was raised, which they imagine to be some “awful slum” where crime and poverty are the norm. At first, he commits several faux pas, walking up to the front of the building instead of calling to be driven in from the station, for example. He has, at this point, a weak sense of how a household like Saltburn operates. He is not, however, the only “outsider” at Saltburn. The film establishes parallels between Oliver and several other figures who reside at the margins of the mansion and its wealth. Pamela, for example, is also a guest of Saltburn, staying with her friend, Lady Elspeth, following the end of a risky relationship with a Russian oligarch and a stint in rehab. By the time Oliver arrives at Saltburn, the Cattons have already begun to grow tired of Pamela and pressure her to leave. Lady Elspeth even requests that Pamela fetch tea for the family, blurring the lines between guest and servant. In the end, both Pamela and Oliver are, under different circumstances, pushed out of Saltburn quietly, without any ceremony or farewells.

Though Farleigh is a member of the family, nephew of Sir James and Lady Elspeth and cousin to Felix and Venetia, he also has something of an outsider status at Saltburn. At Oxford, Felix claimed to Oliver that Sir James was forced to cut financial ties with his sister, Farleigh’s mother, after her new husband in America wasted money irresponsibly. Sir James has paid for Farleigh’s education and invites him to spend the summer at Saltburn, but Farleigh continues to resent his financial dependence upon the Cattons, arguing fiercely with Felix about his need to come to them with a “begging bowl” while his mother cannot pay her bills. Farleigh has a relatively marginal position at Saltburn, and he alone seems to perceive Oliver’s attempts to manipulate the family. Resenting Oliver’s close relationship to the family, Farleigh attempts to drive a wedge between him and Felix. Ultimately, Oliver is the victor in their struggle for power, despite Farleigh’s conviction that his position at Saltburn is secure due to his status as a member of the family.

Repression and Propriety 

At various points in the movie, members of the Catton family avoid difficult or uncomfortable conversations. When Farleigh is kicked out of Saltburn, for example, Felix tells Oliver not to bring the topic up. When Oliver asks what he should do if Sir James or Lady Elspeth bring up the topic of Farleigh, Felix confidently assures him that they will not. Indeed, the Cattons sit together on the lawn, drinking and eating, and nobody mentions Farleigh’s absence. This is characteristic of the Cattons’ tendency to repress negative emotions, instead bottling up their feelings and acting as if everything is alright for the sake of propriety. In the movie, this self-restraint is characteristic of British, upper-class characters who exhibit a “stiff upper lip” in the face of difficulty or adversity. 

However, this tendency occasionally borders upon absurdity and cruelty in the film. After the death of Felix, for example, Oliver joins the Cattons for a tense luncheon. Though they are clearly distraught, nobody directly addresses the topic of Felix, instead talking about minor and frivolous concerns such as the success of the party and the chocolate cake. Meanwhile, Duncan closes the curtains of the room so that the family does not have to see as Felix’s body is carried away on a stretcher. Venetia, heavily medicated, barely responds to the others and appears distant from everything going on. Only Farleigh, who was raised in the United States, disturbs the mundane but tense conversation with an emotional outburst, and he is swiftly silenced by Sir James, who dismisses his “American feelings.” The Cattons are entirely unable to confront the difficult topic of Felix’s death and have no healthy way of processing their repressed emotions. 

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