In a box of 64 crayons, there are nine different colors of purple. They range from lavender, orchid, and thistle, which are very light, and tend toward pink, to violet and plum, which might be called closest to "true" purple, periwinkle, blue violet, and violet blue toward the blue side, and finally, red violet.

Outside the crayon box are indigo, lilac, purple, eggplant, mauve, magenta, claret, burgundy, and the old Tyrian purple, made and exported by the people of Tyre, and known to the wealthy of the Roman Empire.

Purple lends its name to varied phrases. "Born to the purple," means that one is destined for leadership. A piece of writing can have a "purple passage," which is defined by Webster as "a passage conspicuous for brilliance or effectiveness in a work that is dull, commonplace, or uninspired." Not at all the connotation of "purple prose", which is overly dramatic and emotional. A soldier might get a Purple Heart if he is wounded in the service of his country. A person can also be purple with rage, when she is very angry.

Purple has diverse meanings in psychology. It is a mixture of red and blue, and so is not properly either a warm or a cool color. It can be deep, soft, and atmospheric, as in fog. It can denote distance, such as purple mountains. It might indicate coolness and mistiness, in its very light shades, yet is also associated with darkness or shadow. It can mean dignified, or regal, and has connotations of royalty, power, and richness, or when slightly silly, pompousness. Purple can be mournful, mystic, and mysterious, mainly in its darker shades, associated with midnight, and magicians. It can indicate someone is sensitive, spiritual, or intuitive. As this is carried to extremes (and toward its reddish side), purple comes to mean passion, which is where purple with rage, and purple prose come in. Medically, it can indicate unhealthiness, such as a purple bruise, or purple shadows under the eyes.

Purple is very common in nature. It is interesting to note how many purple things have given their names to shades of that color. There are lilac, orchid, eggplant, plum, claret, and burgundy.

Purple flowers include the already mentioned lilacs and orchids, as well as the common color of iris. There are foxgloves, pansies, gentians, thistles, penstemons, larkspur, lobelia, and lupine. Some very deep purple flowers are called black, such as black tulips. Some purple animals are purple emperor butterflies, some South American frogs, and purple martins, as well as the coloring on parts of many other birds, such as the Barrows Goldeneye, a purple-headed duck.

Purple has made its way into our literature. In addition to the book, edited by Sandra Martz, which provides the title of this article, we have the poem about the purple cow, the delightful Harold and the Purple Crayon and its sequels by Crockett Johnson, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, Ride a Purple Pelican by the ever-entertaining Jack Prelutsky, the old standby Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey, and its many imitators, such as Writer of the Purple Rage by Joe R. Lansdale, and Dust Devils of the Purple Sage by Barbara Burnett Smith. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, we have Violet Beauregarde, destined to become not a giant grape as you might expect from her name, but a blueberry.

My writing partner offered these thoughts about purple: "Purple is the evening sky, a cloak pulled across the heavens by the sinking sun. Purple is a plum, its sugared sweetness sliding down my throat and trickling down my chin. Purple is a mountain, distant, regal, and majestic. Purple is sleep, holding me in its soothing embrace." Are any of your characters sensitive, passionate, or mysterious? If so, you might consider dressing them in purple. Are any of them pompous? Royal? Intuitive? Then they will probably like purple. Not a color to be smeared on with a wide brush, purple provides a splash of color, and psychological insight to your characters. I challenge you to look around for purple in your home. Except for its dark, almost blue shade, or one that's nearly pink, you probably won't find much, and it may be jarring when you do. Enjoy getting to know this flamboyant color, and learning to add it to your writer's toolbox.

Copyright © 1999 by Karen L. Oberst