Analysis of album cover 'Madonna - Like a Virgin' (media language appied)

1. ALBUM COVER
ANALYSIS
M A D O N N A – L I K E A V I R G I N
( M E D I A L A N G U A G E A P P L I E D

2. THE TEXT I WILL BE
ANALYSING IS AN ALBUM
COVER FOR MADONNA – LIKE A
VIRGIN.
T H I S A L B U M W A S R E L E A S E D I N 1 9 8 4 . T H E
L E A D S I N G L E ‘ L I K E A V I R G I N ’ B E C A M E H E R
F I R S T N U M B E R 1 S I N G L E .

3. The Image used for this
album cover was shot in
a hotel suite of the St.
Regis Hotel, lying on a
bed against satin pillows
and sheets
Overall, the mise- en-scene
has an air of wealth and
sophistication as satin was
quite expensive in the
1980’s.
The mise-en scene in general gives off a wealthier vibe
even though not much of the room can be seen in the
shot.

4. The innocent symbols are
harshly contradicted by her
dark make up, dishevelled hair
and facial code.
She is wearing a
wedding dress and
holding a bouquet of
small flowers.
Wedding dresses and
white flowers usually
symbolise purity and
innocence along with
her full-length gloves
Her costume code is far from traditional as the dress has a
very tight-fitting bustier that shows a lot of cleavage and
she is wearing the infamous ‘boy toy’ belt which further
contradicts the idea of a pure bride
Her facial code is a
sultry-looking steely
gaze which appeals to
the male gaze theory
and presents her as a
sex icon

5. The name of the album,
‘Like a virgin’ is in a
smaller blue serif font
which contradicts the
brown hues of the rest of
the album.
The album cover only has 2 styles of typography. The larger text
is of the artist’s name: Madonna.
Her name is written in a serif font
which is more sophisticated than a
sans-serif alternative.
The album cover image has been edited to have a sepia filter
over it which gives the entire image an older, wealthy feel.
Normally a person’s name
would have the first letter
capitalised to show that it is
in fact a name
In this case we can see that
this has not been done which
portrays Madonna as an
object rather than a person
This supports Richard
Dyer’s theory that all
icons and celebrities are
created by institutions
for financial gain.

6. The Album cover adheres
to the stereotype in the
media that women are
objects of desire based on
her clothing.
As well as being
an object of
desire, she
presents herself as
a woman who also
desires something
based on her facial
code.
The photo can be said to be taking from the perspective of a
man which also supports Mulvey’s male gaze theory.