Ships
Barthes contradicts the general convention that ships are a symbol of departure (especially as it relates to leaving off on an adventure) by arguing that the true representative significance is that of a perfectly enclosed home. When used symbolically, most ships in fiction are substitute homes for metaphorical families where the inside world can usually be realistically be cut off from the outside world and influence.
G-String
Barthes argues that the specific use of the G-String with which the traditional striptease comes to an end is a symbolic chastity belt. The fully dressed dancer engages in a tease slowly and methodically reduces the artist down to object; the dancer down to woman. But still the performer remains an artist and not a prostitute, and therefore the G-String is a symbol that does not just retain the woman’s chastity, but the also the purity of the art.
Foam
One of the most popular symbols in the book is foam. Not only does Barthes signify foam as a symbol for luxury but he also explains how that symbolic meaning is limited in use and understanding by economic status and how its literal qualities of water and air bubbles was transformed into a representation of luxury through associative techniques used in advertising for detergents.
Wine
Barthes explains the omnipresence of wine at every level of French society in terms of symbolism. Unlike people in the rest of the world, the French do not drink wine for the purpose of intoxication and if that is the result it is merely a consequence. The French drink wine because is the elixir of conversion; wine gains its power as a symbol of unlimited possibility for transformation. In the words of Barthes, it has the power to make a weak person strong or get a shy person to start talking.
Professional Wrestling
Professional wrestling—not the actual competitive sport for which one can win Olympic medals—is entirely symbolic for Barthes. In fact, it is so laden with symbols that it achieves the level of metaphor. But the heart and soul of professional wrestling is that moment toward which every other aspect builds in anticipation and it is the most deeply and specifically symbolic. And that symbolism exists precisely because the anticipation does steadily build even though the outcome is already know to be a foregone conclusion. The declaration of the winner of the match is modern mass entertainment’s most comforting unambiguous acting out of the moral justice sorely missing in real life. The good guy not only wins, but he enjoys a moral victory over the bad. Good always defeats evil in the end even if the end is delayed by losses also lacking ambiguity and surprise.
