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Feminist Representation Of The Blonde In Vertigo, By Alfred Hitchcock

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1. Introduction In the following essay I will investigate the significance of Alfred Hitchcock’s figuration of ‘the blonde’ and ask what the construction of Hitchcock’s blonde heroines reveals about gender dynamics in post-war cinema. To this end, I will undertake a close analysis of the blonde protagonists Lisa Carol Fremont and Madeleine Elster in Hitchcock’s post-war films Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958) . To address this issue, first I will introduce the archetype of the Hitchcock blonde in general and its feminist critique by Mulvey (2000) and Modleski (2005) more specifically. Second, I investigate the cinematic techniques Alfred Hitchcock utilised in order to create the seeming superficiality of his blonde protagonists. My claim is that through this framing the male protagonists and the spectators are misdirected about the blonde’s passivity. Finally, in order to argue this case, I will discuss how the superficial masquerades of the blondes Lisa Carol …show more content…

Likewise Friddle refutes the idea of Lisa being a passive character and states that Lisa and Stella, Jeff’s nurse, represent “powerful sources of […] action” (112). Lisa’s agency becomes evident, for example, when she visits Jeff in his apartment for the first time. Lisa organizes the dinner and actively moves around Jeff, who, in contrast, is stationary and confined to his wheelchair throughout the film (Modleski 76). Lisa’s activity and agency is also reflected in Hitchcock’s framing. In nearly every shot, showing Lisa and Jeff, she is depicted as physically superior to him (Modleski 77). For instance, in the medium shots figure 8 and 9, Jeffries is sitting in his wheelchair, whereas Lisa is standing and thus physically above Jeff. Consequently, Lisa appears to be more

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