ipl-logo

Feminist Representation Of The Blonde In Vertigo, By Alfred Hitchcock

1739 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Alfred hitchcocks themes and styles in rear window

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

Show More
Related
1674 Words | 7 Pages

This essay argues that the gendered performance of the characters is due to Linda Nicholson’s biological foundationalism as explored in Interpreting Gender (1999). The differences in reactions between the men and women of the story are not

Read More
539 Words | 3 Pages

In every relationship there is always an unequal relationship with the significant other. In the short story The Chaser by John Collier, Alan Austen who’s the main character in the short story goes to an old man to buy a love potion so this girl named Diana would fall in love with him. The basic principle states that men and women have a relationship that is unequal or oppressive. In the short story “The Chaser”, it shows feminist criticism by feeling unconfident, buying a love potion, and Diana’s treatment of Mr. Austen. My first main point of the story that touched on feminism was when Mr. Austen feeling unconfident.

Read More
339 Words | 2 Pages

“We’ve become a nation of peeping toms,” states James Stewart’s nurse, played by Thelma Ritter, in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window. Ritter’s comment ironically foreshadows events later in the film, but simultaneously provides a critique of the voyeuristic nature of cinema itself. Rear Window’s marketing campaign and public reception both center on the notion of ‘peeping,’ but present differing standpoints on Hitchcock’s exhibition and apparent promotion of the morbid curiosity at the root of human nature during the era of post-war paranoia. A theme often apparent in Hitchcock films is the idea of lost identity, a concept that can easily contribute to obsessive fear, which was not an unfamiliar sensation for American citizens during

Read More
671 Words | 3 Pages

The role that the women in this film had was being an image for men to view. Women in Vertigo are objectified and are there for the sole purpose of being looked at. The women in this Hitchcock film served the purpose of fulfilling the male gaze. For example, Scottie would follow Judy on the street, in a museum,

Read More
278 Words | 2 Pages

Thanks to a german scientist named Albert Einstein, The United States created the atomic bomb.     Albert Einstein came from germany to warn the president that Germany was going to make an atomic bomb.  President roosevelt then approves the making of the atomic bomb and the project later becomes known as the manhattan project. The first atomic bomb was made in Manhatten, New York, USA.

Read More
343 Words | 2 Pages

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, it is the second category of women portrait that is represented: the mother figure, the main female character identifies with. The movie follows the story of John Ferguson surnamed "Scottie", a detective who is hired to follow his client’s wife Madeleine. The client is worried for his wife because she is obsessed with the life of one of her dead ancestor who killed herself. He fears that she is going to repeat the same mistakes. The portrait of Carlotta embodies the ghost of the dead woman and Madeleine’s obsession with her.

Read More
289 Words | 2 Pages

Gender stereotypes set different standards for men and women. Vertigo, created in 1958 portrayed many different aspects of gender roles. In the beginning of the film we are introduced to “Scottie” who is a well respected detective but suffers from acrophobia and has a vertigo. He is very optimistic and wants the perfect woman in his life, he lives with “Midge” who is a creative artists and designs bras. Midge is a very sophisticated and a fine woman who is also Scotties ex fiancé.

Read More
296 Words | 2 Pages

In conclusion, Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director who start his career as a card designer, over time he ventured in other areas of film production as an assistant. Finally he was given the chance to direct his first film, he impress the producers so he was assign other projects. In his biography The Lodger, approximately the third film he directed, is considered the template of his career because it express his unique style on filmmaking, which would be also reflected in all of his subsequent films. One of the most important and recognized themes that is recurrent in his films is the idea of the wrong man accused of a crime. As time passed and new technology develop, synchronize dialogue became an achievement in cinema.

Read More
1195 Words | 5 Pages

In this essay I will use Vera Chytilová’s film Daisies (1966) and Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (1981) to explore the ways in which surrealist filmmakers reject established political structure and avoid conventional interpretation in their portrayals of female sexuality and pleasure. I will focus on how these films align female sexuality and pleasure with destruction of any existing order of meaning. In these films rejection of the patriarchy means a rejection of the patriarchal constructs of language and symbols, creating a film that defies the constraints of conventional modes of interpretation. Like many surrealist films, both Daisies and Possession begin in a world that could be considered “real.” This is the rational and objective world that conforms to tangible social and political conventions.

Read More
735 Words | 3 Pages

The diversity of the theoretical framework, on which feminist film theory lies, propels many different ideas and questions, which feminist film theorists and critics seek to explore and answer. Among those ideas are the notion of the “male gaze” that dominates the classical Hollywood and cinema spectatorship, on which Laura Mulvey’s pivotal essay expands; B. Ruby Rich’s idea that the relationship between women and film is dialectical, meaning that women consciously filter the messages and images on screen to create their own meaning; and from the works of Haskell and Rosen – the realistic depiction of women both in documentary and narrative cinema and Claire Johnston’s women’s cinema as “counter cinema”, which offers an alternative to the classical Hollywood cinema and its sexist ideologies. At the same time as feminist film theory developed there was a rise of feminist film criticism, as a natural outgrowth of the women’s movement in the 1960s and 70s (cite – issues with). In addition, the rumbling political activism at that time and the innovation that was occurring in women’s studies inside academia had, without a doubt, an impact on feminist film criticism, which signified the changing image of

Read More
774 Words | 4 Pages

However, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female

Read More
450 Words | 2 Pages

In comparison, females were significantly limited in their ability to access political or patriarchal authority, as embodied by Lady Macbeth. During the Elizabethan era, it was customary for females to hold supportive and domestic roles as wives and hostesses. At first glance Lady Macbeth satisfies this norm. However, upon learning of the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth ambitiously devises a plan in a lead to access the power she is denied her traditional gender role. Lady Macbeth desire is to wield influence as Queen of Scotland.

Read More
1575 Words | 7 Pages

The story “A Story in an Hour” was written by Kate Chopin, a recently recognized feminist writer. In this short story we find four characters, the protagonist Louise Mallard a women with heart problems that cannot get overly excited or extremely sad situations. Brently Mallard Louise’s husband, a kind and loving man. Josephine Louise’s sister cares very deeply about her sister and helps Louise with her heart problems. Finally Richards, he is Brently’s friend he is present during one of Louise’s, supposedly, difficult moments.

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

The novel Pride and Prejudice can easily be picked apart through a feminist lens. The farther into the book one goes, the more there is to critique and analyze through a feminist lens. The book is about Elizabeth Bennet and her relationship with her eventual fiance Mr. Darcy, the ups and the downs of their relationship. Elizabeth was never a woman who only craved the attention and approval of men, she was her own person with her own complex emotions.

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

Feminist Theory In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, they recognize the life of the Igbos which are a tribe in the village of Umuofia during European colonization. There are many topics brought up in this book like the effects of colonization, culture and tradition, religion, race, etc. It is relatively easy to read “Things Fall Apart” as an anti-feminist text due to the face that the Igbo clan’s customs and traditions seem to side towards masculine features, such as power and strength. The novel is told through a male protagonist’s point of view in nineteenth century Nigeria, while women there do not have much rights, they do wield heavy influence over the leaders of the clan.

Read More

More about Feminist Representation Of The Blonde In Vertigo, By Alfred Hitchcock

Related Topics

Open Document