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Human Curiosity In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

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Alfred Hitchcock’s, Rear Window (1954), is a cinematic masterpiece that analyzes the complicated aspects involved within human curiosity. Telling the story of a photographer, L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, the film delves into the metafictional ways in which he uncovers a murderer while recuperating from an accident. Being stricken in a wheelchair, Jeff looks out of the rear window in his New York apartment and views the lives of his many neighbors. Through his recovery, Jeff lives his life vicariously through his window until he hears a woman screaming for help, startling him and creating suspicion that his neighbor, Lars Thorwald, has murdered his wife. This leads to a series of events that eventually leads to Thorwald being convicted of his crimes …show more content…

Accordingly, Lisa is motivated by her love for Jeff, wanting to marry him and settle down. As the story continues, Lisa learns that Jeff is reluctant about the future, but she wants him to reconsider. Despite her many actions Lisa cannot convince Jeff exemplified by: “Displaying her nightwear to Jeff, she describes it as a, “preview of coming attractions.”” (Belton 1988) This quote from, “The Space of Rear Window” shows how Lisa is constantly trying to wed Jeff, but constantly fails. She also learns that Thorwald is a dangerous man who cannot be trusted. The quote represents how despite constant attempts, one’s desired intention can be ignored and pushed away. Nevertheless, she doesn’t really change during the story as her main goal throughout the story is to help Jeff and eventually settle down with him. Lisa is unique, as she is most integral to Jeff and the eventual capture of Thorwald. Without her, Jeff would surely be much more depressed and wouldn’t have been able to pursue his interest in Thorwald. Moreover, Lisa’s virtues include: her intuitive thinking, her bravery, and her motivation in her goals. Conversely, Her vices are her carelessness in sneaking into Thorwald’s apartment and her sexual exuberance toward Jeff. Thus, society would define Lisa as a beautiful young woman who is striving to settle down with her boyfriend to live a family

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Rear Window Argues that people should mind their own business. Do you agree? Rear Window, a 1954 romance/murder-mystery by the renowned golden age director Alfred Hitchcock, is a film that explores a multitude of themes and genres through the voyeuristic gaze of protagonist L.B. Jefferies. Jefferies, or ‘Jeff’ as he commonly known throughout the film, is a middle-aged bachelor recently hospitalised due to his high-risk career as a photojournalist. This hindered condition serves as an important foundation on which the movie is built upon as Jeff’s forced lifestyle being in a wheelchair causes an abrupt stop in his usual high intensity way of life and causes him to quench his boredom in other ways, predominantly watching the other residents in his apartment complex through the ‘rear window’ of his apartment.

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Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a fillm full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcok’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye anitially sees when viewing this film there is a fine line between understanding what is going on in the film and observing what the protagonist Jeff is viewing.

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