Analysis Of Vertigo

Vertigo, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, tells the story of a man with acrophobia and vertigo who was hired by a friend to investigate his strange wife. The film centers around main character, Scottie Ferguson, and his subject, Madeleine. Scottie’s ex-fiancee and friend, Midge Wood, acts as a secondary character and afterthought of Scottie in terms of his thoughts regarding sexuality and attraction. Midge’s true role and meaning in Vertigo is one of relative mystery and allows for the audience to decipher and interpret how Hitchcock wanted her character to be in relation to Scottie. The theme of the male gaze and the thoughts of Scottie coincide with how Midge’s character is perceived by critics and viewers of the film. Midge’s personal attributes and status contribute to her regard both by Scottie and in the film in general. Midge Wood’s character in Vertigo demonstrates the personification of reality, while she juxtaposes Madeleines role to show the flaws of the male

The male gaze, according to Mulvey, is how heterosexual men perceive and look and women in the lens of their bodies and curves. In cinema, certain techniques can be facilitated by the director in order to further highlight these features of women. She states, ‘In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly (Mulvey 837). In this regard, Mulvey agrees that there is an inherent difference in sexuality among males and females, and she claims that they are highlighted even further through films. In Vertigo, it is quite transparent that Scottie represents the active male pursuer, while Madeleine represents the passive female receiver. This is why, according to Mulvey, Scottie seeks Madeleine and not