Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock: Mother Vs. The Girl Next Door

In the film Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock, the characters Midge and Madeline have contrasting personalities and signify two different types of femininity-motherly and erotic. While they both represent possible lovers for Scotty, he is only libidinally attracted to the promiscuous Madeleine. Midge, a good friend and ex-lover, has a loving caring persona, while Madeline is the mysterious, sexy, and almost taboo character. Since Madeleine is married and supposedly possessed, it should be forbidden for Scotty to fall in love with her; however, it is the sense of obscurity originating from her that makes her so desirable to him. By performing a thorough analysis of several sequences from the film, the viewer can recognize all of the characters' individuality's and receive greater insight to their motives and how their actions effect the others.

In the film, Midge is the only true independent character. Scotty is nearly independent, but his vertigo is a crutch to his potential, and Judy is living off of Elster's wealth. In the scene where Scotty and Midge are in her apartment, the audience discovers that they were once engaged, but then Midge broke off the engagement. This also proves her independence. The viewers do not know why, but they can assume that Midge felt she would be better off single and living alone, or perhaps they were too young, being as they were only in college. She also works from home, being self-sufficient as a lingerie designer. In contrast to Scotty, who used to work a more regular workweek as a detective, Midge can set her own hours and work as she pleases. Another possible reason she ended the engagement is that she would feel held back being in a serious relationship. In the lingerie scene it's observed how frank and blunt Midge is as she is describing the lingerie designs in the presence of a man. Most women would avoid speaking about such topics directly to men. Despite her actions suggesting a more ambitious maverick personality, with Midge, it seems that everything is open to see and there are no secrets. Everything we are shown about Midge is everything there is to see.

Madeleine, in contrast to Midge's wide openness, is very secretive and detached. It's as if she is teasing Scotty with how much she reveals about herself. Physically, Madeleine is more attractive than Midge. Her hair and makeup are always done and she always seems to be dressed for an occasion. Scotty is originally attracted to her beauty, but then becomes determined and slightly obsessed with solving her 'case'. In the sequence where Madeleine shows up at Scotty's door to tell him about the dream, He becomes very emotionally involved with the situation. His determination to help her is seen as he grabs her and tries to get her to recall the dream, then Scotty realizes that it takes place in a nearby setting, and he feels significant satisfaction as he thinks he has made a new stride in his investigation.

Madeleine's behavior is also very erotic in ways. She walks very gracefully and talks softly, and is very flirtatious with Scotty. In the scene where Madeleine wakes up in his apartment and she walks out in his bathrobe she appears very graceful and vulnerable, and also innocent. Knowing a few moments before she was lying in his bed nude only adds to the eroticism. When Scotty first introduces himself, she replies, "Jonathon is a good strong name," and smiles while looking into his eyes. When Madeleine reaches for her cup, Scotty does also insisting that he'll get her another cup of coffee, and then their hands touch together, they stare into each others eyes, and it appears they are about to lean in to kiss, until the moment is interrupted by the ringing of the phone. As Scotty goes to answer the phone, Madeleine follows him with her eyes.

With Madeleine being a sexy seductress, Midge has a more maternal aurora. Midge doesn't care about appearances as much as Madeleine. She wears glasses, has an average haircut, and just stays in her apartment and paints wearing whatever is comfortable. This shows that Midge doesn't feel the need to have to impress anyone, and that she offers more inner beauty than shallow physical appearances. The viewer cannot make complete assumptions that Midge never dresses up or wears more provocative clothes, but because that's all the audience is shown, it is all they have to base their ideas.

In the scene where Midge is designing lingerie she asks Scotty what he's going to do now that he's quit the force. He points out that she sounds disapproving, which Midge replies, "Its your life, but you were the bright young lawyer who decided that he was going to be chief of police someday." It seems like Midge is trying to impose guilt onto Scotty along with her disappointment, similar to how a mother would respond to a child with 'I'm not angry, just disappointed'. Midge then suggests that Scotty go away for a while to forget about his traumatic experience to which he replies, "Oh, Midge, don't be so motherly." Then there is a reaction shot to his comment as Midge has a facial expression of slight disdain at his response. Later she asks if he's been having any dizzy spells, which Scotty sarcastically replies, "Yes, I'm having one right now." Again there is another reaction shot of Midge's face which shows some discomfort to his reply. Earlier in the scene when the two are talking about how they were once engaged Scotty says that it was Midge who ended the engagement, and he is still available. After that there's a reaction shot of Midge with a small grin on her face. From the reaction shots the audience infers that Midge does not want to be viewed as a motherly friend, but rather a possible lover, as is shown in a later apartment scene.

In the apartment scenes we see that Scotty and Midge still go out on friendly dates, and judging by the way Midge speaks to Johnny the viewer can deduce she still has feelings for him, although they are unreturned. In the scene with the portrait, Midge says, "I was just hoping... you would take me out to a movie," and Scotty complies. Midge is anxious to show Johnny her portrait and she thinks he'll feel the same enjoyment from her latest piece. Once he sees the portrait, Scotty's mood immediately changes and decides he no longer wants to take her out to a movie that night. Midge is basically offering herself to Scotty with the portrait, and it appears she may have a bit of jealousy toward his newfound love.

Midge has seen Scotty intensely viewing the painting in the museum, so she feels by placing herself in the image of what he has been admiring so much, it will get her point across that she does in fact still have feelings for him and she would like to take the relationship to the next level, but at this point Scotty is deeply in love with Madeleine and he has no feelings of such magnitude towards Midge. Midge realizes she has made a mistake and immediately regrets doing so. Scotty could have very well went along with her portrait joke and the rest of the evening with Midge, but he is no longer attracted to her. He already knows everything there is to know. They've been long time friends and were once even engaged. Scotty has seen everything there is to Midge, and he feels its not enough, perhaps too boring. There's no excitement or anything new to Midge. If midge were a desert she would be a scoop of ice cream while Madeleine is a box of chocolates. Ice cream is very sweet, simple, and always a classic, but when eating ice cream the flavors and the outcome is consistent and predictable, which makes it somewhat boring. With a box of chocolates you never know exactly what's inside, but it's always a pleasant surprise.

When Scotty first sees Madeleine at the restaurant he is first attracted to her physical beauty, he has to turn away before she notices him staring. Since Elster already told him about her questionable daily activities Scotty is already drawn to her, due to his previous profession as a detective. The more Scotty learns about her the more there is to find out. This is what draws him closer to her, he can't seem to completely figure her out, while he knows all Midge does is sit around her cramped apartment drawing lingerie all day. In the scene were Madeleine wakes up in Scotty's apartment he stares into her eyes while she tries to recount the past days events. He stares as if he's searching for what's beyond, trying to put all the pieces together.

When Scotty is seeing Judy he sees the striking resemblances between her and Madeleine. He begins to try and change her to look as he remembered Madeleine. Its not only because she looks like her but he wants that feeling he had while loving something that was unknown. When he is with Judy in her room she tells him all about herself, where she's from, what she does, and it's nothing special that sets her apart from the rest. He doesn't necessarily want her to change because he liked Madeleine's appearances the way he remembered but because he wants that feeling again that he had while loving her and her unpredictability. So while he continues to change her there's always something else, because he doesn't want Judy, the girl from Kansas that lives in a hotel room, he wants the mysterious Madeleine that he always discovers something new about.

Scotty has a desire for discovering the unknown. His desire for Madeleine is similar to his previous line of work as a detective. He went into the field because he liked solving mysteries. Midge is not a mystery, he knows all there is about Midge, so there's no purpose left in chasing Midge. They're still good friends, but Scotty no longer desires her as a lover. If Scotty was to solve a big case, he wouldn't continue working on it, his work there is done. Even though Midge broke off the engagement, there's nothing left for Scotty to pursue. Madeleine on the other hand is a case he has yet to solve, except at the very end, and although he solves it, it is a rather disappointing revelation. If Madeleine would have lived and her and Scotty would continue to see each other, it can be assumed that once Scotty has seen all there is to her, she would be the next Midge and Scotty would move on.

References:

"Vertigo" by Alfred Hitchcock