THEMES OF ENGLISH ROMANTICISM IN ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S VERTIGO
In Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 production of Vertigo, various themes ofEnglish Romanticism can be found in many central scenes, especially thoseinvolving the main protagonist of Scottie (James Stewart) and Judy (KimNovak), whom Scotty adores and loves above all other women. Vertigo, one ofHitchcock's best films, focuses primarily on what has come to be known asthe doppleganger, a German term that denotes a double image or a mirror-like reflection of a character, usually with one being good and the otherevil or mysterious. In this film, the doppleganger is Judy, for after shefakes her own death, she returns as Madeleine, a near-perfect copy of Judybut whose personality is more cold and distant. For Scottie, this situationcreates many personal internal conflicts, some of which are highlyreminiscent of certain attributes associated with English Romanticism, suchas idealism, a veneration for nature and an obsession with death and dying. In essence, English Romanticism, a literary movement which began inthe later decades of the 18th century and lasted until the middle years ofthe 19th century, is generally characterized by a heightened appreciationfor beauty in all its varied forms and is based on
For Scottie, these images may refer to his pain and lossover Judy's faked death and his desire to fabricate her in another woman,namely Madeleine, for surely his "heart ached" upon seeing Judy fall fromthe tower at the mission where his "vertigo" takes over, almost as if hehad drunk hemlock or taken opium to dull the pain of Judy's death. like abell/To toll me back from thee. emotional and sensualresponses rather than reason and the intellect and stresses the creativeimagination of the writer or poet as a means toward greater enlightenmentand spiritual truth. more like a man/Flying from somethingthat he dreads than one/Who sought the thing he loved" (lines 70-74) whichsymbolizes not only the poet's fear of heights but also those of Scottie, aprisoner of his own desires when it comes to making choices between "flyingfrom the dread" of vertigo and seeking his true love in the form of thedoppleganger Judy/Madeleine. Inessence, these lines illustrate the poet's veneration for nature, for thewaters of the Atlantic are powerful and mighty and can bring about muchfear when they are turbulent and agitated by storms, meaning that Scottieis experiencing a storm in his soul when Judy falls to her death andsubsequently yearns to replace her in order to ease the "swelling" in hisheart. Wordsworth then declares that "I bounded o'er the mountains, bythe sides/Of the deep rivers.
Common topics in this essay:
English Romanticism,
Ode Nightingale,
Lyrical Ballads,
Atlantic Cleave,
Vertigo Hitchcock's,
Keats' Nightingale,
Hitchcock's Vertigo,
San Francisco,
Keats Shelley,
Prometheus Unbound,
english romanticism,
lines,
fear heights,
english romanticism found,
lyrical ballads,
lost love,
1798 william,
own death,
symbolizes poet's,
prometheus unbound,
waters atlantic,
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Acceptance Essays
