Vertigo analysis

Laura Mulvey, in her analysis of "Visual pleasure and the narrative cinema", states that - within film - "women essentially hold two roles within a film; as an erotic object for the characters in the film, and as an erotic object for the spectator in the audience"
The scene in Vertigo where Scottie and Madeleine see each other for the first time supports this quote. To put it bluntly, the scene essentially uses voyeurism and scopophilia to show how Madeleine is portrayed as an erotic object to both Scottie and the audience. First of all, a long tracking shot combined with chilling, intense music gives the impression that Madeleine is being stalked. This shot is from Scottie's Point-of-view and connotes the fact that he cannot take her eyes off of her. Furthermore, in a dull, plain setting, Madeleine stands out in her Jade-coloured dress which, from Scottie's point-of-vieew (and therefore the POV of the audience), shows off part of her back. This subtle showing of skin highlights Madeleine as the erotic object in the scene, both for Scottie and the audience. This could also link into another quote by Mulvey; She says that there is a passive/active axis with "the man always on the active gazing side and the woman on the passive 'to-be-looked-at-ness' side". 
Toward the end of the scene, we see Madeleine move closer to Scottie as she is about to leave. He keeps his gaze on her until she looks toward him, when he looks away quickly. This could suggest an inner conflict for Scottie, possibly that he feels emasculated, intimidated by her because she dares look at him and challenge his position of the active, gazing individual.