Vertigo - Doppelgängers

Doppelgängers are used in Vertigo to show the struggle between vice and virtue within the character Scottie. Whereby, in the first half of the film we see the virtue side of Scottie care for the idealised Madeleine, however in the second half of the film we see Scottie adopt his vice side as he attempts to cure his castration. Through both the first half of the film and the second, Hitchcock uses very similar techniques, in which he attempts to show the similarities in events which Scottie is effectively tying to recreate the past. In terms of Freud's theory, we can say that Scottie is recreating these events in an attempt to cure his castration. The first half of the film comes to an end when Madeleine dies, and at this point the narrative completely flip-sides. Initially Scottie see's the possession of Madeleine - an ideal woman, as a way to cure his castration, however the death of Madeleine prevents this attempt. Frued claims that the arrival of a double (Judy), represents the return of the repressed; the return of Scotties desires. As the second half of the film progresses, we notice Scottie begin to regain his masculinity, in which he achieves through exploiting the vice side of his personality. He manipulates and controls Judy, into what he see's as the ideal woman - Madeleine. Judy is effectively a mannequin to which Scottie can project his fantasy. Link this to Auteur Theory - Scottie is Hitchcock. Also link to quotes. From a psychoanalytical point of view, in order to cure a fear, a person must revisit the trauma, and in Scottie's case he must revisit the bell tower. However, as stated earlier a person struggles to choose between vice and virtue, and in Judy's case, Scottie chooses vice. He begins to reinsert typical film masculine traits, and become active in the narrative as he moves the narrative to cure his castration. Mulvey states that women are generally passive, erotic objects who slow the narrative down and inspire men to make things happen. This statement can be seen in the scene were Scottie dresses Judy; it is this point where the narrative begins to reflect society, as mulvey would say - a reflection of a patriarchy society. In this scene, the female shop workers also reinforce Mulvey's idea that all female characters are passive, as they are simply there to serve Scottie’s orders. It suggests women see men as superior in the world of this film, reflecting Hitchcock’s real life view.