Alfred Hitchcock paints a portrait of an American family in his 1943 film Shadow of a Doubt. Set within picturesque Santa Rosa, California, the film examines the Newtons, who, on the surface, represent the archetypal middle class family living in a peaceful American town. However, Young Charlie, played by Teresa Wright, profoundly resents her “average” lifestyle, which appears to her as nothing more than an endless repletion of the same routine. Following the conventions of a Hitchcock film, Shadow of a Doubt criticizes the social institutions of marriage and family through the Newton’s lack of a patriarchy and the problematic fulfillment of the role of the patriarchal figure by Uncle Charlie, played by Joseph Cotten. Hitchcock creates his
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Shadow of a Doubt doubles young Charlie’s character with that of her uncle, who she believes shares a telepathic connection with her. Their names are doubled, imposing Uncle Charlie’s identity onto young Charlie. In Hitchcock’s 1951 film Strangers on a Train, he also uses the motif of character doubling to compare and contrast the main protagonist Guy Haines with the antagonist Bruno Anthony. Like Shadow of a Doubt, two characters act as the duality of good and evil. However, often in Hitchcock’s oeuvre, the “good” character exhibits moral flaws that undermine this principle. Guy wants to get rid of his wife Miriam, so he can marry Anne. Bruno, fascinated with the perfect murder, carries out the murder on Guy’s behalf. Conversely, young Charlie uncovers the truth about Uncle Charlie and becomes implicated in his guilt. She does not turn Uncle Charlie in as the Merry Widow Murder, allowing an innocent man to take the blame for his actions and giving him the underserving admiration of the town after his death. Exposing Uncle Charlie would entail her mother’s emotional distraught and her father losing his job at the bank where Uncle Charlie keeps the money that he probably stole from the widows he murdered. Young Charlie relinquishes her morals at the expense of her family’s happiness and preservation of the value of
Shadow of a Doubt doubles young Charlie’s character with that of her uncle, who she believes shares a telepathic connection with her. Their names are doubled, imposing Uncle Charlie’s identity onto young Charlie. In Hitchcock’s 1951 film Strangers on a Train, he also uses the motif of character doubling to compare and contrast the main protagonist Guy Haines with the antagonist Bruno Anthony. Like Shadow of a Doubt, two characters act as the duality of good and evil. However, often in Hitchcock’s oeuvre, the “good” character exhibits moral flaws that undermine this principle. Guy wants to get rid of his wife Miriam, so he can marry Anne. Bruno, fascinated with the perfect murder, carries out the murder on Guy’s behalf. Conversely, young Charlie uncovers the truth about Uncle Charlie and becomes implicated in his guilt. She does not turn Uncle Charlie in as the Merry Widow Murder, allowing an innocent man to take the blame for his actions and giving him the underserving admiration of the town after his death. Exposing Uncle Charlie would entail her mother’s emotional distraught and her father losing his job at the bank where Uncle Charlie keeps the money that he probably stole from the widows he murdered. Young Charlie relinquishes her morals at the expense of her family’s happiness and preservation of the value of