Identity In Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, the protagonist, John “Scottie” Ferguson, falls in love with a falsified image of a woman named Madeline Elster. Madeline’s true name is Judy Barton, a woman payed by Gavin Elster to impersonate his wife and portray her as mentally unstable enough for Scottie to believe she committed suicide while the real Madeline Elster was in reality murdered by Gavin himself. Judy Barton uses her body, appearance, and mannerisms to create the character of Madeline in the image of the true Madeline Elster’s grandmother, Carlotta Valdez. The entire persona of Judy’s Madeline is based off of a painting of Carlotta and whatever Gavin Elster told her. Nothing about Judy’s Madeline Elster is based off of the true Madeline Elster who prior to her death lives away in the country side. Judy Barton uses her body as a medium to turn the image of Carlotta into a character that becomes Scotties fundamental fantasy. The film depicts the relationship between and image and embodiment or actuality. Judy’s gestures create a new character, Madeline, after Carlotta. Judy mimics Carlotta’s seated pose in the museum and even comes up with a more graceful way of speaking when she is Madeline. She is more tame and a damsel in distress compared to her true self. Judy creates a mirage. A persona of sorts that is only real in an abstract form like thought. By embodying the image, Judy adds a tangible form to this idea but it is still just that: an idea. She is a falsified reality …show more content…
Gesture completely takes over Judy Barton and transforms her into the new idealized form of Carlotta Valdez, called Madeline. Judy’s body becomes a means to display Carlotta’s image and Scottie’s fundamental fantasy, ultimately leading to her lack of identity and an anxiety that leads to her