Voyeurism In Rear Window

In cinema, the act of watching or spying at other peoples’ lives is referred to as voyeurism. Originally, the word voyeurism means “[gaining] sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity” (Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press), but in cinema, voyeurism has been used as a plot tool for decades. Hitchcock films depict the roles a man and woman have in marriage through various tools, but in Rear Window, it is through voyeurism that the story is set in motion, and it is because of the main characters voyeuristic activity that we are able to see how he feels about getting married. This represents a central theme in the film as throughout the movie we see essentially every character be described in terms of their marital status and their relationship with the …show more content…
The newlyweds, the old couple with the dog, the Thorwalds, in all of these couples Jeff observes unhappiness and nagging wives. In Miss Torso he sees the excitement of being young and single while in Miss Lonelyhearts he sees the heartache of being old and single. There is a constant clash between these scenarios that causes Jeff to be in a constant state of anxiety towards love and marriage. Should he be a bachelor forever and enjoy a new girl every now and then? Or should he settle and get married so that he doesn’t turn out like Miss Lonelyhearts? But if he does get married, will he live a life of, in his own words, “rushing home to a hot apartment every night to listen to the automatic laundry, the electric dishwasher, the garbage disposal and a nagging wife”. As noticed, "All of the lives Jeff observes from his rear window have one common denominator; they all in some way reflect different aspects of love and relationships. They all have a bearing on Jeff 's view of love and marriage." (Arnold, Nixon and