The document discusses several recurring motifs in the film Vertigo: 1) Power and freedom, suggesting men had more privileges in the past. 2) Bouquets of flowers representing Madeline's perfection and fragility. 3) Tunnels and corridors symbolizing the passage towards death. 4) Spirals appearing throughout the film in ways that represent the unexpected turns of events and mental spirals experienced by characters.

1. Vertigo
o

2. What is the
importance of
recurring motifs
to an
understanding of

4. Power &
Freedom
The motif of power and freedom seems to suggest that men had
these privileges in the past but not in the present time. Gavin
Estler tells Scottie that he misses the days when men had
“power and freedom”. This motif also appears again when
Scottie is researching Carlotta and the bookshop owner explains
that the wealthy man who controlled Carlotta and took away her
child was able to do so without punishment due to men having
more power and freedom to do such things in those days.
Scottie is constantly reminded of his lack of power and freedom
throughout the film and he longs for the days when he felt he
had these things. We as an audience assume this to be the time
before his near death experience on the rooftop, which is one of
the scenes in the film where we see Scottie in his most
vulnerable state – suggesting a lack of power. Scottie himself
mentions “freedom” and “power” when he is dragging/chasing
Judy up the stairs near the end of the film.

6. Bouquets of
Flowers
The bouquet of flowers is a very subtle but important motif within Vertigo.
We first notice the flowers when Scottie follows Madeline to a market where
she purchases a small bouquet, which we later find out replicates the one in
the picture of Carlotta. Some say that this bouquet is a representation of
Madeline – delicate, perfect, beautiful. The audience sees the bouquet
several times but one of the most noticeable/memorable times is when
Madeline is stood at the edge of San Francisco bay plucking the petals off
the flowers and throwing them into the water. It has been said that this
destruction of the bouquet mirrors Madeline‟s self-destruction while she
prepares to throw herself into the bay.
After Madeline‟s death we are shown a graphic depiction of Scottie‟s
nightmare in which we are shown an animation of a bouquet, similar to
Carlotta‟s, swirling round being disintegrated. This has been described as “a
symbolic representation of Madeline‟s death”.
During the time when Scottie is trying to transform Judy into Madeline he
buys her a single flower. This is not to remind the audience of the bouquet
as some might expect, but instead is a reminder that Judy does not possess
the same perfection as Madeline did, however she does hold a small „seed‟ of
it. This suggests to the audience that Scottie transforming Judy into
Madeline make her a more ideal character/woman.

7. Tunnels &
In Vertigo Tunnels and Corridors seem to be a representation of the passage towards death. The first
Corridors
time we see an example of this is in the rooftop scene at the beginning of the film, whereby Scottie is
clinging to a gutter for his life and the camera looks over his shoulder, straight down the side of the
building and uses a tunnel effect to emphasise the „passage towards death‟.
During the scene where Scottie and Madeline visit the forest, Madeline describes the recurring dream
she‟s been having and states that she “walks down a long corridor” and that nothing but darkness and
death wait for her. She also describes a „corridor-like grave‟ waiting for her.
Another example of the motif is when Midge walks away from Scottie for the last time, where we see
her walk down a long corridor that darkens around her. It has been said that this symbolises a „death‟
of Midge as she loses all hope of rekindling her romance with Scottie.
This motif is most acknowledged in the scene outside Judy‟s apartment when she comes back dressed
as Madeline. Her walking out of the darkness and up the tunnel (corridor) suggests the resurrection of
Madeline.

9. Spirals
Throughout the opening credits there are a range of different spirals shown, the most
evident being the spiral that emerges from the woman‟s eye. This immediate
introduction to spirals makes the audience more likely to notice the recurring motif
through the rest of the film. In the first scene when we see Scottie‟s colleague fall
from the rooftop and land on the street below, his limbs are splayed in the shape of a
spiral which could suggest that the events have taken an unexpected turn, which
allows the audience to assume this will happen throughout the rest of the film.
We are next presented with an obvious spiral during the scene where Scottie follows
Madeline to the museum where Carlotta‟s portrait is presented. In the scene the
camera zooms in on Madeline‟s hair which is pinned up in a bun shaped like a spiral,
symbolising the mental and physical „wind-up‟ that Madeline will put Scottie through.
The final spiral we take note of is the staircase that leads to the tower. The first time
Scottie runs up it to stop Madeline from committing suicide we see his vertigo stop
him being able to save the woman he loves. This is emphasised by the camera shot
that tunnels down the middle of the staircase.
The structure of the film could also be symbolic of a spiral. It seems to be a cycle of
Scottie falling in love with a woman, then losing her to death. He does this with both
Madeline and Judy.

10. Thank you for
wat chin g!
watching!
By Rhiain &
A lex
Alex