Mae McColl

Arnie Sanders

ENG105

4/28/14

Abstract

            This paper is an in-depth look at the canon of Alfred Hitchcock. I first look into the ways in which Hitchcock incorporates his own sexual desires and fantasies into his films, specifically focusing on the films Suspicion, Psycho, and Vertigo. I look at the male and female characters and what aspects of himself that Hitchcock puts into those characters. From there I look into some scholarly critiques of those films. I look at the gender of the scholars who wrote the critiques and the genders that they focus on within the films they are talking about.

            From my research, two things become clear. The first is that, in general, the sexual desires and objectification that goes on through Hitchcock’s films come out more clearly in his male characters. It is simply more easily portrayed because he shares a gender with those characters. But secondly, we see that it is easier to recognize sexual desires and thoughts in the gender we do not associate with.

            I then go on to say we should look into all his films in his canon and dissect the characters and critiques of those pieces to see if my research of the three films I’ve looked into is parallel with other films of Hitchcock.