Looking Forward Through The Rear Window

Throughout Hitchcock’s film, Rear Window, we see many situations, people, and relationships going on in the apartments that surround Jeffries’ window. I think that each of the stories unfolding in these apartments reflect Jeffries’ insecurities about marriage and his relationship with Lisa. She is the upper-class, designer label type of woman and Jeffries just doesn’t feel like their relationship is realistic in a marriage sense. Jeffries also can’t see her as the adventurous type that he imagines himself with, which does not help when they argue about getting married. I also believe that through observing these situations with the neighbors, especially the murder in the Thorwald’s apartment, he is able to let some things go and accept the fact that no girl or marriage is going to be perfect.

Being a domesticated husband does not seem to be something that Jeffries is particularly fond of becoming, so when he observes certain neighbors, his firm stance against marriage becomes stronger. The extremely uneventful life of the couple with the dog has him believing that marriage is going leave him content with boredom and I think that really scares him because of the active, traveling lifestyle he has as a photographer. I also think that seeing how the women treat the men in this film makes Jeffries uneasy about choosing one woman to be with for the rest of his life. The young couple seem really happy at first (especially when they have the blinds drawn and are celebrating their fresh, new marriage) but things don’t stay that way for long, as Jeffries observes the wife take on the nagging role like another woman in the film- Mrs. Thorwald.

The Thorwalds have a particularly interesting relationship and Jeffries seems to be very intrigued by it. Mrs. Thorwald is a bedridden, nagging wife to Mr. Thorwald and he eventually becomes sick of her. Come to find out, just as Jeffries suspected, the frustrated husband kills his nagging wife. This lifestyle is definitely not appealing to Jeffries at all.

The single neighbors in the film also help Jeffries to reflect upon his relationship with Lisa and the idea of settling down. I feel like both the dancer and Miss Lonelyhearts (as Jeffries named her) give him a negative view of women. The dancer seems to have a very open personality, often dancing in front of large, open windows, and hosting parties that only men ever attend. Miss Lonelyhearts is just depressing, often loathing in self-pity, and even contemplates suicide at one point in the film. The women seem to be very frustrating and unstable, and that makes Jeffries uncomfortable with the whole idea of being around one for the rest of his life.

With all of this being said, I believe that by Jeffries constantly watching his neighbors during his time in a cast actually opened up his eyes in a positive way, despite the negative personalities and situations that occur with his neighbors. When Lisa finally buys into Jeffries suspicion of Mr. Thorwald being a murderer, he sees the sense of adventure in Lisa and his eyes are really opened up to the idea of being with her. We see Jeffries look at her in a completely new way when she scales the wall into the Thorwald apartment; he also shows great concern when she gets caught. At the end of the film, we see Jeffries and Lisa sitting very happily inside of his apartment and I think it is evident that marriage has become a plausible idea in his eyes.

The Women in Glengarry Glen Ross

When I first began reading the play, Glengarry Glen Ross, I found it weird (and slightly annoying) that women were not actually present. I believe that Mamet had the characters only refer to women, rather than have them present during the play, for a specific reason. The absence of women in this play allows us to see the men in the stereotypical way of being masculine, career-focused and competitive. It seems that when women are referred to during the play, it brings out an emotional side of the salesmen, which is not seen during other scenes when they are working together or trying to make sales in an all-male setting. I also believe that the foul language and the extremely excessive use of it is also a characteristic of the salesmen that would not be seen as clearly if they were physically around women in the play.

The women in the play definitely seem to influence the men in an emotional way. Levene, for example, was a distinguished salesman at one point during his career and kind of has the attitude of a legend. However, when his daughter is brought into the picture, the manliness goes out the window. He succumbs to begging and pleading for better leads and also tries to bribe his boss because he is so worked up about the situation. His desperation shows a very emotional side that would not typically be seen in the office setting with a bunch of men around. Another situation where men’s emotions start flying is when Roma and Lingk are in the office together, and Lingk is trying to explain to Roma why he has to cancel their deal. Lingk cannot go through with the deal because his wife will not let him, and when she is brought up and he is trying to explain this to Roma, we see a more emotional side to both of them. Roma sort of panics and tries to lie his way around talking about the situation and Lingk gets so upset that he can’t complete a sentence and starts mumbling.

In this play, women seem to break down the masculine wall that the salesmen have built around themselves to hold up this super manly persona around each other. Also, women are always seen as emotional beings, whereas men are the tough guys, but I believe that Mamet breaks down that wall as well in the way he writes the female parts of the play. When women are referred to during the play, they bring out certain emotions in the men. I feel like in the setting and situation that the salesmen are in, it is almost impossible for them to be anything but “manly” and I believe that the references to women allow the audience to see that each of these men are human.