Sample A+ Body Paragraph ‘Rear Window’
Discuss the difference between the public and private personas of characters in ‘Rear Window.
The public personas of women, Hitchcock reveals, are often preoccupied with adhering to gendered norms, which are then overtly challenged through their private personas. The crushing societal pressure to adhere to societal convention is best embodied within Lisa who “never wears the same dress twice” because “it is expected of her.” Where Jeff seeks a “woman who is willing to go anywhere...and do anything for [him]”, Lisa instead chases the public ideal of a relationship, where a woman’s role is to “fix [her man] a sandwich” and exist solely within the domestic sphere. This is best seen within the elaborate “lobster dinner” she organises for Jeff, complete with an attending butler. Jeff bitterly complains it to be “too perfect,” however this social ideal of perfection is what Lisa strives for, as she believes it to validate her romantic compatibility to Jeff. Hitchcock thus illuminates how women often restrict their public behaviour as they are pressured to validate themselves in the eyes of men through adhering to gender normative perspectives of behaviour. However, when privately liasing with Jeff, Lisa’s personality undergoes dramatic transformation. Indeed, as the film progresses she begins to grow confident in abandoning conventional ideals of womanhood, and instead begins to work collaboratively with Jeff, easily proving herself to be his intellectual equal. Hitchcock showcases this through Lisa’s contribution in the Thorwald investigation, as when Jeff asks whether “[women] hide their jewellery in their husband’s bag,” Lisa replies, “They do not.” The short and laconic sentence structure of her dialogue, coupled with her confidence in tone highlights her self-assurance. Here, the knowledge she provides Jeff capitalises on her womanhood and feminine identity - an aspect of her character that Jeff initially chastised as superficial. This difference between the private and public self is also evident within Miss Torso, who Jeff vilifies according to her public behaviour as the “Queen Bee with her pick of the drones,” only interested in “the most prosperous looking [man]”. Jeff’s cynical critique of her behaviour implies that this the normative social behaviour of a woman who is only interested in “juggling wolves” and stoking her feminine ego. In private, however, Miss Torso reveals herself to be uninterested in these ideals – the partner she decides on is a short, spectacled army private that greets her in the film’s epilogue. Ultimately, Hitchcock explores the differences in women’s public and private personas, as their behaviour often seeks to embrace or challenge the existing social norms of the 1950s era.
ANALYSIS
Hitchcock reveals, Hitchcock thus illuminates, Hitchcock explores - This student maintains a strong grasp of authorial interpretation and has consistently highlighted how the author constructs meaning
The public personas of women...are often preoccupied with adhering to gendered norms, which they instead overtly challenge within through their private personas. - This student's argument clearly addresses the topic and would strongly support a contention which agrees with the topic - that there are strong differences in public/private personas of characters. The differences, this student argues stems from a public adherence to gender norms which are then refuted through private behaviour.
The short and laconic sentence structure of her dialogue, coupled with her confidence in tone highlights her self-assurance. - This students analysis of the sentence structure of a piece of dialogue coupled with an analysis of tone reveals an awareness of film construction as a key device.
In red we have all the evidence that the student has provided to back their first claim - that the public behaviour of women is dictated by gender notms. In orange we have the evidence that this student has provided to back up their second claim - that the private personas of women seek to challenge gender norms instead. This essay topic is hard as it requires students to actively juggle two different ideas - public vs. private, however the student has managed to find evidence that successfully address both aspects.
Finally in black, we have explanation which contextualises the student's analysis of the evidence in line with their topic sentence as well socio-historical context.