Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Rear Window

Appearance

Jeff wears pajamas and a cast, reminding us that he's stuck where he is. Stella dresses in practical clothes and sensible shoes, and she constantly looks like she's getting ready to move something heavy. Lisa dresses in gorgeous gowns and positively glows every time she steps into a room. The way the characters look tells us a lot about who they are and where they come from, speaking volumes without actually saying a word.

While appearances don't change much over the course of the movie, when they do, they aptly reflect the evolution of a character. The biggest example is the outfit Lisa wears in the very last scene. She's given up her glam getup in favor of jeans and casual shoes, a sign that she's proven herself worthy of Jeff's rough-and-tumble existence.

Actions

We know Thorwald is a villain because he murders his wife. We know he's smart because he takes careful steps to hide the evidence. We know he's desperate because he kills the dog that digs a little too close to the evidence. On the heroic side, Jeff reflects a can-do sense of purpose by obsessing over Thorwald's activities and doing everything he can from his chair to uncover the truth. Lisa, for her part, is happy to play girl detective and even puts herself directly in danger just to help Jeff earn his junior G-man badge. If you want to know who these people are, just watch what they do.

Dialogue

Hitchcock thought of himself as primarily a visual storyteller, and he thought a director should resort to dialogue to tell the story only as a last resort. We bet you could turn off the sound and still understand the plot of this film.

Even so, Rear Window benefits from some very clever dialogue which, among other things, shows us that Jeff and Lisa are a couple of very bright and sophisticated folks. Stella's dialogue shows us that she's more of a no-nonsense working-class person than Jeff and Lisa. She uses blunt, expressive language and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She tells it like it is, sometimes shocking the more sedate and refined Lisa.

The dialogue also helps connect the characters' backgrounds to the story at hand. For instance, Lisa's fashion background lets her pick up on an odd detail concerning the murder victim's handbag. "Women don't keep all their jewelry in a purse, all tangled, getting scratched and twisted up," she notes, casting further suspicion on Thorwald.