Rear Window and the Jeff's Gaze

In Cowie's discussion of how Jeff interacts with Lisa in an early scene of Rear Window, stating that "while he (Jeff) does not wish to marry her, neither does he want to end their relationship" (482), I see multiple facets of Mulvey's own arguments arising. The first concerns Mulvey's statement that with a woman as an icon, she is "displayed for the gaze of enjoyment of men..." (205). Yes, agreed. Lisa's role as the female protagonist is also largely to give the audience 'something to look at'.  Perhaps preemptive of the validity of this statement, however, is quote which says that women in mainstream cinema "symbolize the castration threat..." (199). After all, Lisa does this as well. I see both notions thoroughly manifest in Hitchcock's depiction of Lisa and would like to draw further connections: 

Jeff's indecision regarding his relationship with Lisa, the almost upsettingly beautiful Grace Kelly, reflects a deeper desire for masculine power/male dominance. Immobilized in a wheelchair, Jeff faces Lisa's threat of physically leaving the apartment for the evening as well as that of ending the relationship. The thought furthermore confronts Jeff with the greater threat of total emasculation. Though it may seem contradictory, I believe that men and women from this age were defined by each other and more so by their union. That Lisa my leave Jeff gives rise to the fear that he may be further immobilized by the lack of a woman in his life. Playing the stereotypical role of the beautiful, maternal female who cooks and cleans with style, Lisa serves in many ways to validate Jeff's position as the male dominant figure in the film. 

One irony of this idea, moreover, lies in the fact that Lisa stands within not only the physical frame of the camera (often times taking up most of the screen due to Hitchcock's close-ups) but also within Jeff's own domain: his apartment. The fact that Jeff is able to gaze out and control his gaze over his many neighbors is countered by the instability of his own relationship with Lisa in this scene. He controls what's outside 'the window' but can he really control what is inside his own 'window'? Jeff stutters and cannot decide on action when presented with the choice to end the relationship, yet he stares out his window defiantly each day, easily exerting his (however immobilized) dominance over those around him simply by looking.