Mrs. Vogler's fragile identity: Winnicottian notes on Ingmar Bergman's film Persona

Abstract

In this piece, I offer the reader a brief study of Ingmar Bergman’s character Elisabeth Vogler in his film Persona. Drawing on Winnicottian theory of the pathological false self, split off from the true self, I develop a reading of what I term the “doctor’s monologue” by means of which Bergman portrays Mrs. Vogler’s psychological state with considerable accuracy. In such reading, I point to the seeming resemblance between, on one hand, the Swedish filmmaker’s approach to the artistic craft and, on the other, the English psychoanalyst’s approach to clinical practice and science with regard to the same aspects of human nature.