Themes emerging from The Blue Angel and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Themes emerging from The Blue Angel and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

The three themes dealt with hereafter are control, love, and madness. Prof Rath is portrayed at the beginning of the film as a snobby middleclass man who demands order and rigidly control all around him. He has a short-tempered and always believes that he is right yet is often far-removed from the truth; this is evident in his perpetual blaming of Angst for the other students’ pranks. We see a similar controlling individual in Dr Caligari. He wields control over Cesare who seems to be unable or unwilling to do otherwise. Both films expressed the desire of man to control his life and surroundings and, people. We see this evident in Prof Rath’s exercise of control over his students and his attempts to control Lola who refuses to yield to the conventional norms. Dr. Caligari’ control of Cesare is more sinister because he is used for profitable gain and perhaps, even murderous intent. Lola’s rejection of Prof Rath’s control, the Magician’s accommodating of Prof Rath’s students and Dr Caligari’s murderous control of Cesare among others relate to nihilism because they reflect an indifferent view to the moral code of the day. And we know that there was a moral code especially among the middleclass because Prof Rath refers to himself as a “man of honor” and also in the scene where Francis reaches out to Alan encouraging him to hold on to the friendship even though they were rivals for the love of Jane.

In fact, it is for love of women that plunges these seemingly respectful men into darkness. Prof Rath falls hard for a seductress; she made no attempts at modesty. Yet though Prof Rath claims that he should leave because he’s a man of honor, he was unable to do so for quite a while. Actually, it was quite interesting that he went to the Blue Angel to find and bring his students from such depravity. However, this first visit was instrumental in his downward spiral as he clashed with his rational and irrational self. On the other hand, Jane in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was chaste and pure as evident in her depiction in the flowing white gown at the beginning. Nonetheless, she was pursued by two friends, one of whom was murdered- perhaps by Francis (even though he tells the story pointing the finger at Cesare). These men believed in the traditional concept of love; however, even though Lola marries Prof Rath, she refuses to conform to the conventional behavior befitting a wife of a middleclass professor.

Could it be the love for the women that drives these men to madness? Prof Rath is reduced to a much less the man who he was in the beginning and is the butt of the joke or used for the audience’s amusement- he is regaled to the role of clown. Meanwhile, Francis turns out to be a patient in the asylum. Did he murder his friend and was driven to madness? Could this be why he fantasized about love for Jane- it’s not clear since Jane turned out to be a patient in the asylum as well…along with Cesare- who died in Francis’s retelling of the story. This descent into darkness reflects man’s challenge in dealing with his irrational self. Remarkably, Prof Rath survives this cocooned aspect of his life by emerging as a changed man. However, Francis remains uncured in the film. This tells us that not all of us survive challenging times.