Castrated

Most critics define vertigo as Scotty’s paralysis between “between Eros and Thanatos-between his longing for love and sexual fulfillment and an equally strong, if not stronger, death wish” (Maxfield 4). From the beginning then, Scotty is castrated, stuck in between his desire for death, yet fear of it, his desire for love, yet his fear of it. The viewer almost immediately understands this perspective from several visual symbols, and the rest of the movie’s identification revolves around this sympathy and longing for resolution.

-BrightLights article on whether Vertigo is Hitchcock's own private joke