How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Vertigo.
Quote #4
MIDGE: I've gone back to my first love … painting.
Midge's real love is Scottie, we know, so when she says that she's gone back to painting, she's also expressing a wish that he'd love her again. Too bad he's not buying. The film suggests he's not capable of grownup love with a real woman. He goes for the troubled types.
Quote #5
DOCTOR: He blames himself for what happened to the woman. And we know little of the background.
MIDGE: I can give you one thing: he was in love with her.
DOCTOR: Ah? That complicates the problem.
MIDGE: I'll give you another complication: he still is.
Love + loss + guilt—a dangerous combination. According to the doc, love's just making his condition worse. Sorry, Tennyson—in this case, it's not better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.