Film Analysis: Stella Dallas

Through a nearby window, a woman drenched in rainwater wearing plain clothing and a Black hat gazes into a chapel. She beholds a blushing young socialite and her wealthy fiancé preparing to cement their love in holy matrimony. A law enforcement officer tells the woman to leave the area, but she convinces him to let her remain until the young lovers partake in the ceremonial kiss. She looks upon the couple in awe and intrigue, with regret and fulfillment. The couple kisses leaving the woman with an approving glance that becomes a smile. She departs one life into another one of uncertainty. The scene described above is the tear-jerking finale of the melodrama and 1937 classic Stella Dallas. Stella Dallas, the titular character of the film, watches Laurel’s, her daughter, wedding having not attended the ceremony. The mother and daughter did not have a falling out. Rather, Stella makes an unthinkable sacrifices by isolating herself from Laurel’s life, allowing Laurel the opportunity to thrive in high society. This lifestyle is one that Stella unsuccessfully sought to attain, but knew that Laurel could. Thus, she put her daughter’s future ahead of her

Stella refuses to entertain the idea and the two decide that a separation is mutually beneficial. Stephen did not try to work out the difference between he and Stella. The physical separation led to an emotional detachment that later leads to divorce and Stephen taking a new wife. The new Mrs. Dallas upholds that upper class masculinity that Stella rejects. As Stella ignores Stephen’s demands, his manhood is diminished, a concern he cannot fathom. Thus, to reclaim his manhood, he finds a woman that he can control or at least someone willing to conform to upper-class femininity. In these examples, Stephen could not disempower Stella, so he gets rid of her for a woman who accepts her