Parting ways with the Freudian and Lacanian readings that have dominated recent scholarly understanding of Hitchcock, David Humbert examines the roots of violence in the director's narratives and finds them not in human sexuality but in mimesis.

Partings ways with the psychoanalytic readings that have dominated scholarly understanding of Hitchcock, David Humbert argues that mimetic desire--desire oriented by imitation of and competition with others--best explains the director's central themes, including the double, the innocent victim, the wrong man, the transfer of guilt, and the scapegoat. This study will appeal not only to Hitchcock fans and film scholars but also to those interested in Freud and Girard and their competing theories of desire.