"I've given him some sedation" the doctor is heard to reply.
Well either the doctor is a blithering idiot....or he's simply following orders, possibly the latter. Because that's not the Professor lying in his bed, and the Prisoner quickly picked up on that fact. It might look like the Professor, but it isn't, and what's more the doctor knows it, but still he and his nurse go through the motions of looking after the Professor's well being. But for whose benefit? Surely not for Madam Professor, seeing as it was she who made that wax effigy of her husband's head. And yet there was the puzzled look on Madam Professor's face, as though she didn't understand what was happening, as No.6 passed a piece of her husband's face to her, saying she should take greater care of her husband.
“He’s gone to pieces!”
No.6 who was about to bring down that walking stick onto the Professor's head, knew that it wasn’t the Professor. So surely Madam Professor must have also known that wasn’t her husband lying in the bed! When I have watched the scene I have often wondered why it is that madam Professor screams, who or what she screams for? Her husband, or her masterpiece that No.6 is about to ruin, did ruin in fact.
“Ah my dear, he seems to have made a bit of a mess of your masterpiece” No.2 tells her.
So madam Professor had made that wax effigy of her husband's head. So why feign her reaction as though she had no idea of what was going on, was it simply for the Prisoner’s benefit? This is one of those situations in the Prisoner when the viewer isn't sure what's going on. But in this case, I'm not sure that madam Professor does either!
Be seeing you
Hello David!
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm wondering too, is why they did replace the professor with the puppet in the first place? Did they do it for the Prisoner? If so, why did they think he would appear there?
Maybe the Professors wife crafted his sculpture for personal pleasure only but the Village decided that she didn't need to know that her husband was at the hospital. I could imagine that they wanted to cheat her, too.
Another question is, how did Number Six know? My only idea is that he noticed the absence of a sculpture of the artists husband. And that he was sure that the Professor wouldn't have been doctored at at home. But.. why did he notice the absence of this sculpture and the Professors wife didn't?
Best wishes,
Jana
BCNU
Hello Jana,
DeleteWell quite, it is most perplexing, the reason they replaced the Professor with a wax effigy. The fact they have a doctor supposedly looking after the Professor in his house, well that just makes the doctor out to be an idiot. And who is this all for? Certainly not Madam Professor, as she should know. Mind you she did look puzzled when No.6 handed her a piece of wax. But why is she puzzled, after all it was her masterpiece, that wax head.
I can only imagine that at the time the Professor is in the hospital undergoing some mild therapy treatment. But then why that cannot be done in the comfort of the Professor's home I don't know. That still doesn't explain the reason for the need of a wax effigy of the Professor.
And I'll leave you with this thought. It might have been the Professor's home, but you never see the Professor in his home, not once, only Madam Professor. The elegant house, so elaborately decorated, must have seemed like a very large prison within the Village. Because it strikes me that Madam Professor is in solitary confinement. Never once does it seems is she allowed out and about in the Village. When it comes to going outside, she is only allowed as far as the exercise yard, that of her garden!
Very kind regards
David
BCNU