Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Norma Desmond

Norma Desmond gradually destroys Joe by supposedly loving him. In reality, Norma doesn't love anyone except for herself—the mansion she lives in is basically a giant collection of self-images: pictures, mirrors, and old movies featuring… her. But she definitely wants people to love her and play witness to her supposed greatness.

Unlucky Joe falls into this role by chance. Gradually plying him with gifts, she crushes his desire to write, making him into her pet, a party to her own delusional games (like trying to get her terrible Salomé script made into a movie). When he tries to pull out of this process of degradation, she murders him, and her madness becomes total in the aftermath.