Thursday 5 May 2016

Significance of "Lady in the Radiator" in the movie Eraserhead

The most widely accepted representation of the lady in the radiator is that she represents death.



Taken from http://classic-horror.com/reviews/eraserhead_1977




The mysterious Lady in the Radiator (Laurel Near) represents the Grim Reaper and sings to Henry an eerie song of heaven and of how "everything is fine" there. It can be stated that the radiator itself is representative of Henry's thoughts of self-destruction and that he sees death as a source of freedom from his living Hell. This view seems to be confirmed at the film's shocking climax when Henry kills his baby in act of release and mercy. He is then met by the Lady in the Radiator in a brilliant flash of light and dies in her arms. In this act, Henry has finally embraced Death and accepted it into his life, giving him admittance to his own personal heaven and freedom.




Taken from http://notcoming.com/reviews/eraserhead/




This lady in the radiator is death. She intrigues Henry because she is a form of escape from his existence. To further secure this claim is her soothing anthem “in heaven everything is fine.”


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