Greta Garbo's psyche was a mystery not to be captured or contained in words. These notes are only one fan's impressions derived from reading several biographies and seeing most of her films—a tentative sketch that might stimulate your own interpretation of her complex personality.
She was a hypersensitive introvert with a lifelong need for privacy and solitude. People drained her of the energy she wanted to channel into her work. Crowds were threatening to her and it was humiliating for her to be stared at and stalked. She had little interest in socializing – though when she was persuaded to join a group of people she was comfortable with, she could be charming and playful, clowning around. However she was very quick to be frightened away by strangers or the press.
She exemplified a Swedish cultural trait known as Jantelagen – a code of humility and reticence, eshewing vanity or superiority. This meant that being successful brought pangs of guilt. As an example of this attitude, she didn't sign autographs because she was embarassed at being put on a pedestal and didn't want to encourage obsequious behavior. Greta always aimed to be dignified….it was a priority in everything she did.
She was insecure – partly because of harsh economic circumstances in her childhood. Her parents had difficulty making ends meet and this made Greta conservative, even stingy about money. She had only minimal education – which she was self conscious about. And starting to work at sixteen, she didn't have much chance to develop emotional maturity.
She was insecure in another way because her father and sister both died young. Losing her father when she was 15 and her sister six years later, were severe blows she hardly had time to process. Leaving home for America was a huge leap into the unknown, as was learning both English and German for her films. Loss and abandonment, grief, exile – they all became motives to protect and seclude herself.
Greta's vulnerability came across on film and evoked sympathy, making people want to defend her, take care of her. Her face, her voice, her instinctive gestures, conveyed inner turmoil and melancholy, an existential mood that resonated with the times. People could feel her suffering, her poignant loneliness – and knew it was real.
She was health conscious. Determined to stay slender after Stiller told her lose weight, she suffered from anemia and other ailments in her twenties and beyond. She was a fanatic about dieting and going to bed early. She loved her long walks; she enjoyed swimming, tennis, horseback riding, gardening. Being out on the sea gave her a sense of freedom and exhilaration. However, in other ways she could be very inactive and lazy.
She spent the decades after her 17 year career doing little except her city walks and some travelling. Perhaps she still had hopes of returning to the screen; perhaps she was just tired of everything – she often complained of fatigue.
She was sexually ambivalent – she often referred to herself in masculine terms, and preferred to wear pants or men's suits. She probably enjoyed playing with people's curiosity about her sexuality. She seemed comfortable with her bisexual orientation, rather than conflicted. On film she seems to know everything there is to know about sexual love, but in reality she probably didn't have that much of an appetite.
She was essentially passive, with both men and women. People were attracted to her and she would take them or leave them, not letting anyone dominate her….with the early exception of Stiller, who was a mentor rather than lover. In many ways women were probably easier for her-- not demanding marriage, not risking pregnancy, etc. Perhaps as a result of her androgyny, and her tall broadshouldered physique, she had a unique capacity to combine the sensual and the spiritual in her film roles – sensual love became almost a mystical experience.
She was a superb actress, a perfectionist. However moody and demanding she was with friends and lovers, in her career she was no prima donna but a mature professional – dedicated, responsible,never satisfied with her work. She was punctual, well prepared, respectful and friendly with co-workers and crew, for the most part. She gave her whole being to her work, everything else was secondary. Her deepest emotional rapport was with the camera – she lets the audience's imagination take over, becoming what each viewer needed to see. She gave us access to that other world of courtly love, beauty and mystery, ideals that can only be realized in art.
