What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Characters & Cast

Jane is motivated by a desperate need to reclaim the love and adoration she experienced as a child star. Her actions are fueled by deep-seated jealousy of Blanche's success and a profound fear of being abandoned and forgotten. She torments Blanche as a way to exert power and control in a life where she feels she has none.

Jane's arc is one of descent into madness. She begins as a bitter, alcoholic woman resentful of her sister's success and her own faded stardom. As the film progresses, her cruelty and paranoia escalate, and she regresses further into her childhood persona of "Baby Jane." By the end, she has completely lost touch with reality, a tragic and terrifying figure trapped in a delusional past.

Blanche's primary motivation is survival. She desperately tries to escape her sister's clutches and get help from the outside world. She is also motivated by a sense of guilt over her role in the accident that crippled her, which is revealed at the end of the film.

Blanche initially appears as the helpless victim of her sister's abuse. Confined to a wheelchair, she endures Jane's torment with a mixture of fear and resilience. However, the final revelation about the car accident complicates her character, revealing a darker, more manipulative side. Her arc is one of a victim who is not entirely blameless in the tragic circumstances of her life.

Edwin is primarily motivated by money. He is a mama's boy who sees Jane as an opportunity to make some easy cash. His motivation shifts to self-preservation once he realizes the true horror of the situation in the Hudson household.

Edwin Flagg is a struggling musician who is hired by Jane to help with her comeback. He is initially drawn in by the promise of money and the bizarre allure of the Hudson sisters' world. However, as he witnesses Jane's increasingly unhinged behavior, he becomes frightened and ultimately flees, alerting the authorities to Blanche's plight.