Summary
Summary Rebecca - Rebecca - Prose
An in depth summary to the novel 'Rebecca', a great summary and study tool for exam revision
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RebeccaKey
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Literary form - AO2
Genre
gothic
● The novel is a classic of modern gothic literature.
● Gothic fiction is characterized by picturesque settings, an atmosphere of mystery and terror, and
a hint of violence and the supernatural
● Rebecca exemplifies the genre. The action takes place in the hallowed mansion of Manderley;
the book encompasses a murder, a terrible fire, and features a sinister servant; finally, the entire
story is pervaded by the unquiet ghost of Rebecca herself.
● The weather mirrors the characters' moods: a fog descends when the heroine is confused and
depressed. Maxim kills Rebecca on the night of a terrible storm. Indeed, many of the novel's
elements--the mansion consumed by fire, the romance between an older man and a younger
woman, the lurking, secret-enshrouded presence of a first wife--mirror the plot elements of
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, itself a 19th-century masterpiece of gothic romance and suspense.
●
Mystery
Language and structure
● the author uses detail, diction, and imagery as literary techniques to create and shift
throughout the passage between moods of mystery, a nightmare, and nostalgia (use of
past tense in the beginning)
● The atmosphere evolves chronologically as the narrator physically advances on her path
to Manderley in her dream.
●
, Context - AO3
The idea of doppelganger in rebecca
● In literature, a doppelganger is usually shaped as a twin, shadow, or even a mirror image of the
protagonist. It refers to a character who physically resembles the protagonist and may even have
the same name. Sometimes a doppelganger is a person’s past or even future self
● In gothic literature specifically, the occurrence of a doppelganger is someone’s double or alter ego
● In her life, Du Maurier had always been fascinated with the idea of a “double”due to her danger
and identity issues
● The character of Rebecca can be seen as a doppelganger or alter ego of the protagonist, this
character of Rebecca is interpreted as the “other” or the “unknown” and is a feared yet desired
character at the same time.
● The protagonist who is the second Mrs De Winter is not given a specific name and is a shy, self
conscious lower middle class woman, that doesn’t have the astonishing beauty and personality
Rebecca is said to have had. Rebecca is also portrayed as a very confident woman and
completely opposite from the narrator’s naivety.
● Just like other gothic literature such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, this idea of introducing a double in
the novel adds on to the gothic aspect of the story by showing us the contrast between the two
characters.
● The difference between these two characters also create a sense of mystery as to how the story
unfolds as the novel progresses when it comes to these “unknown” characters.
● Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson:
Stevenson explores the theme of doppelgangers in his novel through the two most important
characters: Hyde is portrayed as an evil double of the honourable Dr Jekyl. Jekyll creates Hyde
by scientific experiments to prove his statement suggesting that the human soul is a mixture of
evil and good, and hyde is the manifestation of the evil that existed in Dr Jekyll and gives him a
separate identity
● Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
In Shelley's Frankenstein, a major motif running throughout the novel is doppelganger which
plays a prominent role in frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein creates a creature, by lingering around
graveyards consisting of old body parts. The creature is brought to life and Victor seems to be
frightened of what he created, this creature is the counterpart to his maker as Victor and the
creature resemble each other in more ways than one, this is exhibited throughout the novel such
as their relationship with nature, or desires for family
As Diana Wallace states, “The unreliable first-person narrative becomes a textual 'recess', into
which the narrator and the reader are locked, unable to see beyond its imprisoning boundaries.”
e.g. Indeed that Maxim murders his wife, believing her to be pregnant, should condemn
him as a cruel and violent monster; in Hitchcock's 1940 film adaptation of the novel, this
was in fact changed so that Rebecca died accidentally, as it was believed to be too
shocking for audiences and may have been censored.
Throughout the novel, Rebecca’s narrator sufferers the consequences of her misguided
marriage, she is belittled for her lack of sexual understanding and is both the victim and
perpetrator of misogynistic social conventions. This makes it difficult to view her as anything
, more than an archetypal female victim of her circumstances. In contrast, Forster explores the
repercussions that sexual repression has on all members of society, regardless of gender. Lucy
Honeychurch proves that although to an extent, sexual repression can hinder a woman’s ability
to find love, it does not stop her from being loved and that it is through this love that she is able
to find her sexual liberation and break free of society’s conventions.
However the narrator does not appear to ‘grow’ after
marrying Maxim but in fact she seems to shrink and become even more lifeless.
In CH **** she notes that her reflection is ‘pale’ and in CH ***, Beatrice
remarks that she is ‘****thin / ill **’ and asks if she is ‘starting an infant’.
Barbara Morden suggests that the narrator may be ill, like
Rebecca, or pregnant – the
latter would indicate that she is, in a maternal sense ‘growing’ through her
marriage. Yet the narrator’s poor health could also suggest that she is
suffering because of Maxim’s heartless treatment of her. Du Maurier writes in
the Gothic tradition and although Maxim isn’t literally a vampire, he does seem
to be a vampiric figure who leeches life and vitality from his wife. She turns
white and sickly, but as Beatrice notes in Ch *** Maxim looks ‘well’ after his
Honeymoon.
Feminism and gender roles
gothic ● Uncanny
● “Perhaps i haunted her as she haunted me” -
chp 18
● Dichotomy of manderley as sometimes edenic
sometimes hellish and nightmarish
● This drive twisted and turned like a serpent -
ch 7 - imagery
● The original "Goths" were barbaric Germanic
tribes who caused the destruction of Roman
culture.
● People started referring to anything savage or
medieval as "Gothic" until the term became
● synonymous with anything extravagantly
horrifying or mysterious.
● The beginning of the Gothic literary movement
was in part a reaction to the rationalist thinking
of the Enlightenment.
● Gothic fiction as a genre was first established
with the publication of Horace Walpole’s dark,
foreboding The Castle of Otranto in 1764.
● In the centuries since, gothic fiction has
flourished and branched off into many popular
subgenres.
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