When Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier's masterpiece of Gothic romance, was first published in 1938, it became instantly popular, and was made into a film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring the alluring and shy Joan Fontaine as "I" and the handsome and brooding Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter. The story is set in a grand English mansion, Manderley, an estate on the wild Cornish coast.
Despite its popularity in novel and film form, many critics dismissed du Maurier's talent and her masterpiece as being melodrama and a pale imitation of the Bronte sisters, Charlotte and Emily, and their masterpieces Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
However, a close reading of du Maurier's Rebecca reveals that her prose stands up to a literary criticism, and tells a timeless story that took the Gothic genre and stretched it into modern day applications.
Manderley as the Garden of Eden
The novel begins with the unnamed heroine "I" as the narrator. She is revisiting Manderley in a dream, and notes "...the way was barred to me."
This is the first clue of Eden imagery. After Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, the gates were barred. In the same way, "I" and her husband Maxim are barred from Manderley, and can only visit their home in dreams or memory. The unnamed heroine admits, "We can never go back again..."
The fact that the heroine is unnamed is significant. Often writers will leave a character without a name as a technique of including an "everyman" or "everywoman" into the story. Thus, "I" can become the reader, and indeed many readers have remarked that du Maurier's writing makes them feel as if they are living in the story itself.
Manderley and Eden Have Apples
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were allowed freedom, except to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, apples.
Manderley consists of not only the mansion, seaside, and boat house, but also orchards of apple trees. When asked about them, Maxim's friend Frank Crawley notes, "We're going to have a mass of apples this year at Manderley."
The Snake in the Garden of Eden
The antagonist, or trouble-maker, in the Garden of Eden is the serpent, who tempts Eve with the apple, taken from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve are tossed out of the Garden before they can eat of the Tree of Life, which would have given them eternal life.
The antagonist in Rebecca is the dead wife, Rebecca. At first, "I' is told that Rebecca drowned in a sailing accident in the bay by the estate. Yet, to "I," Rebecca is more living than dead. The first day that "I" is at Manderly, she tries to go the the library. Yet the fire is not lit, and Frith, the butler, tells her there is a good fire in room where Rebecca always went. "Mrs. de Winter always used the morning-room."
It appears as if Rebecca is reaching from death back into life at Manderley. Everything at Manderley, such as the food, the furniture, and the servants' orders, all still come from Rebecca, and the heroine "I" seems helpless to change the life of Rebecca at Manderley.
Maxim tells "I" that Rebecca tempted him, made a bargain with him. She would turn Manderley into a show place, and she could have freedom to live life the way she liked.
Maxim compared her to a snake, when he was hypnotized by her, by her striped sandal, "swinging backwards and forwards, and my eyes and brain began to burn is a strange quick way."
Adam and Eve Leave Eden
Just as Adam and Eve leave Eden, so Maxim and "I" must leave Manderley. Like Eden, the gates are forever barred, and the Tree of Life is still untouched.
Author Sunil S.
Despite its popularity in novel and film form, many critics dismissed du Maurier's talent and her masterpiece as being melodrama and a pale imitation of the Bronte sisters, Charlotte and Emily, and their masterpieces Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
However, a close reading of du Maurier's Rebecca reveals that her prose stands up to a literary criticism, and tells a timeless story that took the Gothic genre and stretched it into modern day applications.
Manderley as the Garden of Eden
The novel begins with the unnamed heroine "I" as the narrator. She is revisiting Manderley in a dream, and notes "...the way was barred to me."
This is the first clue of Eden imagery. After Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, the gates were barred. In the same way, "I" and her husband Maxim are barred from Manderley, and can only visit their home in dreams or memory. The unnamed heroine admits, "We can never go back again..."
The fact that the heroine is unnamed is significant. Often writers will leave a character without a name as a technique of including an "everyman" or "everywoman" into the story. Thus, "I" can become the reader, and indeed many readers have remarked that du Maurier's writing makes them feel as if they are living in the story itself.
Manderley and Eden Have Apples
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were allowed freedom, except to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, apples.
Manderley consists of not only the mansion, seaside, and boat house, but also orchards of apple trees. When asked about them, Maxim's friend Frank Crawley notes, "We're going to have a mass of apples this year at Manderley."
The Snake in the Garden of Eden
The antagonist, or trouble-maker, in the Garden of Eden is the serpent, who tempts Eve with the apple, taken from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve are tossed out of the Garden before they can eat of the Tree of Life, which would have given them eternal life.
The antagonist in Rebecca is the dead wife, Rebecca. At first, "I' is told that Rebecca drowned in a sailing accident in the bay by the estate. Yet, to "I," Rebecca is more living than dead. The first day that "I" is at Manderly, she tries to go the the library. Yet the fire is not lit, and Frith, the butler, tells her there is a good fire in room where Rebecca always went. "Mrs. de Winter always used the morning-room."
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It appears as if Rebecca is reaching from death back into life at Manderley. Everything at Manderley, such as the food, the furniture, and the servants' orders, all still come from Rebecca, and the heroine "I" seems helpless to change the life of Rebecca at Manderley.
Maxim tells "I" that Rebecca tempted him, made a bargain with him. She would turn Manderley into a show place, and she could have freedom to live life the way she liked.
Maxim compared her to a snake, when he was hypnotized by her, by her striped sandal, "swinging backwards and forwards, and my eyes and brain began to burn is a strange quick way."
Adam and Eve Leave Eden
Just as Adam and Eve leave Eden, so Maxim and "I" must leave Manderley. Like Eden, the gates are forever barred, and the Tree of Life is still untouched.
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Author Sunil S.
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