Du Maurier’s classic tale of romantic suspense was one of
the books on this list that I was most excited to read. It has been sitting on
my bookshelf, eagerly waiting for me to read it for years. Why didn’t I read it you
may ask? Well...I am one of those weird people who once they buy a book, they can’t
read it right away because they want to build anticipation and look at it on their bookshelf for awhile first. I want the book to marinate, if you will, before I
read it. There. You all probably think I am crazy. Oh well.
Rebecca, the original
Gone Girl
If there is one book that stands out in female centered literature within the last ten years, it is Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone Girl. If you have not heard of the book (or the movie adaptation), you must be Gone Girl follows the contentious marriage of Amy and Nick while centered around Amy’s mysterious disappearance (as if there are any other kinds of disappearances). When the novel came out, the ending (SPOILERS) was considered shocking and Amy became a new kind of villain. The genre of domestic thriller was born. However, while reading Rebecca, I realized that Amy was not the first of her kind. The character of Rebecca, or rather the “ghost” of Rebecca, originated the controlling, manipulative lover who excelled at deceiving all of those around her except for her "lover." One of the most admirable characteristics of both Rebecca and Amy was their confidence. Both women were always several steps ahead of their pawns and masterfully knew how to manipulate a situation to fit their ultimate goal. Both fit the mold of a villain and the mark of a good villain (and good writing) is that the villain can, at times, be sympathetic.
living under a rock.
Best to remain
unnamed
One of the reasons du Maurier’s work is so memorable is that
her narrator is made to not be. While Rebecca is the titular character of
the novel and the propelling force of the story, she is neither the narrator
nor a physical entity within the story. All we learn about Rebecca comes from other’s
Jealousy is
a cruel, cruel feeling. We many not be in the narrator’s situation, but we all
know what it feels like to be jealous. One cannot help but be jealous of our
partner’s past loves or our ex’s current ones. Those who came before will
always be a touchy subject. What about them did they love? Does a part of them
still love them? Am I anything like them? Would they go back to them if they
had a chance? We idealize our lovers past loves because it hurts to think that
somebody else once made them happy. We worry that we might not make them happy
in the same way. This feeling does more harm than good and makes us jealous of someone we created in our imaginations. It is rare that it is
the past lover that causes tension in a relationship, but actually the imagined
scenarios with the past lover that creates tension. More so, when someone we
love or once loved moves on and finds someone to fill your place, you can’t
help but imagine how perfect this new person must be. They must have all the
good parts you have, but also must be even better in certain aspects. They must
be gorgeous, you think. Perfectly funny and smart; able to flirt effortlessly
and not be the least bit awkward. It makes you doubt yourself and question what
you once had with that person. In this way, you can sympathize with the
narrator throughout the novel. You are causing the damage to yourself, not the actual person. She states it perfectly when she speculates “I
wondered how many people there were in the world who suffered, and continued to
suffer, because they could not break out of their own shyness and reserve, and
in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them
that hid the truth” (280). I was definitely one of those people and, at times,
I still am. I’ve always considered myself shy and reserved, and many people in
my life would second that opinion. I have always been too “in my head,”
overthought things to the extreme, especially in the romantic entanglements in
my life. I do not always consider this a weakness or flaw. My overthinking ways
make me observant, it makes me attuned to people’s needs, it makes me creative.
I may be on the more reserved side, but I have turned that into something that
I am proud of.
Other Thoughts:
- The second Mrs. de Winter is around 23 and Maxim de winter
is around 42. Their age difference is a point of contention in their
relationship. He treats her and talks to her as if she were a child propelling
her to act more and more like a child. I suppose this is something they both
need at the time: for him, a complacent wife who is one hundred percent
faithful, unlike his last one. For her, someone to take care of her; something
she was missing in her childhood. Either way, I personally think that is too
big of an age gap and will stick with my two years younger, five years older
age range.
- We all consider Rebecca to be the villain of the novel,
but could we actually see her as a misunderstood woman who was born in the
wrong time period? If she were born about 70 years later, Rebecca could be free
to be sexually promiscuous without judgment. She wouldn’t have to marry to receive
status and she would have had access to better medical care for her condition.
Or she would have turned out more manipulative and dangerous like Amy in Gone Girl.
- Since we are talking about a famous Daphne in this post, I
just want to give a shout out to a famous Daphne in my life: my childhood Labrador.
For fifteen years, my Daphne brought me joy and love. R.I.P. my pretty princess
<3
Pictures
- book cover: http://www.booksatruestory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Rebecca-Daphne-Du-Maurier.jpg
- film poster: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/Rebecca_1940_film_poster.jpg
- Quote: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b9/00/ec/b900ecd0ded37dd441873e87c1294597.jpg
