What was Daphne Du Maurier thinking of when she penned 'Rebecca'? I'd give my eyeteeth to know that! For rarely has a reader come across a character that is, in the truest sense of the words, larger than life.
One of the most striking scenes of the book that impressed me was when the second Mrs. de Winter tears up and burns a page bearing Rebecca's handwriting and signature. The last scrap of paper to be destoyed was the one bearing the masterful 'R' of the Rebecca! Now that's indestructability for you!
Indeed, Rebecca is death's answer to life. She is the embodiment of death's win over life. Any spirit can take a crash course from her on how to haunt effectively. 'Cause, haunt she did, not with absurd ghostly manifestations, but with just that - her Spirit.
Am sure a stray reader of the book is bound to comment that half of Rebecca's haunting comes from the attitude of the second Mrs. de Winter's inherent mousiness and of course, Mrs. Danver's fanatic devotion. But tell me, do, isn't it the all-round praise of the dead Rebecca that makes the narrator, this second Mrs. de Winter more and more unsure of herself? What is the cause of that all-round praise? Rebecca herself. What is the cause of Mrs. Danver's adoration? Again Rebecca herself. It is she, Rebecca, who was so impressive in life that her imprint cannot be removed even after her death.
I am amazed at myself. I am, normally, a conventional admirer of goodness. Loyalty and truth appeal to me as a rule. But there is something infinitely attractive about the glaring immorality and garish rebellion of Rebecca. So immense is the power of her personality that coming from her, even the bad looks beautiful.
The credit surely goes to Du Maurier. How can she create such a strong personality without letting that character ever get to the fore of story-telling, is something that makes me want to take my hats off to her. Or perhaps that is the secret? By never letting Rebecca tell her story herself, and by throwing the circle of torch-light on her from different points, she shows to the reader a character never in full, but like a jigsaw puzzle. More bewitching, more enchanting.
The best lesson for amateur authors trying to tutor themselves in characterization. That's Rebecca, apart from being so much else!
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4 comments:
@Deepti
How I always thought that you are so like me in many ways and this blog proves it once again.
All along, since I've read 'Rebecca' in my teens to this day,probably more than dozen times along with Gone with the Wind, I've always considered Rebecca as one of the most cultivated and beautiful character ever created in fiction.In Gone with the Wind also Scarlett O hara makes the same kind of impact on me, bold, arrogant,powerful, selfish to the core and beautifulyet kind in her own way.
Yes, from the start of Manderly and its twisted path till the discovery of the sailing boat carrying her dead body underneath the sea,Rebecca breathes every where without ever coming to the forefront.WHat magnetism and what appeal.My God!Her non existent existence, in ever nook and corner of Manderly and her memories refusing to be erased from Maximillian's life shows what she was when she was alive.Poor second Mrs.De Winter, she should never have married Max to let her subject herself to so much torment.This teaches one lesson that one should remain in their limits and not aim to take the original's position.One can never fill the vacuum.
Somebody should stop me else I'll continue writing on this forever.Rebecca was and will be always be one of my favourite Heroine along with Scarlett O' Hara and Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice.
I'll come once again to this space with the plot as you mentioned.
Love you Deepti for loving Rebecca.I never uttered this for the simple fear of letting the other person misjudge me.You gave me strength.
Lovely and a very endearing blog.
Aw Thanks June! Yes, predictably so, Scarlett is one of my favourites too. She has that essence of pure obstinacy, that single-minded stubbornness that impresses me everytime I watch Gone With the Wind. Tara and Manderly are both such desrirable things ;) :D
Fancy your liking Elizabeth Bennet too!!! She is the best Austen heroine, though Emma with her blundering ways, comes a cute second.
But amongst them all, this Rebecca sort of tops the chart. Its her all-pervasive aura you know that adds to her an extra dimension. Amazing! Awesome!
How Daphne du Maurier wrote Rebecca
Have a look...I have started reading this book yesterday.
Thank You Kabir, that was interesting reading.
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