REBECCA – DAPHNE DU MAURIER -#BLOGCHATTERA2ZCHALLENGE2022

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Goodreads

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

The opening lines of the Gothic novel, ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier stay in the mind of the reader as the story unfolds through the narration of a naïve young woman who is the companion of a wealthy elderly woman holidaying in Monte Carlo. The 24-year-old woman, whose first name is not mentioned in the book, is having a difficult time, pandering to the whims of her employer who leaves no opportunity to belittle her.

It is then that she runs into Maxim de Winter, a rich widower of 42, who sweeps her off her feet. After a whirlwind courtship, she agrees to marry him much to the consternation of her employer.

After the wedding and honeymoon, the couple go to Manderley, de Winter’s beautiful mansion in Cornwall. The narrator is still nameless, described mainly as the Mrs. de Winter or ‘my wife’. It is when she gets to Manderley and meets the sinister Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, that she realises that there was another Mrs. de Winter before her, a beautiful creature named Rebecca, the apple of Mrs. Danvers’ eye, who had died a year before in a sailing accident.

From then on, it is a battle between the young lady and the housekeeper. Nothing the former does is good enough; neither her looks, appearance, manners or her bearing. Mrs. Danvers snubs her at every opportunity. Even Maxim seems to have changed in this house and she feels that he regrets having married her. She finds herself isolated in the big cold house.

                                                               Mrs. Danvers

medium.com

The young bride tries to lighten the atmosphere by organising the Manderley costume ball which had been a custom when Rebecca was alive. However, the event goes horribly wrong when Mrs. Danvers slyly persuades her to wear the same costume that Rebecca had worn, at the sight of which Max loses his cool.

The novel meanders on to a chilling climax as horrific truths tumble out and the narrator has a narrow escape from death. The final truth is when Max confesses what a sham his marriage with Rebecca had been and how she had deceived him. All is well that ends well, but the twists and turns supplied by Daphne du Maurier are truly magnificent. Some commentators have noticed parallels between Rebecca and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Another book by du Maurier, Jamaica Inn, also resembled Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. In 1938,Rebecca won the National Book Award for favourite novel. In 2017, it was voted Britain's favourite book over the past 225 years in a poll.The most famous film version of the book was by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940. Starring Laurence Olivier as Max, Joan Fontaine as his wife and Dame Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers, the film won the Academy Award that year.

                                                                The Guardian 

 

The Nerd Daily 

A Netflix version came out in 2020 with Armie Hammer, Lily James and Kristin Scott Anderson. The novel was adapted for the theatre and the radio as well. In 1939, du Maurier herself adapted Rebecca as a stage play and it had over 350 successful performances. Even today, it remains on of the classics in English literature as in 2019, the BBC listed it as one of the 100 most inspiring novels of all times.

 I am participating in the #Blogchatter A to Z Challenge! Happy Reading and Writing! :)


Comments

  1. Suchita4/22/2022 10:06:00 PM

    I can appreciate this book in hindsight but when I read it, I disliked it tremendously.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. deepti menon4/22/2022 10:50:00 PM

      Really? I loved it maybe because I enjoy Gothic novels with suspense and mystery. Have you read the novels of Victoria Holt? They are brilliant, especially her earlier ones. Read The Shivering Sands, if you can lay your hands on a copy.

      Delete
  2. Harshita Nanda4/24/2022 02:29:00 PM

    Oh Rebecca was one of my favourites when I was a young girl!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. deepti menon4/26/2022 06:38:00 PM

      Mine too, Harshita! I still love Daphne du Maurier's books.

      Delete
  3. Manali Desai4/25/2022 11:58:00 PM

    I think we also had a Bollywood adaptation of this. Was it 1920? I don't recall. Great post

    ReplyDelete
  4. deepti menon4/26/2022 06:39:00 PM

    Bollywood adaptation, Manali? I will have to check that out.

    ReplyDelete

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