Rebecca (novel)
| First edition cover First edition cover | |
| Author | Daphne du Maurier |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime, Gothic, Mystery |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz |
Publication date | 1938 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Rebecca is a novel by British author Daphne du Maurier. When Rebecca was first published in 1938, du Maurier became - to her great surprise - one of the most popular authors of the day. Rebecca is considered to be one of her best works. It was partially inspired by Jane Eyre.[1][2] Much of the novel was written while she was staying in Alexandria, Egypt where her husband was posted at the time. [3]
Plot summary
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" is the book's opening line, and from here its unnamed narrator recollects her past, recalling the story of her transition into womanhood. While working as the companion to a rich American woman vacationing on the French Riviera, she becomes involved with a wealthy Englishman, Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter. She agrees to marry him, and follows him to his mansion, the beautiful Cornish estate, Manderley.
Only after their return to Manderley does the new bride realize how difficult it will be to lay to rest the memory of her husband's first wife, Rebecca. Rebecca drowned off the coast next to the mansion, but her aura seems to pervade the estate and all its inhabitants, especially its domineering housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, one of literature's most infamous female villains.
Mrs. Danvers, who was profoundly devoted to Rebecca, does her best to undermine the second Mrs. de Winter, suggesting to her that she will never attain the urbanity and charm that Rebecca possessed. But this is only after the night of the fancy dress ball. Before that Mrs Danvers is very accommodating and simply points out to the new Mrs de Winter how Rebecca did things before. The second Mrs de Winter simply follows Mrs Danvers' suggestions.
Lacking self-confidence and overwhelmed by her new life, the protagonist commits one faux pas after another, until she is convinced that Maxim regrets his impetuous decision to marry her and is still deeply in love with the seemingly perfect Rebecca. The climax occurs at Manderley's annual costume ball. Mrs. Danvers deceives the protagonist into wearing a costume replica of one of the former inhabitants of the estate. The same costume had been worn by Rebecca the previous year, shortly before her death. The costume is of a de Winter ancestor.
The night after the ball, the storm that had been pervading the estate leads to a shipwreck that unveils the remains of Rebecca's boat. It is just prior to this shipwreck that Mrs Danvers reveals her true feelings to the second Mrs. de Winter, before actually encouraging her to commit suicide by jumping out of an upstairs window.
This unexpected event leads Maxim to confess the truth to the second Mrs. de Winter about how the willful and adulterous Rebecca taunted him with a series of love affairs. She claimed to be pregnant by another man and threatened to burden Maxim with the responsibility of raising the child. Maxim, truly hating her, shot her and disposed of her body on her boat, which he sank at sea. The narrator, rather than being frightened by the revelation that her husband is capable of murder, is instead relieved to hear that Maxim did not love Rebecca.
The boat is raised and it is discovered that holes had been deliberately drilled in the bottom which would have caused it to sink. There is an inquest and a verdict of suicide is brought. However Rebecca's first cousin (and also her lover) Jack appears on the scene claiming to have proof that Rebecca could not have intended suicide. Jack attempts to blackmail Maxim because he believes that Maxim killed Rebecca and then sank the boat.
However it is revealed that she had an appointment shortly before her death, presumably with a doctor to confirm her pregnancy. When the doctor is found he reveals instead that Rebecca had been suffering from cancer, and would have died within a few months. Moreover she could never have become pregnant. The implication is that, knowing she was going to die, Rebecca lied to Maxim that she had been impregnated by another man, because she wanted Maxim to kill her (thus her death could indeed be considered a form of suicide).
Upon returning to Manderley after the truth was discovered about Rebecca's cancer, Maxim and his bride discover the house in flames. Some have suggested Mrs. Danvers had set this fire because it is revealed on the way back to Manderley from the doctor's office in London that Mrs Danvers left Manderley in the afternoon. It is left very unclear and even the fire is ambiguous as the second Mrs de Winter thinks it's the northern lights to which Maxim replies, "that's Manderley."
It is suggested at the beginning of the novel by the heroine that the two now live in some foreign exile. This is futher evidenced at the end when the local law officer suggests that to avoid gossip the de Winters take a holiday in Switzerland. The events recounted in the book are in essence a flashback of the narrator's life at Manderley.
The given name of the second Mrs. de Winter is not revealed in the novel. However, in chapter 3, after she receives a note from Maxim, she says how her name was 'spelt correctly, an unusual thing', which implies that her name is either strange or complex. In neither version is the narrator named (Joan Fontaine played the role in the movie).
Related works
The novel has inspired three additional books approved by the du Maurier estate:
- Mrs de Winter (1993), by Susan Hill, is a sequel originally written in the 1980s. ISBN 0-09-928478-2
- The Other Rebecca (1996), by Maureen Freely, is a contemporary version. ISBN 0-89733-477-9
- Rebecca's Tale (2001), by Sally Beauman, ISBN 0-06-621108-5 is a narrative of four characters affected by Rebecca. It is often mistakenly referred to as a prequel.
Impact
The novel, and the character of Mrs. Danvers in particular, have entered many aspects of popular culture. One edition of the book was used by the Germans in World War II as a code source. Sentences would be made using single words in the book, referenced by page number, line and position in the line. One copy was kept at Rommel's headquarters, and the other was carried by German Abwehr agents infiltrated in Cairo after crossing Egypt by car, guided by Count László Almásy.
This code was never used, however, because the radio section of the HQ was captured in a skirmish and the Germans thought the security was compromised. This is referenced in Ken Follett's novel The Key to Rebecca - where a (fictional) spy does use it to pass critical information to Rommel.
This use of the novel was also referenced in Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient. [citation needed]
The character of Mrs Danvers is alluded to numerous times throughout Stephen King's Bag of Bones. In the book, Mrs. Danvers serves as something of a bogeyman for the main character Mike Noonan. King also uses the character name for the chilly, obedient servant in "Father's Day," a tale in his 1982 film Creepshow.
In Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, in the bookworld, they have accidentally made lots of Mrs. Danvers clones, which they use as troops against The Mispeling Vyrus, and other threats, including as an army.
Film, television and theatrical adaptations
Film
Rebecca has been adapted several times. The most notable of these was the Academy Award winning 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film version Rebecca, the first film Hitchcock made under his contract with David O. Selznick. The film, which starred Laurence Olivier as Max, Joan Fontaine as the Heroine, and Dame Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers was based on the novel. However, the Hollywood Production Code required that if Max had murdered his wife, he would have to be punished for his crime. Therefore, the key turning point of the novel -- the revelation that Max, in fact, murdered Rebecca -- was altered so that it seemed Rebecca's death was accidental. At the end of the film version, Mrs Danvers perishes in the fire. The film quickly became a classic and, at the time, was a major technical achievement in film-making.
A new version with Ralph Fiennes as Maxim is currently in production.[1]
Television
Rebecca has been adapted for television by both BBC (the book cover pictured on this page shows Joanna David as Mrs de Winter) and ITV. The latter version starred Emilia Fox (Joanna David's daughter) in the same role, and was part of the 1998–1999 season of Masterpiece Theatre. A couple of Latin-American soap operas have been inspired by this story, such as Manuela (Argentina), and Infierno en el paraíso (Mexico).
Music
Meg & Dia's Dia Frampton penned a song entitled Rebecca, inspired by the novel. [2]
Sondre Lerche's song, She's fantastic, makes a reference to Rebecca. In it he says, "In that old movie 'bout Rebecca's spell I feel like Max never felt, minus the drama and the fraud..."
Theatre
On September 28, 2006 a musical version of Rebecca premiered at the Raimund Theater in Vienna, Austria. The new musical is written by Michael Kunze (book and lyrics) and Sylvester Levay (music) and directed by the renowned American director Francesca Zambello. The cast includes Uwe Kröger as Max de Winter, Wietske van Tongeren as "Ich" ("I", the narrator) and Susan Rigvava-Dumas as Mrs Danvers. Though there was talk of moving the musical to the Broadway stage, all plans have been canceled due to the complexity of the sets, scenery, and special effects—including a grand staircase that twirls down into the stage and a finale in which the entire stage is engulfed in flames.
Plagiarism allegations
Shortly after Rebecca was published in Brazil, critic Álvaro Lins and other readers pointed out many resemblances between Du Maurier's book and the work of Brazilian writer Carolina Nabuco. Nabuco's A Sucessora (The Successor) has a main plot similar to Rebecca, including a young woman marrying a widower and the strange presence of the first wife — plot features also shared with the far older Jane Eyre. Nina Auerbach alleged, in her book Daphne Du Maurier, Haunted Heiress, that Du Maurier read the Brazilian book when the first drafts were sent to be published in England and based her famous bestseller on it. According to Nabuco's autobiography, she refused to sign a contract brought to her by a United Artists' worker in which she agreed that the similarities between her book and the movie were mere coincidence.[4] Du Maurier denied copying Nabuco's book, as did her publisher, noting that the plot used in Rebecca was quite common.[5]
External links
- [3] Article about sexual ambiguity in 'Rebecca' by Cathy Pryor in the London Independent.
- [4] Article about Good things in 'Rebecca' by Cathy Pryor in the London Independent.
Footnotes
- ^ "Du Maurier's 'Rebecca,' A Worthy 'Eyre' Apparent". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ "Presence of Orson Welles in Robert Stevenson's Jane Eyre (1944)". Literature Film Quarterly. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ Afterword by Sally Beauman to "Rebecca" (2003 ed. ed.). Virago Press. 30 Jan 2003. ISBN 1-84408-038-2.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ "Rebecca seria brasileira". Os Filmes. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
- ^ "Bull's-Eye for Bovarys". TIME. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
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