Daphne Du Maurier's With No Doubt, Rebecca

With no doubts, Rebecca is one of the most prominent works of Daphne du Maurier. The book was first published in 1938 and after that was successfully filmed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film was released on April 12, 1940, and till nowadays is loved by generations of viewers and readers of the novel. Du Maurier gained literary recognition during the period of the specific modernist experiments in literature and was known as the author who did an extensive research for her works. In particular, that included an analysis of the history of the own family and the stories regarding Cornwall's past. As the author, she achieved notoriety mainly due to her traditional historical romances and extraordinary gothic thrillers. Partially, the beginning of her

That were the times of the English aristocracy that kept the preserved high level of protection within the world of journalism. However, it was also the time, when journalists received an opportunity to reveal scandalous facts about the social life of the aristocracy due to the emergence of new tabloids and gossip magazines. At the second part of the book, journalists threatened to expose the scandalous relationship between Maxim and Rebecca and in fact aimed to ruin Maxim’s notoriety and reputation for all time. What is more, along with the representation of critical historical period, the novel incorporates such significant themes as feminism and gender roles within the aforementioned era. In particular, certain assumptions concerning the women, mainly married women, changed drastically in terms of contemporary society. In the period depicted in the novel, a situation in which a wealthy aristocrat decides to divorce his wife, was considered as fairly shocking and was rarely accepted by the society. For today, these standards are quite uncontroversial. Furthermore, the author covers multiple sexual aspects within her novel. For example, it is not told if the protagonist sleeps in the same bed with her husband or if she pays attention to other males. It is vital to note that it was not a personal decision of the author to set the plot in this way, rather publishing norms of the 1930s would not have accepted such implications. In one way or another, the novel reflects the social norms of England in the early 20th century. At the same time, Rebecca reviews many society's opinions regarding the behavior of women and especially, married ones. First and foremost, it is necessary to understand that this novel is about a woman, her fragile inner world that was eventually ruined under the severe influence