Rebecca By Daphnie Du Muier

The Overcoming of Rebecca

The book Rebecca is a classic. In the novel, Daphnie du Muier uses many different motifs to show the narrator's struggle to overcome the spirit of her husband's dead ex-wife haunting her and her home. Rebecca came out in 1938, a gothic novel that tells the story of a woman who marries a wealthy widower. Little does she know that the spirit of his deceased wife haunts him and the house he lives in. Throughout the book, our narrator has a mental battle with Rebecca as she is over-jealous of her to the point where she is borderline obsessed with her. In her gothic novel Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier depicts the narrator's battle with the ghostly presence of her husband's ex-wife using the motifs of age/youth, conversations,

In Rebecca, du Maurier utilizes the motifs of age/youth to reveal the narrator's insecurities and obsessions. In the book, the narrator learns more about Maxim de Winter. She then begins to see that their age difference adds to her insecurities. "I wish I was a woman of about thirty-six dressed in black satin with a string of pearls" (du Maurier 37). The narrator wishing she was younger shows her insecurity about her age. She is trying to be similar to Rebecca. The motif of age/youth shows us how the narrator is obsessed with trying to be Rebecca or at least be equal to her, showing the gothic element of obsession. The narrator reflects on the proposal and marriage to Maxim, and she begins connecting it to her insecurities: "He had not said anything yet about being in love. No time perhaps it was

In chapter 23, we can observe how the motif works. Maxim and the narrator are being questioned by Favvel and Julyn, which causes the narrator to become anxious and eventually pass out. "I am very sorry," I replied, "such a stupid thing to do. That room was so heated. It was so hot (du Maurier, 312). The narrator's perception of the room's increasing heat renders her dizzy and causes us to understand how heat works in this passage. The usage of the heat motif to depict the narrator's struggle to free herself is also apparent in chapter 1. The narrator dreamed about returning to Manderley when she noticed "the charred embers of our log fire still blazing against the morning" as though it were deserted (du Maurier 3). The ash and remaining logs from when the fire was in use are mentioned in this quotation, which uses the heat motif. The heat illustrates the narrator and Maxim's escape. The stubby logs represent a forgotten remembrance of Rebbeca and her heritage. Furthermore, in chapter 27, the final chapter, when the narrator and Maxim return to Manderley after spending time with Dr. Baker, we see heat being utilized for the final time to depict the narrator's quest for independence from Rebecca. They notice Manderly burning down as "the salt wind from the sea drove the ashes towards us" (du Maurier 380). Here, the burning