In the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier there are many vague and undefined antagonists. These antagonists add to the overall gothic theme of the text in a number of ways. One of the most predominant ways they do so is by bringing the past into the present, creating a sense of the story being haunted by the past. The antagonists, Mrs. Danvers, Manderley, and even the narrator herself, intentionally and unintentionally haunt the narrator of the story with the past. From the moment Mrs. Danvers and the narrator meet, the new Mrs. de Winter feels unwelcome and judged by the head maid of manderley “a little smile of scorn upon her lips, and I guessed at once she considered me ill-bred” (du Maurier 75). Over the course of the novel it becomes clear to the reader that even …show more content…
Danvers still serves her. Throughout the novel, Mrs. Danvers’ devotion to Rebecca becomes more and more obsessive. In an article by Holly Blackford she states that “her self-professed desire for her mistress, later in the novel, is even more a site of horror” (247). Due to her undying devotion to Rebecca, Mrs. Danvers is constantly found trying to maintain Rebecca’s presence in Manderley as seen in Rebecca’s room in the west wing of the house. When the narrator steps into Rebecca’s old room she is shocked to find the room perfectly preserved “I was seeing back into Time, and looking upon the room as it used to be, before she died” (du Maurier 186). This preservation of the past gives both the reader and the narrator an eerie feeling, as though Rebecca herself were still living in the room “In a minute Rebecca herself would come back into the room” (du Maurier 186), “You would think she had just gone out for a little while and would be back in the evening” (du Maurier 194). Throughout the novel Mrs. Danvers often points out to the narrator the differences between her and Rebecca “Mrs. de Winter was most particular about her sauces” (du Maurier 96), “It is usual, you know,