Key AO3: Rebecca
AO3 = Social, Historical and Cultural Contextual References
AO4 (Intertextuality) = Blue
Link to Rebecca = Purple
Biographical
- Manderley was based on two distinctive houses
- Childhood home, Milton & 17th Century mansion she had lived in for 25
years
- Du Maurier referred to Manderley as the ‘House of Secrets’
- Du Maurier, like the narrator, had struggled with jealousy and insecurity as
her husband had previously been engaged to a glamorous dark-haired girl
- She witnessed a shipwreck off the Cornish coast that became transposed
as a symbol of the tragedy haunting Manderley in Rebecca
Social and Historical
Social
- English aristocracy in the 1930s enjoyed a high degree of protection in the
journalistic world (their illicit affairs were kept outside the newspapers out
of respect).
- However, this pact was slowly disappearing through the rise of modern
tabloids, paralleling the rise of motion pictures in the US.
- This gave journalists a desire to provide their readers with scandalous
news about the social elite.
- This poses a real danger to Maxim as they threaten to reveal his
scandalous relationship with Rebecca to the public, ruining his reputation.
- There was still a very rigid class system in the UK, but London was a sight
of modernity, where some people were developing freer ways of loving
- In ‘Rebecca’, London is presented as quite frightening, since it is Rebecca
and Jack who travel there regularly, and they are threatening to the peace
and prosperity of Manderley
- Is Du Maurier being conservative about the class system?
Historical
- Written in the late 1930s
- This era was marked by significant global tension, leading up to the
outbreak of WWII
- 1930s was a tumultuous decade, characterised by the lingering effects of
the Great Depression and the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe
- The shadow of impending war loomed large, creating a sense of
uncertainty and anxiety that influenced contemporary literature
- In the UK, there was a palpable sense of change and foreboding as the
nation prepared for potential conflict
Cultural
, - ‘Rebecca’ underlines the rigid class distinctions and gender roles of early
20th-century British society
- The novel depicts the expectations placed upon women, emphasising their
roles as dutiful wives and keepers of domestic harmony
- Du Maurier subtly critiques these cultural norms by highlighting the
oppressive nature of social expectations and the destructive power of
obsession with the past
- Through the narrator, Du Maurier explores themes of jealousy, insecurity,
and the search for self-worth in a society that often marginalises women
Literary
- Other authors were experimenting with the form of their writing
- Modernists such as ‘Virginia Woolf’ and ‘James Joyce’
- Du Maurier stuck to much of the gothic convention
- Inspired by Bluebeard (Charles Perrault) and Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
- ‘Rebecca’ had a traditional form in a time of modernist literary
experimentation, she stuck to the traditional form of the Gothic
Du Maurier on Rebecca
‘A sinister tale about a woman who marries a widower…psychological and rather
macabre’
‘The book will be about the influence of the first wife on the second’
She called it ‘a study in jealousy’
Gothic Genre
- Archetypal representations of women in gothic literature that are both
influenced by and subvert traditional gender roles
- ‘Mad Woman in the Attic’ from Jane Eyre can be seen as a variation of
‘Rebecca de Winter’
- Her presence, or lack thereof, and influence loom over Manderley like a
malevolent spectre
- ‘Angel in the House’ represents the idealized, passive and self-sacrificing
Victorian woman
- Initially, this is embodied by the unnamed narrator, however her
transformation throughout the novel is marked by a departure from this
stereotype
- The spirit of Rebecca also adds an eerie atmosphere as her haunting spirit
remains firmly in Manderley and holds direct influence on events and
characters
- Maxim embodies the brooding and mysterious male figure often found in
the Gothic
- His haunted nature becomes apparent through his recurring nightmares
and moments of introspection
- The Gothic allows for an exploration of deep psychological states
Gothic Influence
AO3 = Social, Historical and Cultural Contextual References
AO4 (Intertextuality) = Blue
Link to Rebecca = Purple
Biographical
- Manderley was based on two distinctive houses
- Childhood home, Milton & 17th Century mansion she had lived in for 25
years
- Du Maurier referred to Manderley as the ‘House of Secrets’
- Du Maurier, like the narrator, had struggled with jealousy and insecurity as
her husband had previously been engaged to a glamorous dark-haired girl
- She witnessed a shipwreck off the Cornish coast that became transposed
as a symbol of the tragedy haunting Manderley in Rebecca
Social and Historical
Social
- English aristocracy in the 1930s enjoyed a high degree of protection in the
journalistic world (their illicit affairs were kept outside the newspapers out
of respect).
- However, this pact was slowly disappearing through the rise of modern
tabloids, paralleling the rise of motion pictures in the US.
- This gave journalists a desire to provide their readers with scandalous
news about the social elite.
- This poses a real danger to Maxim as they threaten to reveal his
scandalous relationship with Rebecca to the public, ruining his reputation.
- There was still a very rigid class system in the UK, but London was a sight
of modernity, where some people were developing freer ways of loving
- In ‘Rebecca’, London is presented as quite frightening, since it is Rebecca
and Jack who travel there regularly, and they are threatening to the peace
and prosperity of Manderley
- Is Du Maurier being conservative about the class system?
Historical
- Written in the late 1930s
- This era was marked by significant global tension, leading up to the
outbreak of WWII
- 1930s was a tumultuous decade, characterised by the lingering effects of
the Great Depression and the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe
- The shadow of impending war loomed large, creating a sense of
uncertainty and anxiety that influenced contemporary literature
- In the UK, there was a palpable sense of change and foreboding as the
nation prepared for potential conflict
Cultural
, - ‘Rebecca’ underlines the rigid class distinctions and gender roles of early
20th-century British society
- The novel depicts the expectations placed upon women, emphasising their
roles as dutiful wives and keepers of domestic harmony
- Du Maurier subtly critiques these cultural norms by highlighting the
oppressive nature of social expectations and the destructive power of
obsession with the past
- Through the narrator, Du Maurier explores themes of jealousy, insecurity,
and the search for self-worth in a society that often marginalises women
Literary
- Other authors were experimenting with the form of their writing
- Modernists such as ‘Virginia Woolf’ and ‘James Joyce’
- Du Maurier stuck to much of the gothic convention
- Inspired by Bluebeard (Charles Perrault) and Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
- ‘Rebecca’ had a traditional form in a time of modernist literary
experimentation, she stuck to the traditional form of the Gothic
Du Maurier on Rebecca
‘A sinister tale about a woman who marries a widower…psychological and rather
macabre’
‘The book will be about the influence of the first wife on the second’
She called it ‘a study in jealousy’
Gothic Genre
- Archetypal representations of women in gothic literature that are both
influenced by and subvert traditional gender roles
- ‘Mad Woman in the Attic’ from Jane Eyre can be seen as a variation of
‘Rebecca de Winter’
- Her presence, or lack thereof, and influence loom over Manderley like a
malevolent spectre
- ‘Angel in the House’ represents the idealized, passive and self-sacrificing
Victorian woman
- Initially, this is embodied by the unnamed narrator, however her
transformation throughout the novel is marked by a departure from this
stereotype
- The spirit of Rebecca also adds an eerie atmosphere as her haunting spirit
remains firmly in Manderley and holds direct influence on events and
characters
- Maxim embodies the brooding and mysterious male figure often found in
the Gothic
- His haunted nature becomes apparent through his recurring nightmares
and moments of introspection
- The Gothic allows for an exploration of deep psychological states
Gothic Influence
