It's always her, isn't it? Have you ever wondered how it would feel if a dead person left their essence everywhere in the house, every corner you turn, you see them, every silence is filled with their words unsaid, every curtain you trail has their sense? Eerie, is it not? Well, that's Rebecca for you. She held people from her past and future together in a way that seems diabolical, yet biblical in its own way.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca is not just a character that we get to see in the book, the best part is that she isn't. She's not there. She's dead. Like D-E-A-D. One can only assume that a book cannot be based on a dead person unless it's a memoir or biography. But du Maurier based the whole book around her. The funny part is that it's not Rebecca's story, nobody is reminiscing about her. We are not talking about her at all. The aftermath of her death is so strong that she leaves everyone around her mourning and praising even a year after she's gone.
The book is narrated as a first-person account by an "unknown-lady", who's never named in the book, marries the widower of Rebecca, Maxim de Winter, and becomes the future Mrs de Winter. The moment Mrs de Winter (the current one) enters their mansion in Manderly, the presence of Rebecca's spirit is felt. The first cold handshake with Mrs. Danvers, the lady who was brought to Manderly by former Mrs de Winter, to watching the new Mrs de Winter from a distance, Mrs. Danvers had already begun the destruction of the emotional and psychological barriers after Rebecca's death. Referring to Rebecca as Mrs de Winter, even when the real Mrs de Winter is present, screams sinister in every sense.
Moving on, the things that she partook in when she was alive, were only a part of series that were carefully planned to unfold upon her death, intentional or unintentional. She was careless, carefree and in every way defied lady should have behaved at that time (in the 1930s). This lifestyle of hers was not meant for the public eye. No one outside the bedroom door, except for Mrs. Danvers knew what and who she was. I wouldn't dare to say she lived a double life, for a person living a double life would be loved by some and hated by some. But she was loved by everyone. She didn't have a double life, she had various faces. A slim and tall body, long dark hair, and expressive eyes were just her physical features. Her personality changed like a chameleon with every passing face at every passing time. She knew exactly what to say to whom and when. While everyone loathed her from the beginning, I loved the way she had an everlasting impact on people like the new Mrs. de Winter, whom she never met, not once in her life. The sheer personality a person has to possess to leave, not just an impact but an imprint in everyone's lives around her, the past, present, and the future.
The locations in which some of these scenes have been equally enthralling, be it within the house in the west wing, where the new Mrs. de Winter wasn't shown, or outside on the docks in the cabin. The mere journey to these locations touches every nerve inside of you, you can feel the impending doom with every step and every word. Although, everyone praises Rebecca and Mrs. de Winter, the best character description was of Mrs. Danvers. The obsessive dedication she had towards Rebecca and the motherly instinct to protect her, even though Rebecca had crossed her limits over and over is absolutely commendable. She makes her loyalties known to the new Mrs. de Winter over and over by mentioning Rebecca as Mrs. de Winter.
She's the protagonist and the antagonist of the story. Everything revolved and evolved around her, even after her death. Funny enough, her death was her choice. She knew what would happen after that. She made sure chaos would follow and haunt the Maxim and the people in the mansion, maybe not immediately after her death, but just as things would settle down, just days before her one-year death anniversary. I know that it's supposed to be spooky and dangerous, but I cannot help the fact that there was no subtle way to write about the antagonist in a way that in the end, a reader cannot help but fall in love with her brain. Sure, Rebecca didn't know what would happen after her death, but in some way or another ensured mayhem would follow.
Daphne du Maurier has written words and sentences that come to life in your head. You do not require any external references on how a character looks or speaks. She delivers the tone and intentions of the character with utmost poise. To sound a little more millennial, I would say she absolutely killed it here (literally and metaphorically).
Ciao until next time!
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