The present print I have of Rebecca (my first personal copy!) is a 2003 reprint by Virago Press with an introduction by Sally Beauman. She seems to one among those who have been so influenced by this book as to write one of her own on it- a reconstruction of the personality of the ever intriguing Rebecca! Then there is yet another which seems to take off right from where the horizon was shot with crimson. Please do feel free to link up to these sites and read their interpretations of Rebecca.
Coming now to my views. There is much much more I have read than those initial impressions I gathered of a sweet romance, English countryside, marriage etc. Yes, some of those images will remain with me forever but then there were other, subtler images which I picked up over the years that I've read this book. The strength of her imagery is so powerful that it has undoubtedly affected all its readers- where but in that image of a memory to be uncorked could JK Rowling have got her exquisite idea of 'pensieve' where the memories of good times and dark, are pulled out and presented to young Harry Potter? While I continue to love and get intoxicated by most of the flowers mentioned and rhododendrons have had a special place in my heart, I continue to have and be proud of my untidy hair, like blowzy roses, which may or may not make me mysterious and subtle!
A bit about Daphne du Maurier. She claimed that the second Mrs de Winter was shy and awkward and in many other ways modelled on herself- so that it was too autobiographical & personal for her to be named. But then there is so much of her in the first Mrs de Winter too. She was an excellent sailor, and she is known to have been to use that rather victorian word, 'promiscuous'- with men AND women (as set out explicitly by Tani in one of her comments on my earlier post). Then ofcourse is the third woman in this feminine melange a trois- Mrs Danvers aka Danny- the older woman, the ever watchful, the kinder, crueller, omnipresent Danny. Could any man, however much he looked like a Master's painting be a match for any of these three women?
The artful, worldly Rebecca, who carried within her all the angst, and yet joy of the Lazarus lady 'eating men like air'. The artless (for all her sketching!) sexless much loved much pitied second Mrs de Winter, who suddenly grows up, learns things she is not favoured to know and in a vivid dream based on a totally inverted picture of porphyria's lover finds herself with a rope of long black (not yellow) hair which she allows her lover to wind around his own neck! Ah! The beauty and strength of that image - it is astounding to say the least.
Then there is story which I recall as having been written by Taslima Nasreen, about two women meeting in a railway ladies compartment. The elder by means of that universally favoured social game of 20 questions quizzes the younger about various habits of her husband from what he eats, when he bathes, where he works, how much he earns etc. They part with the elder woman getting off the train satisfied that she has learnt everything there was to be known about the younger woman- by asking her ALL the relevant questions about her husband and 'his routine'!
Of course, the doting, critical, fawning, avenging Danny has been the lynchpin of the book, the character who serves as a connection between the Mrss de Winter and to that extent, is a part of both. She quietly underscores the fact that it is a woman's world and that the men are at most peripheral to the plot. It is the love and dislike between the women which really determines and leads the narrative, even if were only the hobby of Mrs van Hopper! At a sudden loose end, Mrs de Winter thinks of what Mrs van Hopper were to say if her marriage were to be annulled! And of course, Rebecca's query regarding playing the part of husband and wife too well (if that were indeed possible!) is a jewel!
There is so much more but I conclude by saying that I've really enjoyed putting down some of my thoughts on Rebecca. I do indeed wait for comments.
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