In Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, Rebecca de Winter, the first wife of Maxim de Winter, imposes her presence posthumously into Manderley. Rebecca’s power over the de Winters is compared to an ivy “held place in [the] lost garden…and would soon encroach upon the house itself”, who had “thrown her tendrils about the pair and made them prisoners” (Du Maurier 3). Although the reader never sees Rebecca as a living character, her lust for power over Maxim is ever present. Rebecca’s power over the narrator and Manderley is well represented by Mrs. Danvers, a ghastly housemaid who remains loyal to the original Mrs. de Winter. Mrs. Danvers, who is like a puppet for Rebecca, states, “sometimes, when I walk along the corridor here, I fancy I hear her just
behind me…Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?” (172). Since Mrs. Danvers is like a puppet for Rebecca, she carries out Rebecca’s wants and essentially watches the living for her. After Rebecca’s body is found, Maxim remarks, “her shadow between us all the time….she knew she would win in the end” (65). Although Maxim and Mrs. de Winter were successful in covering up the murder of Rebecca, Rebecca gets the last laugh when Manderley burns.
One major convention of the Romantic genre is the innocence, vulnerability and lack of confidence of the heroine. In Rebecca, the narrator constantly refers to herself as an un-educated, inexperienced and young schoolgirl, ??I was a youthful thing and unimportant?there was no need to include me in the conversation.? Throughout the first six chapters, the narrator is depicted as very young with no experience. She admits this herself, ?It was a s...
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights share similarities in many aspects, perhaps most plainly seen in the plots: just as Clarissa marries Richard rather than Peter Walsh in order to secure a comfortable life for herself, Catherine chooses Edgar Linton over Heathcliff in an attempt to wrest both herself and Heathcliff from the squalid lifestyle of Wuthering Heights. However, these two novels also overlap in thematic elements in that both are concerned with the opposing forces of civilization or order and chaos or madness. The recurring image of the house is an important symbol used to illustrate both authors’ order versus chaos themes. Though Woolf and Bronte use the house as a symbol in very different ways, the existing similarities create striking resonances between the two novels at certain critical scenes.
Literary Analysis of Audre Lorde's Power. Audre Lorde uses her poetic prose to express her feelings of anger and fury over an unfortunate incident which occurred in New York City in the late 1970's. She shares her outrage and disgust at a racist society that can allow a child's death to be buried with no true justice found to help resolve the loss of an innocent child. Audre Lorde adopted an African name at the end of her life, Gamba Adisa, which means "Warrior-She Who Makes Her Meaning Known."
From the beginning of this work, the woman is shown to have gone mad. We are given no insight into the past, and we do not know why she has been driven to the brink of insanity. The “beautiful…English place” that the woman sees in her minds eye is the way men have traditionally wanted women to see their role in society. As the woman says, “It is quite alone standing well back from the road…It makes me think of English places…for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden—large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them.” This lovely English countryside picture that this woman paints to the reader is a shallow view at the real likeness of her prison. The reality of things is that this lovely place is her small living space, and in it she is to function as every other good housewife should. The description of her cell, versus the reality of it, is a very good example of the restriction women had in those days. They were free to see things as they wanted, but there was no real chance at a woman changing her roles and place in society. This is mostly attributed to the small amount of freedom women had, and therefore they could not bring about a drastic change, because men were happy with the position women filled.
The Wife of Bath, Dame Alice is quite a spiteful woman even though she desires only a few simple things in life; power and control. Through her prologue and tale, she makes mirror images of herself , which reflects the person who she really is.
Winterbourne’s aunt is also critical of the way in which Daisy carries herself in social situations with men. In fact, Daisy has become the primary focus of gossip in Mrs. Costello’s circle of friends. Miss Miller has become notorious for the way she carries on with men and openly flirts and goes out in public with them unchaperoned. This is breach of ...
In Chapter 1 of Rebecca, du Maurier depicts Manderley as a magnificent estate with overgrown nature, a house and a long drive and gate. To begin, du Maurier describes Manderley as an estate with uncontrolled, foreign nature. "And there were other trees as well, trees that I did not recognize, squat oaks and tortured elms that straggled cheek by jowl with the beeches, and had thrust themselves out of the quiet earth, along with monster shrubs and plants, none of which I remembered" (du Maurier 3). Many new trees, along with plants that the narrator does not remember, invade the estate. Similarly, the hydrangeas exhibit this uncontrolled growth of the nature. "Scattered here and again among this jungle growth I would recognize shrubs that had been landmarks in our time, things of culture and grace, hydrangeas whose blue heads had been famous.
3 The author also describes Mrs. Mallard as feeling “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (12)-- the strength of God. [What suggests that it is the strength of God, and not just a personal strength of her own?] From the statement “now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously” (12), the reader can sens...
Throughout George Eliot’s Middlemarch, a young woman, Rosamond Vincy, is constantly being observed. The citizens of Middlemarch see Rosamond as a flawless specimen of womanhood whereas the narrator sees her as malicious and manipulative. Is Rosamond faultless or wicked? A third alternative exists: she is neither. Miss Vincy on the surface appears perfect, yet upon further examination one can see that she is flawed and unintentionally manipulative. Rosamond manipulates the way others see her, yet she is unaware that she is doing so. Rosamond is not only a pretty face but a fully developed character with her own faults, strengths and desires and should not be written off as simply
While she is buying flowers for her party, Mrs. Dalloway has an existential crisis regarding the meaning of life and the inevitability of death. She reflects on the atmosphere of the London streets and her old suitor Peter Walsh as she reads some lines from Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. Mrs. Dalloway’s existential crisis demonstrates situational irony since the concept of life and death is quite deep and complex, yet she seems to live a shallow life consisting of throwing parties and picking which flowers to buy. Although she is contemplating her own mortality, Woolf’s word choice, such as “consoling,” suggests that death is positive and liberating, applying a light tone to a dark situation, adding to the irony. Mrs. Dalloway describes the trees,
Alfred Hitchcock's film Rebecca, the 1940s film based on Daphne du Maurier’s novel, contains themes like death, murder, adultery, and incest. The film is also organized in a manner that is meant to be enjoyed by mature people or people who would take the film seriously. However, looking at the organization of the film in terms of the cinematic techniques, the director of the film made the right decisions regarding lighting and camera movement. The film attempts to explore the relationship between present and past, Mrs De Winter and Rebecca. In the chosen sequence, a defining character is Rebecca, a dead woman whose presence is dominant. Mrs De Winter is Maxim De Winter’s new wife who is placed into the position of lady of the house —a position
Though many of the leading female characters in Jane Austen’s novels seem to emphasize the gender stereotype of the 18th century woman, Northanger Abbey’s Catherine Moreland displays strong feminist tones. Several critics might agree that Catherine Moreland is most often described as a submissive young lady confined to society. However, coming from a society that desired their women to be mostly docile, Catherine openly expresses her opinions and moods. The dominance of her views and her ability to be able to share her thoughts straightforwardly, makes Catherine a feminist character. In an even more drastic effort, Catherine imparts onto Henry Tilney how to divert himself from societal limitations and voice his own opinions. By taking a different approach on understanding the feminist elements of Northanger Abbey, it is clear to see that Austen’s believes women are smart, independent and have ingenious competencies equivalent to their male counterparts. Many critics may only read Northanger Abbey as a parody of the endangerments of a hyperactive imagination of a mindless young woman, but a careful reading of the passages displays the intelligence instilled in the unlikely heroine. Although Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is not outwardly represented as a feminist novel, by portraying Catherine and the other characters in a satirical way, Austen is able to question the stereotypes of women in literature.
At the beginning of the story, the author describes Mrs.Mallard as a woman having the distinctive trait of self-assertion which is constrained by her marriage. She seems to be the "victim" of an overbearing but occasionally loving husband. Being told o...
Woolf presents three characters who embody three different gender roles. Mrs. Ramsay is the dutiful wife and mother. Mr. Ramsay is the domineering patriarch. Lily Briscoe is an independent, aspiring woman. Woolf sets these three roles in contrast with each other. She allows the reader to see the power and influence each character has. Mrs. Ramsay’s submissive and supportive nature arouses admiration. Mr. Ramsay’s condescending manner provokes animosity. Lily Briscoe’s independence enables her to find meaning and fulfillment in her life.
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their