Mental Instability In Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca

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Rebecca
“Rebecca” is a novel written by Daphne du Maurier in 1938 about a young, simple, beautiful woman who fell in love with a wealthy gentleman many years her senior. She was head over heels and thought all her dreams would come true, but undenounced to her, she was entering into a world where she would battle the memories of her husband’s late wife, not only in within him but in the staff of her husband’s house hold “Mandeley” Over the years many directors have tried to bring Maurier’s “Rebecca” from the written page to the big screen motion picture. Two such directors are Alfred Hitchcock, with his black and white version in 1940, and the Jim O’Brien’s colored version in 1997. Having read the same book, these directors came up with two …show more content…

Hitchcock heavily relied on his actors to create the atmosphere of the film. Mr. De winter (played by Laurence Olivier) was rather young looking compared to what his age was hinted to be, however, throughout the film Mr. De Winter portrayed a state of mental instability which drew away from his youthful looks. He became unhinged at what seemed like the slightest trivial event, reaching a temper that would only presumably be present at the most offensive situation imaginable. This persona of mental destress created a character who seemingly longed for his deceased wife, noticing her in every element of his being, from how his new wife dresses, acts, as well as his servants and their obvious headache at the loss of the late Mrs. De Winter. At the end of the movie viewers are thrown for a twist when they find out that it was in fact Mr. De Winter himself that murdered his seeming perfect late wife, who in reality was a cheating, conniving, backstabbing, spiteful, evil woman, only playing the part of the perfect wife to impress …show more content…

De Winter (Emilia Fox) she was beautiful, but did not have a feel of innocence about her. She seemed giddy at the beginning of the movie then seemed to become hardened almost in an instant. Mrs. De Winter did not seem to live in continued fear of the late Mrs. De Winter, she just seemed to go with the flow of things and be what she need to be without any real change to her inner self.
The one character both directors seemed to depict in the same manner was Mrs. Danvers, the late Mrs. De Winter’s maid. Judith Anderson for Hitchcock and Diana Rigg for Mr. O’Brien. In both films Mrs. Danvers played a love stricken, heartbroken woman who longed for a time long past that would never be again no matter how hard she pretended or conspired against the changing tide of her late mistress. In the end, (in both films) Mrs. Danvers ultimately caused the downfall of the house of “Manderley” starting a fire that burnt the place to the

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