The Search for Her Identity
~Blog Post 2~
Topic B
April 24, 2015
April 24, 2015
By Scott Acker
In Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, the main character is unnamed for the beginning of the story. As the story is written in first person, this seems natural to a certain extent. Du Maurier glosses over introductions and formalities involving the name of the main character. It almost seems as if it is a coincidence that she goes without a name. However, this fact holds significance. The speaker lacks an identity of her own. Even from the start, she is only with someone else, never by herself. First it is Mrs. Van Hopper, to whom she is almost a servant. She is practically always in the older woman's shadow, never existing on her own. Even when the main character meets Maxim, she is only either seen next to him or Van Hopper. Then, events move along and the speaker is finally given a name: "(She is) to be Mrs. De Winter". (63) Finally, she has her own identity, even if it is given by another character. This signals a personal growth in the heroine. She is finally beginning to break free from other people and become her own person. Instead of simply sticking around others, she starts to travel her own path and create scenes where she is the only characters involves. Her search for an identity of her own begins, yet it is still overshadowed by Maxim's past with Rebecca. Not only must she find herself like everyone else must, but also while trying to escape the shadow of this mysterious late wife.
I really liked how you pulled this point into your blog post. I think that the way our main character remains unnamed is slightly strange, yet it does add a strange air to the book. I think that Daphne Du Maurier really does hide the main character in shadow by not revealing her identity to us, the readers.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Lady (this is the name we've given our narrator) has become any closer to finding herself. The name Mrs. De Winter doesn't seem to give her anymore freedom; it confines her to a role, more like. Granted a new name gives her some room to grow, she's terrified of voicing her own opinions and uses her name as a crutch, settling for whatever the previous Mrs. De Winter would have wanted. In fact, Lady felt "guilty suddenly, and deceitful" after looking at her new stationaries that read Mrs M. De Winter (69). Even though it was her name, she felt she "had no right to touch them" (69). So as of chapter ten, our narrator isn't even comfortable with the identity she's assuming and is far from making it her own.
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