The Brief Analysis of Suspense in Rebecca.docx

1、The Brief Analysis of Suspense in Rebecca 摘要达夫妮杜穆里埃(1907-1990)被视为英国文学史上最著名的小说家之一。出版于1983的蝴蝶梦作为她最成功的作品，由于其神秘、悬疑、哥特式的故事情节很是受读者们喜爱，并因此确立了她作为一名真正的作家的地位。蝴蝶梦不仅被改编成了多部电视剧与电影而且也吸引了许多国内与海外学者们的注意力。目前为止，有不少从女性主义、哥特式，甚至是作者本身的生活为视角的研究。然而，除了一些研究由阿尔弗雷德希区柯克执导改编成的电影版的蝴蝶梦中的悬疑场景的研究外，对于原版小说故事本身的悬疑场景的研究少之又少。本文将基于小说蝴蝶梦从一

2、些典型的场景与意象出发来简单的分析一下其中悬疑的妙用以及暗含的真相。第一章将分析主要人物吕蓓卡的形象的悬疑。从故事的一开始，吕蓓卡就是一位已经逝去的人物，因此吕蓓卡的形象也只能从他人的描述中成型，而吕蓓卡的真正形象也变得愈加模糊。第二章将从男主人公迈克西姆对吕蓓卡的感情的悬疑，是爱，还是恨，进行分析。第三章将进入小说故事的主线，也就是最具悬疑的事件-吕蓓卡之死。除此之外，小说中也有一些暗藏于故事环境之中的具有悬疑的意象。因此第四章进而分析这些典型的意象帮助我们进一步接近背后的真相。关键词：吕蓓卡，悬疑，真相，意象Abstract Daphne du Maurier (1907-1990) is

3、 regarded as one of the most famous novelists in the history of British literature. Her most successful work, Rebecca, was published in 1938. It is very popular among readers due to its mysterious, suspenseful, Gothic story line, and that established her status as a writer. Rebecca not only has been

4、 adapted into several reversions and films but also has caught many domestic and overseas scholars attention. There are many studies about Rebecca from the perspectives of feminism, Gothic, even the writers life. However, few scholars have studied the novel from the angle of suspense, except the fil

5、m that adapted from the novel Rebecca, which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.The paper is based on some typical scenarios and images of the novel, Rebecca. It analyzes the charm of suspense and the reality it implied. The first chapter analyzes the suspenseful image of the character of Rebecca. Reb

6、ecca was a dead from the very beginning of the story, so the image of Rebecca only can be shaped up from others words, and the true features of Rebecca were covered up. The second chapter is based on the suspense of Maxims love to Rebecca，to probe if it is love or hate. The third chapter is based on

7、 the main line, which is also the most important suspense of the story, Rebeccas death. There are also some suspenseful images implied in the environment. Thus, the fourth chapter analyzes these typical images to help us get close to the truth. Key words: Rebecca, Suspense, Truth, Image. ContentsAck

8、nowledgements.iAbstract in Chinese.iAbstract in English.iii Contents. Chapter Introduction.1Chapter Literature Review.4Chapter The Suspense of Rebecca.6 3.1 The Suspense of Rebeccas Image.63.1.1 Public views of Rebecca. . . .63.1.2 The true feature of Rebecca. .73.2 The Suspense of Maxims Love to Re

9、becca.93.2.1 Maxims reaction to Rebecca. .93.2.2 Maxims true feeling to Rebecca.103.3 The Suspense of Rebeccas Death.113.3.1The successive disclosed causes of Rebeccas death.123.3.2 The implied truth of Rebeccas death.133.4 The Suspense of the Environment. .143.4.1 The frequent appearance of “R” .15

10、3.4.2 Rebeccas bedroom.153.4.3 The light of Manderley in the end.16Chapter Conclusion.19Bibliography.20Chapter IntroductionDaphne du Maurier was born on 13th May 1907, in London. She was the second daughter of her family. As a successful writer, her success cant be apart from her family. She grew up

11、 in a respectable artistic family in which had two celebrated members. Her grandfather, George du Maurier, was a famous illustrator and novelist in Britain. And her father, Gerald du Maurier was a well-known actor manager. This growth environment exerted an edifying influence on her life and literar

12、y creation. She began her writing at fifteen years old. In 1925, she published her first work “The Apple Tree”. In 1931, she published her first full-length novel, The Loving Spirit, and then, her writing career developed very quickly and with highquality. During her lifetime, she ever was a member

13、of Royal Literature Society. She had written seventeen full-length novels and several dozen literature works on other themes. Daphne hates the noisy city life, so she long-term lived in the Cornwall which lays in the Atlantic Coast of British southwest, and many her works were based on the backgroun

14、d of local condition and custom of Cornwall. Because of this, there had a saying “Cornwall novel”. Along with Daphne was deeply influenced by Gothic literature whose main characteristics are mystery, terror and suspense in the nineteenth century. Thus the most plots of the “Cornwall novel” are twist

15、s and turns, the main character especially the female character was portrayed very exquisite, and the atmosphere is full of suspense. Her two full-length novels Jamaica inn and Rebecca both were adapted and screened by Alfred Hitchcock, a director who takes a place in the film world by his unique su

16、spense film style. In order to manifest the atmosphere of the suspense in especially the novel, Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock persisted in using the black and white to shoot this film. As expected, this film won two Oscar awards for Best Picture and Best Cinematography in the thirteenth Oscar. The film

17、which was adapted from Rebecca made an indispensable contribution to Alfred Hitchcocks status in the American filmdom even the world filmdom. Meanwhile, the novel has been translated into twenties languages, and reprinted more than four times. This is a strong evidence of the great charm of suspense

18、 of the novel, Rebecca. The plot of Rebecca is full of mystery and suspense; it can grasp readers attention from the very beginning of this story. The story unfolds with the outstanding opening line “Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again”. In the following chapters the narrator described th

19、e scene that she saw in the dream, a padlocked and rusted iron gate, the uninhabited lodge, the weeds and branches run riot, and the drive that be covered by ribbon. All of these descriptions showed the scenes of devastation meeting the eye everywhere. Then, the narrator says “There was Manderley, o

20、ur Manderley”. It is hard to stop reading the story once youve read the mysterious and suspenseful beginning.The narrator is a poor, inferior, sensitive orphan who had been traveling about the continent as a companion to a pride, snobbish, American social-climbing woman, Mrs Van Hopper. Later the na

21、rrator meets Maxim de Winter, the owner of one of the famous estates in England, Manderley. The narrator is attracted by the composure, maturity and dignity of Mr. Maxim de Winter and falls in love with him deeply. Meanwhile, Maxim also falls in love with the narrator for her pure spirit in that mat

22、erialistic class society. After the narrator accepts the proposal of Maxim, she goes back to Manderley as the new Mrs Maxim de Winter. The upper class life style makes she uneasy and the strange eyesight of staffs remind her should not has stayed here for her family background. She thinks that staff

23、s always make fun of her for her clumsy. In the life of Manderley, some news about Rebecca came to her ears off and on. Rebecca is the first Mrs Maxim de Winter who was said to have been drowned accidentally in a bay near Manderley one year ago. The information from the relatives and friends of Maxi

24、m convince her that Rebecca is a charming and beautiful hostess. The narrator feel her inferiority to Rebecca for her lacking in those qualities which make Rebecca so attractive that as if everyone who know Rebecca are filled with admiration to Rebecca. And the unusual reaction of Maxim when involve

25、d in anything about Rebecca make the narrator feels her husband still loves Rebecca, even though he has married her. The things that relative to Rebecca fill Manderley everywhere as if Rebecca was still living in Manderley and was haunting over everywhere of Manderley. The narrator can often feel th

26、e resent eyesight in somewhere staring at her as a dagger. From Mrs. Danverss eyesight, the housekeeper who devoted sinister to Rebecca, is still charge of Manderley. The mystery of Rebecca and Maxims first marriage make narrator try best to learn about the truth of Rebecca and Maxims first marriage

27、 until the accidental discovery of Rebeccas boat and skeleton. Maxim exposes to the narrator that Rebecca is a contemptible and dissolute woman, and he despised her very much instead of loving her. Facing the insatiable behavior of Rebecca, he could not bear for any time and killed her. This story e

28、nds with the Manderley in flames. This suspenseful end leaves the conjecture to readers. Chapter Literature ReviewAfter Rebecca was published in 1938, it has attracted many readers and critics abroad. In the Christian Science Monitor of 14th September 1938, the British writer and critic, V. S. Pritc

29、hett predicted the novel “would be here today, gone tomorrow”. Suspicion within Daphne du Mauriers own marriage fueled the tense, macabre plot of Rebecca, says Matthew Dennison. As Beresford, J.D. once said, “Rebecca is a book temptingly easy to criticize or to praise”. There also have critics point

30、ing out that the content about that social environment is not comprehensive enough in this novel, it is mainly just around the circle of Manderly. The genres of Rebecca contain Gothic, feminism, romance and suspense. So, the scholars mainly study Daphne du Mauriers writing style and her life, the Go

31、thic and feminism. However, most of the scholars study the novel from the perspective of Gothic element. “The first major Gothic romance in the 20th century and perhaps the finest written to this day”. (Daphne du Maurier, 54) Richard Kelly said. What later is studied most is the element of feminism. They thin