Who Is The Most Dynamic Character In Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca

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In Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, Rebecca engraves herself into the lives of every character without being present, or even alive, proving her deceptive and manipulative habits even from the grave. Remembered as “the most beautiful creature” with “a smile that was not forgotten,” who could even be adored by “the most difficult person to please,” Rebecca exploits her beauty to deceive everyone around her to her true nature (Du Maurier 43,134). Everyone who saw Rebecca, blinded and deceived by her beauty and charisma, saw past her truly evil persona and believed her to be the most entrancing, accomplished woman. Maxim, however, saw her as her true “vicious, damnable, rotten” self who “was incapable…of decency” and “was not in love with anyone” …show more content…

de Winter finds her identity and confidence when thrown into the unfamiliar world of Manderley. Recalling the chilling events that occurred at Manderley, the young Mrs. de Winter remembers how she “lost [her] diffidence, [her] timidity, [her] shyness” created by her “intense desire to please” (9). Before Manderley, the narrator lacked confidence and did not truly know herself until faced with a life-changing secret. Threatened by the memory of Rebecca and starting a new life, the narrator lived “tortured by doubt and indecision” at Manderley, but slowly “[her] shyness fell away” as she learned to confront the fears she faced (24, 98). Without an identity, the young narrator felt overwhelmed and frightened until she slowly gained confidence to defend herself as the new Mrs. de Winter. Upon discovering the shocking truth about Rebecca’s death, the narrator must over come “[her] old fears, [her] diffidence, [her] shyness” and “[her] hopeless sense of inferiority” or there “[would] never be another chance” to find herself and live her own life (264). No longer threatened by the memory of Rebecca, the young narrator receives a new found confidence to live as she wishes with Maxim as his wife. Arriving timid and codependent to Manderley, the narrator gains confidence and identity as she faces a new life haunted by

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