Stephanie Storczer
Blog Post #2
Topic A
April 23, 2015
During the first few hours of arrival at Manderely with Max, the main character is shown her room by Mrs Danvers. The main character's room resides in the east wing of the house, right above the rose gardens. She notices, however, that when Mrs Danvers refers to the opposite wing of the house, the west wing, she places "...an emphasis on the words 'this wing', as if suggesting the suite where we stood now held some inferiority" (79). This gives the main character feelings of uncomfort and confusion. She wonders if there is a difference between her bedroom and the rooms in the west wing which are locked and close to the outside.
Later in the conversation, Mrs Danvers once again implies that the room is inferior, a "second-rate room for a second- rate person"(82). It is soon discovered that the west wing was Mrs de Winter's, or Rebecca's, bedroom. Compared to the west wing room, Rebecca's room, the east wing only holds the main character, making it inferior in the eyes of Mrs Danvers. The west wing has been closed off in order to close in Rebecca, in order to close in what's left of the past. Mrs Danvers doesn't feel that the main character is important enough, special enough to get the room of the beloved Rebecca. Mrs Danvers' feelings only add to the feeling of inferiority that Rebecca holds over the main character. Something about the rooms in the west wing hold a bigger importance, simply because Rebecca owned it.
I agree that the fact the main character is residing in the east wing instead of the west shows inferiority to Rebecca, especially in Mrs. Danvers’ eyes. The main character constantly feels out of place at Manderley, which is mainly contributed to Rebecca’s reputation and Mrs. Danver’s adoration towards her. Mrs. Danvers looks at the main character with resentment and hate with “her hollow eyes, set in that dead skull’s face” (du Maurier 75). The only pop of life that comes into her is when she gets the opportunity to talk about Rebecca. The main character is so different from Rebecca, and Mrs. Danvers clearly does not enjoy that and says things to feel “her way into [the main character’s] mind…watching for the effect upon [her] face” because she wants to bother and provoke the main character (du Maurier 75).
ReplyDelete