REBECCA- EXPANDED QUOTES

Analysis on key quotes

VAN HOPPER- what brings you here? You’re not one of the regulars.

The use of the rhetorical question highlights the power and entitlement of the upper class, personified through Mrs Van Hopper and easily juxtaposes the narrator. the accusatory tone only reinforces this further, physically isolating the narrator form the circumstances.

VAN HOPPER- For a moment she looked annoyed- this was not what she had intended.

Overall, it highlights the power of the aristocracy, with the fractured language perhaps mirroring the crumbling class structures that were occurring in England in the 1930’s. The repeated use of the personal pronoun reinforces that as it appears to highlight her perceived power within this structure.

VAN HOPPER- Like a large complacent spider spun her wide net of tedium abut the strangers person

The simile of “the spider” highlights her dark nature, often seen as undesirable and an item that a large section of the population are actually afraid of. But, they are also powerful animals, which is continued with the personal pronoun of “her”, which dictates a level of power that she must wield, yet this is juxtaposed with the dismissive adjective choice of “tedium”.

MANDERLEY- and for a while i could not enter for the way was bared to me.

One of the very first lines in the book which thus makes it key. This sentence can however be interpreted in many ways, it could be that it has physically burnt down, class barriers, age barriers or simply that the narrator is asleep. Nonetheless. the verb of “barred” is incredibly harsh but this is juxtaposed by the opening “and for a while” which implies that this can be broken- perhaps due to changing class and gender norms.

MANDERLEY- the Rhododendrons stood fifty feet high, twisted and entwined with bracken and they had entered an alien marriage with a host of nameless shrubs.

The rhododendrons often appear to symbolise Rebecca, and are thus showcased to be completely intertwined with Manderley as a place and a re hugely overbearing. Yet there appeared to be something dangerous about the juxtaposing “alien” and “marriage”, which perhaps is a subtle commentary on the outcome of the novel and the true actions of Rebecca.

MANDERLEY- And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.

Final line of the boo, so very important structurally. Important that the final referral is to “us”, highlighting that the relationship still continues, or at least in a fashion that the narrator recognizes. Yet this “us” is juxtaposed by the “ashes” which have been created by Mrs Danvers and the “sea” which continually associated with Rebecca, thus the relationship is literally surrounding by the ghost of the past.