Daphne du Maurier is a versatile writer and a master in the genre of Gothic literature in both the areas of Gothic romantic and Gothic horror. Between 1931 and 1972 du Maurier wrote seventeen novels, six biographies, four books of articles and memoirs, two plays, and nine collections of stories. However, Rebecca is perhaps du Maurier’s best-known novel while “The Birds” is the most famous of her short stories. Du Maurier’s Gothic fiction plays upon common fears, such as inadequacy, isolation, the unknown, and claustrophobia. She relies on a more psychological approach to Gothic, focusing on creating fear within the human mind.

According to author Richard Kelly, Professor of English at the University of Tennessee, Rebecca is the first major gothic romance of the twentieth century (54). Rebecca is also cited as an example of the Gothic novel by Robert Harris in his A Glossary of Literary Terms. Du Maurier herself referred to the novel as “a study in jealously and murder” (qtd. in Shallcross 83). First published in 1938 Rebecca is the classic tale of the "Other Woman". The novel is written in the first person and narrated by the story’s nameless heroine. Although the narrator is one of the story’s principal characters, her name is never mentioned. Years later du Maurier cited her reason as “I could not think of one, and it became a challenge in technique, the easier because I was writing in the first person”(Rebecca Notebook 3).

The novel’s protagonist narrator marries Maxim de Winter, a man nearly twice her age after a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo, thereby escaping a life of drudgery as a paid companion to Mrs. Van Hopper, a social climber. The newlyweds then travel to Manderley, the ancestral home of the de Winter family, located on the coast of Cornwall, England. Once they arrive, the narrator finds herself surrounded by the possessions and the memory of Rebecca, Maxim’s first wife. Supposedly, Rebecca drowned in the bay near Manderley in a sailing accident. Mrs. Danvers, the sinister housekeeper, had known Rebecca since childhood and is obsessed with keeping Rebecca’s memory alive. Young and inexperienced, the narrator tries desperately to win Maxim’s love, constantly feeling inferior to Rebecca. The narrator believes that Maxim is still in love with Rebecca. It is not until later in the novel that the true circumstances surrounding Rebecca’s death are revealed. Rebecca’s death was not an accident. Maxim murdered her when she claimed to be pregnant with another man’s child. He then carried her body to her sailboat and drove holes through the boat’s bottom, causing it to capsize. Maxim never loved Rebecca. “Our marriage was a farce from the very first. She was vicious, damnable, rotten through and through” (326). However, Maxim did not divorce her; he was afraid a divorce would create a scandal that would bring shame upon his beloved Manderley.

Day after day Maxim is haunted by the thought of Rebecca’s body being discovered. Approximately a year after the murder his worst fears come true. The body is discovered lying on the cabin floor of Rebecca’s sailboat after a steamer runs aground in a thick fog, and a diver is sent down to inspect the steamer’s bottom. Rebecca’s sailboat is named Je Reviens, which means “I come back” (Kelly 58). This is a prophetic name due to the discovery of the body. A second inquest is held, and it is suspected that someone deliberately sabotaged Rebecca’s boat. The hand of suspicion points toward Maxim. However, a motive of suicide is finally handed down after it is discovered that Rebecca was diagnosed with cancer on the day of her death. Maxim is released from his former worries—essentially he has gotten away with murder. Now Maxim and his young bride are free to begin a life of happiness together at Manderley. Unfortunately, this dream is never fulfilled. In the novel’s dramatic conclusion, Manderley is destroyed in a terrible fire and burns to the ground.

Du Maurier’s Rebecca is built on the second wife’s fear that she is inferior to Rebecca. Fear is an essential element in Gothic literature, and in this case the fear is based on an event in du Maurier’s own life. Soon after her marriage to Frederick “Boy” Browning in 1932 Daphne discovered a bundle of letters tied together with a blue ribbon. These letters were written to her husband by his former fiancée, a strikingly beautiful woman who served as the model for the character of Rebecca. She was particularly struck by the woman’s strong, confident handwriting, a marked contrast when compared to her own spidery hand. Her husband was known to have a roving eye, and du Maurier herself often felt as inadequate and insecure as the nameless heroine in Rebecca (Shallcross 64).

Rebecca begins with one of English fiction’s most famous lines, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” (1). This technique of initiating a story with a dream experience is a convention of Gothic literature (Archibald). The reader is led on a journey through the narrator’s subconscious. Dreams have supernatural qualities, another Gothic characteristic. In her dream the narrator stands at the gates leading to Manderley, and “Then like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers, and passed like a spirit before the barrier before me” (2). The moon, a Gothic image, contributes to the surreal atmosphere by providing the supernatural illusion that “the house was not an empty shell but lived and breathed as it had before” (3). As evidenced from this quote du Maurier personifies Manderley by giving it human qualities as well as a name.

The major characters in Rebecca represent common stereotypes found throughout Gothic literature. The narrator has light hair and is innocent and naive. Her subservient personality makes her an easy victim for Mrs. Danvers’ torment. During the second inquest she faints when Maxim is being questioned, just at the moment when Maxim is about to lose his temper and demonstrate his guilt concerning Rebecca’s murder. This concept of fainting women is an element common to Gothic literature (Harris).

In contrast to the narrator, Rebecca displays the stereotypes common to dark-haired women in Gothic literature. She is the dark-haired seductress, skilled in the art of deception. According to Maxim, “No one would guess meeting her that she was not the kindest, most generous, most gifted person in the world” (326). Rebecca is a highly sexual character and engaged in many extra-marital affairs, yet she was “incapable of love, of tenderness, of decency” (326). One of the few characters in Rebecca who is able to see Rebecca’s true personality is Ben, a man who frequently walks along the stretch of coast near Manderley.

Ben is an example of what is called the “other” in Gothic literature. He is separated from the rest of the novel’s characters due to his mental retardation. Typically, however, these outcasts are able to perceive something none of the other characters are able to see. In this case Ben describes Rebecca to the narrator saying, “She gave you the feeling of a snake” (184). Snakes are another example of a Gothic image.

Although Rebecca is deceased when most of the action in the novel occurs, Mrs. Danvers is the personal embodiment of Rebecca’s character. Mrs. Danvers is a sinister character, the evil witch who tortures the narrator with the idea that Maxim is still deeply in love with Rebecca. Du Maurier uses Gothic imagery when she describes Mrs. Danvers as “ . . . someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton’s frame” (80).

Maxim is described by du Maurier as “arresting, sensitive, medieval in some strange inexplicable way” (16). By describing his appearance as “medieval,” du Maurier indicates that Maxim looks as though he has just stepped out of the period in history dominated by castles. This idea connects to the fact that Gothic novels are often set in dark, mysterious castles (Harris). Maxim becomes associated with the romantic image of chivalry and mystery (Kelly 55). Du Maurier later writes, “He did not belong to the bright landscape, he should be standing on the steps of a gaunt cathedral, his cloak flung back, while a beggar at his feet scrambled for gold coins” (45). This statement is a foreshadowing of the narrator’s later comparison of herself to a dog at his feet (Kelly 55). Maxim is an example of a Byronic hero. Named after Lord Byron, a Byronic hero’s charming, handsome appearance causes women to fall in love with him without realizing the hidden trouble of getting involved with such an individual. In Rebecca the narrator quickly falls desperately in love with Maxim. She is so entranced by his suave sophistication that, when he proposes marriage, she thinks, “It was as though the King asked one” (62). In actuality, involvement with Maxim leads to trouble since he is a murderer. The theme of the hero-villain is a characteristic of Gothic literature. Hero-villains are often haunted by the guilt of a secret act in their past (Archibald). In Maxim’s case he is consumed with the guilt of murdering Rebecca and the fear that her corpse will be discovered and his secret will be revealed.

When his worst fears are realized and Maxim confesses the murder to the narrator, she is not the least bit horrified. Instead, she is delighted to learn that Maxim loves her and that he never loved Rebecca. According to the narrator, “None of the things that he told me mattered to me at all. I clung to one thing only . . . Maxim did not love Rebecca” (329). The narrator’s reaction seems ironic and surprising. However, when coupled with the concept that Maxim is a Byronic hero, her attitude is actually congruent with the situation. She is willing to overlook the murder because she is deeply in love with him, and he assures her of his love.

Throughout the novel the narrator is forced to do battle with Rebecca’s memory. Early in the story she discovers Rebecca’s signature in a book of poetry. The handwriting is symbolic of Rebecca’s personality. “ . . . the name Rebecca stood out black and strong, the tall and sloping R dwarfing the other letters” (39). Du Maurier also writes, “That bold slanting hand, stabbing the white paper, the symbol of herself, so certain, so assured” (51). The narrator is immediately jealous of Rebecca—she lacks the self-confidence Rebecca herself apparently possessed. After Maxim proposes marriage, the narrator makes a vain attempt to exorcise Rebecca’s memory by cutting the page of writing out of the book. She symbolically kills Rebecca by tearing the paper into small pieces and burning them. Once she arrives at Manderley, however, she is again immersed in Rebecca’s memory.

Du Maurier sets up an interesting contrast of good versus evil within Manderley itself between the east and west wings of the house. Maxim and his new bride have a bedroom in the east wing overlooking the rose garden. This room was a seldom-used guestroom during Maxim’s marriage to Rebecca; and, therefore, it is not associated with her presence. In addition, the sound of the sea cannot be heard from the east wing. The narrator states, “I could not hear the restless sea, and because I could not hear it my thoughts would be peaceful too” (142). In Rebecca the sea becomes a Gothic symbol of Maxim’s pain and the mystery of his past (Kelly 57). The sea harbors Rebecca’s body, and Maxim lives in constant fear of its discovery.

In contrast to the relatively peaceful qualities of the east wing, the west wing is dark and evil. This wing is paneled in a darker-colored wood than the east wing, and the rooms have not been utilized since Rebecca’s death. In the majority of the rooms, the furniture is swathed in white dust sheets. In the dim, unlighted rooms this covered furniture takes on a ghostly appearance, which is an example of a Gothic image. The only room that appears to be in use is Rebecca’s bedroom. Mrs. Danvers has kept this room intact since Rebecca’s death. Overcome with curiosity, the narrator visits this room in an attempt to learn more about Rebecca. In this section of the novel, du Maurier uses imagery to evoke the presence of the dead Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers shows the narrator Rebecca’s expensive clothes and furs. The scent of Rebecca’s perfume still lingers on her velvet dress. At Mrs. Danvers’ insistence the narrator feels the soft texture of the fur and velvet. Fur frequently appears as an image in Gothic novels. Mrs. Danvers pretends to brush the narrator’s hair just as she brushed Rebecca’s hair. Through this use of touch, scent, and sight, Mrs. Danvers attempts to resurrect Rebecca. Although Rebecca never appears as a ghost in this novel, Mrs. Danvers mentions the idea to the narrator: “Do you think the dead come back and watch the living? Sometimes I wonder if she comes back here to Manderley and watches you and Mr. de Winter together” (206). With these haunting lines Mrs. Danvers has achieved her goal of instilling complete terror within the narrator.

In addition to fear and stereotypes, the Gothic aspects of death and decay are important in Rebecca. Maxim brutally murders Rebecca, shooting her through the heart in the cottage by Manderley’s beach. The elements of violence and blood are also characteristics of Gothic literature. Maxim remarks, “I’d forgotten that when you shot a person there was so much blood” (337).

Du Maurier also weaves the theme of descent, a common theme found in Gothic literature, around the idea of decay. Rebecca’s body can only be discovered by penetrating the surface of the sea. The diver who is sent underwater to inspect the steamer’s bottom for damage makes a grisly discovery. Rebecca’s body has rapidly decayed after spending the duration of a year underwater. Du Maurier writes, “It was dissolved of course, there was no flesh on it. But it was a body all right. He saw the head and limbs” (316).

Had Maxim not murdered her, however, Rebecca would have met a slow, painful death. On the day of her murder, a London doctor diagnosed Rebecca with advanced uterine cancer. Her body would have gradually degenerated and decayed; so, she tricked Maxim into killing her. Rebecca was frightened by the idea of illness and dying in her bed. She once said to Mrs. Danvers, “I want to go quickly, like the snuffing out of a candle” (414). This quotation illustrates du Maurier’s use of the fear of death, an important aspect of Gothic literature.

The cottage on the beach where Rebecca was murdered also bears the mark of decay. Through disuse, the cottage has a musty smell, there is mildew on the china, and cobwebs cover the model ships Rebecca had on display. Du Maurier’s use of imagery (smell and sight) in her description of the cottage are instrumental in giving this setting a Gothic atmosphere. Cobwebs and spiders especially are traditional Gothic images. When the narrator enters it for the first time, she is over come by “the odd, uneasy feelin g that I might come upon something unawares, that I had no wish to see. Something that might harm me, something horrible” (134). This feeling is a foreshadowing of evil. At the time she did not know that Rebecca was murdered here.

Due to the novel’s circular structure, the story begins and en ds with the destruction of Manderley. The narrator visits the crumbling ruins of Manderley in her dream in the beginning of the novel, and Mrs. Danvers sets the house on fire at the close of the novel. After the narrator accepts Maxim’s proposal of marriage, Maxim replies, “instead of being companion to Mrs. Van Hopper you become mine, and your duties will be almost exactly the same” (63). The narrator ends as she began, traveling with Maxim to sunny places, just as she had previously done with Mrs. Van Hopper (Auerbach 146). Although Rebecca’s shadow is no longer between them, Maxim and the narrator are denied the chance of complete happiness living at Manderley. However, the narrator claims that “Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind” (6). Maxim remained married to Rebecca in order to preserve Manderley’s reputation as a showplace. Later he realizes his mistake: “I put Manderley first, before anything else. And it does not prosper, that sort of love” (329).

Due to the popularity and success of Rebecca, David O. Selznick purchased the rights to make du Maurier’s novel into a film. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, Rebecca made its screen debut in 1940. Rebecca’s cast featured Joan Fontaine as the nameless heroine, Lawrence Olivier as Maxim, and Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers. The film was awarded an Oscar for Best Picture. Hitchcock develops mood and suspense on the screen by having Mrs. Danvers appearing suddenly and unexpectedly in a scene. She is rarely seen arriving, often startling both the heroine and the audience. Hitchcock also increases audience identification with the heroine through the effective use of reaction shots and shots from her point of view (Finler 37).

When adapting Rebecca for the screen, Selznick desired to remain faithful to the original work. However, the idea that Maxim goes unpunished for his crime caused difficulties. The Motion Picture Production Code insisted that Rebecca’s death be attributed to an accident (Kelly 66). While in the cottage Rebecca stumbles, hitting her head on a heavy piece of ship’s tackle, rather than being shot by Maxim. The ending of the film is slightly different as well. One of the final scenes shows Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca’s room, flames shooting up all around her. Mrs. Danvers meets a conclusive end, destroyed by her own mad possessiveness. Finally, the flames consume the initial “R” embroidered on the case of Rebecca’s nightdress. This dramatic conclusion is similar to the burning of Rebecca’s signature from the book of poetry in the novel.

In contrast to the Gothic romance of Rebecca, du Maurier’s short stories are examples of Gothic horror. According to du Maurier, “The element of the macabre, which runs through many of my books, has—I think—grown stronger over the years, especially in my short stories” (qtd. in Shallcross 136). In particular, du Maurier’s short story “The Birds” is an excellent example of Gothic horror. Du Maurier relies on fears, violence, blood, and powerful imagery to create a frightening tale of chaos.

Like Rebecca, “The Birds” takes place in Cornwall, England. As the story opens, a mild autumn has abruptly changed to winter overnight. Winter is the season of death, indicative of the story’s gothic atmosphere.

The main characters in “The Birds” are Nat Hocken, his wife, and their two children. Hocken’s children are among the first to be attacked by the birds. Ironically, robins, finches, sparrows, larks, and other small birds are responsible for the attack. Usually, these species are friendly, and it is surprising that they would attack humans. According to a radio report, “The flocks of birds have caused dislocation in all areas” (165). For some inexplicable reason, the natural order of things has been disrupted. Man’s dominance over birds and beasts has suddenly been challenged.

Once again, the seed of du Maurier’s horror of being attacked by birds has its roots based in reality. One day, as du Maurier walked along the beach, two large seagulls flew down and tried to bite her dog. Without warning, the gulls flew into her face, forcing her to run into the trees for protection (Shallcross 138). This experience gave du Maurier the idea of birds attacking humans. However, the incident on the beach has a logical explanation. The strange, erratic behavior of the seagulls was caused by a shortage of food.

The reasons behind the attacks in the story are never explained, shrouding “The Birds” in mystery. Nat wonders “how many million years of memory were stored in those little brains, behind the stabbing beaks, the piercing eyes, now giving them the instinct to destroy mankind with the deft precision of machines” (192). At one point in the story Mr. Trigg blames the Russians for the birds’ erratic behavior. Du Maurier wrote this story in 1952; it is, therefore, indicative of attitudes during the Cold War.

Throughout “The Birds” du Maurier uses Gothic images to communicate the terror of the attacks. Before the first major attack Nat mistakes the seagulls for the white caps of the waves. They are packed together in close formation like a legion of soldiers. Du Maurier writes “Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands . . . They rose and fell in the trough of the seas, heads to the wind, like a mighty fleet at anchor, waiting on the tide” (163).

Du Maurier creates a claustrophobic nightmare by limiting her focus on Hocken’s family (Kelly 125). They become a microcosm of an apparent worldwide disaster. The Hockens become prisoners in their own home. First, Nat boards up the outside of the house as protection against the bird attacks. The family is confined to the house’s kitchen—Nat is afraid the birds will come down the bedroom chimneys upstairs.

Nat hears reports of bird attacks in London, but eventually the radio broadcasts cease. This break with the outside world creates tension and isolation, increasing the feeling of claustrophobia. The Hockens must forage for themselves in order to survive. They are burdened by worries of replenishing rapidly dwindling food and fuel supplies.

“The Birds” also embodies the Darwinian concept of “survival of the fittest.” The Hockens have to adapt or die. Part of this adaptation includes learning when the attacks will occur. Nat discovers that the tides play a role in predicting when attacks will occur. The tides provide foreshadowing in the story. On the coast they attack with the flood tide. During ebb tide all is calm and peaceful. Few birds are visible, and those that remain watch Nat from the trees without attempting to cause him bodily harm.

The Gothic elements of death, violence, and blood are important in communicating the sheer horror of the bird attacks. Du Maurier plays upon Nat’s archetypal fear of having his eyes pecked out by birds (Kelly 126). Each time he is attacked, Nat’s reaction is very much the same: “If he could only keep them from his eyes. Nothing else mattered. He must keep them from his eyes.” (172)

Those individuals who do not take the threat of the birds seriously meet a terrible death. For example, Mr. Triggs, the owner of the farm on which Nat’s family lives, and Jim, the hired man, arrange a hunting expedition after they learn of the attacks. However, guns are a poor substitute compared to the sharp beaks and claws of the birds. Nat later discovers Jim’s body lying in the yard, disfigured almost to the extent that it is unrecognizable. Nat finds Mr. Trigg’s body close to the telephone after a futile attempt to contact help. Mrs. Trigg’s body is lying on the floor of her bedroom. “He could see her legs, protruding from the open bedroom door. Beside her were the bodies of the black-backed gulls, and an umbrella, broken” (187). In addition to the human victims, the birds themselves also suffer casualties. The majority of the dead birds are referred to as the “suicides” or “divers” (179). These birds are primarily responsible for breaking through the human’s defenses, such as doors and boarded-up windows. The suicide birds are a parallel to the World War II Japanese suicide pilots, or Kamikaze.

In the midst of the attacks, Nat is plagued by the ominous feeling that he has forgotten something important to protect his family, a foreshadowing that something horrible is about to occur. Once again, du Maurier uses the Gothic theme of dissent. Nat has forgotten to maintain the fire in the kitchen fireplace, and the birds are beginning to travel down the chimney and into the house. However, Nat remembers before it is too late, and “down upon the fire fell the scorched, blackened bodies of the birds” (180).

Du Maurier ends her tale of terror ambiguously, playing upon the fear of the unknown. Nat sits in front of the fire, smoking his last cigarette, listening to the sound of the birds attacking. He hears the tearing sound of splintering wood as they attempt to break down the door. How many attacks can the Hockens survive? What is the fate of mankind? Du Maurier leaves it up to the reader to speculate as to the answers of these questions.

In 1963 Alfred Hitchcock based his film The Birds on du Maurier’s story. Unlike the film adaptation of Rebecca, however, the film version of The Birds is dramatically different from du Maurier’s tale. For instance, Hitchcock’s film implements a love story within the horror of the bird attacks. According to author Nina Auerbach, du Maurier’s tale is more chilling because no one in it has time for a love story (148).

Daphne du Maurier excels in writing both Gothic romantic and Gothic Horror literature. The fears surrounding both “The Birds” and Rebecca are based on real incidents in du Maurier’s life, making the sinister elements within them all the more frightening. Character development and Gothic stereotypes are particularly important to du Maurier’s novel, Rebecca. The ability to develop idea and plot quickly is essential to her story, “The Birds” (Shallcross 135). However, both Rebecca and “The Birds” are successful pieces due to the variety of Gothic themes and characteristics employed by du Maurier.

Auerbach, Nina. “Daphne du Maurier.” British Writers. Ed. George Stade and Carol Howard. New York: Scribner’s, 1996. 133-149.

Du Maurier, Daphne. Classics of the Macabre. New York: Doubleday and Co., 1987.

---. Rebecca. New York: Country Life Press, 1938.

---. The Rebecca Notebook and Other Memories. New York: Doubleday and Co., 1980.

Finler, Joel W. Hitchcock in Hollywood. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1992.

Harris, Robert. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 22 May 1997. Online. Internet. 14 April 1998. Available http://www.sccu.edu/Faculty/R_Harris/litterms.htm. n. pag.

Kelly, Richard. Daphne du Maurier. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987.

Shallcross, Martyn. The Private World of Daphne du Maurier. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1991.