A Dream about the Return of the Narrator to Manderley in the Novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Free Essay Example, 2000 words

The first few pages of the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier deal with a dream about the return of the narrator to Manderley where she once lived. In essence, it describes the narrator entering the barred gates and walking down the overgrown drive to the main house. The scene is striking in its visualization because it conjures up before the reader s eyes, an image and presentiment of the evil which was once associated with Manderley. The initial description is especially significant when viewed in the context of the story that follows, where the narrator was subjected to the horrific experience of living in a house which appeared to be haunted by the presence and spirit of a dead woman. There are two specific images that the narrator successfully creates through the description in the first few pages: (a) a sensation as if Manderley is a living being and (b) the association of evil with Manderley and (c) mobility or the passage of time. In effect, the dream sequence is like a bri ef capsule that captures the essence of the storyline that is to follow. Scarry describes vivacity in the direction of reader visualization as the gap between the object that is imagined based upon the description and the perceptual object, which is what the author describes as the actual objects the reader is seeing. We will write a custom essay sample on A Dream about the Return of the Narrator to Manderley in the Novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Nature is described as having encroached on the drive with long tenacious fingers , the woods are described as always a menace. ... dark and uncontrolled and the gnarled roots are likened to skeleton claws and the ivy is described as malevolent (Du Maurier 1,2,3). The text also creates solidity through the use of material antecedents; for example the description of the uninhabited lodge with no smoke from the chimney and the little lattice windows gaping forlorn, which provide an indication that Manderley has been left as an empty shell.