While Rebecca is always absent, Verity’s point of view is very much represented by her manuscript and her letter. While Rebecca cheats and humiliates her husband, Verity is obsessed with hers, to the point where she is jealous of her own children. This might have to do with the fact that one is a legitimate relationship and one is an affair. While Maxim expects his wife to stand on her own and doesn’t offer any support, Jeremy fights Lowen’s battles for her. When the narrators are met with judgement or rudeness from other people, the husbands react completely differently. Though the spectre of the wife is ever present, one is a spicy affair and the other is absolutely innocent. de Winter and Maxim de Winter only ever meet after Rebecca died. Of course, a big difference is the relationship between the narrator and the husband – while Lowen and Jeremy Crawford have an illicit affair, the second Mrs. That, of course, leads to characters acting their time: “Verity” is so spicy, “Rebecca” is more restricted by the social conventions of the time. “Verity” is a contemporary novel while “Rebecca” is written in 1938. Of course, there are lots? of differences Of course, the two are in different situations from their status – wife versus mistress, but they both feel like outsiders, not fitting in no matter what they do. It also intensifies when the wife’s friends are judgemental or even rude to the narrators. 
The feeling of loneliness they both give off is overwhelming and augments fear. de Winter finds an ally later on in Maxim’s sister, but she doesn’t understand everything either. No friend to confess and advise against mistakes. In both books the narrator gives off the feeling of being alone against the world. The fact that she cares for her mother is meant to make her a more complex character, flawed but loveable nonetheless.
In both cases, they are portrayed as compassionate and loving to further the contrast between them and the wives.Įven more, in Lowen’s case, we can’t stop blaming her for becoming a mistress. She is paid for the menial tasks she does for the lady, as well as for companionship. Lowen cares for her mother in the months before she passes away due to cancer, while the second Mrs. de Winter are both caregivers before meeting the ones with whom they fall in love.
0 kommentar(er)
