Analysis of Rebecca and The Romantic upon Biographical and Feminist Criticism

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This paper compares two literary works from the perspectives of Biographical and Feminist Criticism approaches. They are Rebecca written by Daphne du Maurier and The Romantic written by Patricia Highsmith.

Biographical Criticism

According to Tim Gillespie， Biographical Criticism is a time-honored way to analyze literary works in light of the authors life， which also provides new ways for one to rethink about literature outputs based on the authors real experiences. Though the potential limitations of posing obstacles to ones imagination and appreciation to the literature works exist， biographical criticism is commendably reflected in Rebecca and The Romantic.

Loneliness： Authors and Woman Characters

Born in an artistic family， Daphne du Maurier was deeply impressed by artistic edification. However， her disordered close relationship with a woman teacher， emotional entanglements with another woman and ambiguous relations with two men actors made it rather tough to identify her sexual orientation. In terms of the complex relationships， it can be said that Daphne was quite lonely all her life. Her loneliness was skillfully adopted by Daphne in her novel Rebecca. Same name with the novel， Rebecca was Maxim de Winters first wife. They got married purely in order to meet each others benefits instead of love and their marriage was of no meaning at all. For a long time， she was accustomed to be lost in the desire for vanity and pursuit of love affairs with other men， living an extravagant lifestyle and acting as a social butterfly in expensive clothes on the other hand show her inner loneliness and inanity. She never hesitated to show off her beauty. She once said to Mrs. Danvers that when she grew up， she would surely become a beautiful woman. She spent large amount of money on Manderley and changed it from a deserted place into a paradise.

Similarly， the experience of Patricia Highsmith can be represented in The Romantic. She never married and spent the final years in an isolated house， in this case she was also lonely in her entire life. Thus， in The Romantic， Patricia shaped the role of Isabel Crane as such a lonely women. Isabel lost her father at the age of nineteen and her mother passed away a few years later. She also had lost contact with her old high-school friends. Imagination became the tool helping her get rid of loneliness. Therefore， fancy dates and imagined parties were responsible for her spirit consolation. The length of the sentences reflect the dialogue Isabel had with herself， an internal conversation that continued at all times， which perhaps helped to protect her from loneliness.“‘Hello， Willy. Sorry Im late or ‘Im sorry， Willy， but I dont want to keep this date. ” （Highsmith， 134） were the inner dialogue she had when she was hesitated whether to keep the date with the man who was sincerely inviting her for date.

Mysteries： Authors Preferences and Resultant Plots

Daphne was deeply influenced by the Gothic novels of the 19th century， which concentrated on mysteries and horror. Her novels were abundant in mysterious sentimentalism. Besides， she was particularly good at creating plot twists and appealing readers by unexpected endings. Thus， in her work Rebecca， as the former hostess of Manderley and woman protagonist， Rebecca came out of readers visions due to her mysterious death. Who set on the fire to Manderley？ Why on earth did he set fire？ All these remained to be the searching questions for readers who are interested.

Similarly， Highsmith was good at making thrillers that were full of suspense. She even was awarded the Edgar Allen Poe Scroll by the organization the Mystery Writers of America. In The Romantic， Isabel had dates with Dudley Hall， Eva Rosenau， Wilbur Miller. The first date failed with Isabel being attacked and heavily affected. Before the date with Eva Rosenau， Isabel made a phone call with courage and told a small lie just due to the affect of the first date. However， when the date with Willbur Miller came， she became hesitated. She wandered for some time outside the the restaurant The Imperial Fish. The reason why she did not come in was that she was afraid of the appointment being broken by Willbur Miller. After thinking over and over， she gave up coming into the restaurant and left alone. But here was a suspense： whether or not did Willbur Miller in the restaurant and wait for her？ This open ending left the readers with great imagination space.

Feminist Criticism

Although the history of studies about feminism is not time-honored at home and abroad， abundant accomplishments have been made ever since. Different as social status， race and class may be， their basic substance is the same， that is fighting against male chauvinism and hunting for gender equivalence.

According to Tim Gillespie， “the literary rethinking occurred along two avenues of approach， one addressing women as writers and one addressing women as subjects of writing.” As for the women writers themselves， I have talked much about their life experiences above and biographical analysis is used to illustrate the first dimension of feminist criticism. Therefore， I will analyze Rebecca and The Romantic from the second dimension： the women characters in the two literary works.

Women Characters

The reason why I say Rebecca and The Romantic are works reflecting feminism is that the protagonists are all women. In Rebecca， they are the narrator “I” and Rebecca. In The Romantic， is is the only female character Isabel Crane as well as some supporting characters such as Prissy and Valerie. All the women characters psychology are well and exquisitely described. As for Isabel Crane in The Romantic， her behavior reflects many psychological elements especially when she pretends to be dating with someone on the prosperous public occasions. She is imaginative， hard-working while being lonely， cynical and sensitive. At first， she was eager to date with handsome men， however， after breaking the first appointment， she was afraid to be rejected by others. I think this shows the inner protectionism and self-consciousness as well as lack of confidence herself. It is this pretended performances that is in accordance with the feminism history when women characters were the vulnerable groups in literary works. This summary lays foundation for the following analysis.

Feminism Awakening

The narrator “I” in Rebecca uses her way to break away from the bondage of marriage. She is a common girl at first. She marries Maxim and is always passive in the marriage. Maxim wants her to be an innocent and naive girl forever. So it can be said that Maxim is the biggest obstacle in her way to self-growth in marriage. She had strong desire for wisdom and maturity. In the last part of the novel， the narrator “I” knows and takes the reins of all the secrets of Manderley. This indicates that the course in which the female turns from ignorance to maturity and wisdom can not be ceased. At the same time， she gains her integrated selfhood. This is the feminism awakening of “I”.

Similarly， Isabel Crane is the female protagonist in The Romantic. After her mothers death， Isabel looks forward to a more exciting social life， but nothing happens then she begins to read some romantic novels for consolation. She looks forward to meeting some handsome men and develops a romantic relationship with him， however the men she met successively give up the dating with her without some exact excuses and compensations. All the misunderstandings lead to Isabel Cranes self-consciousness and greater eagerness for being noticed by males. However， she gradually finds that she could live better herself instead of leeching on to men. She makes the rearrangement of her apartment， pursues self-entertainment through fancy dates and imagination. She even actively calls for an appointment with Eva， whom she has made up a small lie with huge courage. This is the feminism awakening of Isabel Crane.

Attitudes towards Attractive Men

In this aspect， Rebecca and Isabel Crane are similar， while “I” are opposite to them. Rebecca is open and full of desire. She even betrays her husband in public and maintains a romantic relationship with other men. This unconventional behaviour is anti-tradition in the old days but it reflects womens independence， confidence and courage in dealing with social events and personal relations. Similarly， Isabel and her accompanies also have positive and open attitudes towards attractive men. They talk about who is handsome， who is charming in public and loud voices. They even eager to be invited out for dinner by men they like and may offer on-call service like “If you need any extra information-quick service， just ask for Isabel” （The Romantic 124）. However， the narrator “I” is different. She is enslaved in spirit. Outside， she is not confident enough because she does not possess beauty， figure and charming smile like Maxims first wife. Inside， she is not brave enough to admit her love to her husband. All these reveal the feminist development history from being conservative to open and brave.

Conclusion

“If we do not read and study about the many peoples and cultures， including the women， of the world， past and present， how can we ever hope to get along with each other？” （Liz Whaley and Liz Dodge）. “Every author in some way portrays himself in his works” （J.W.Goethe）. Therefore， it is of vital importance to analyze literary works from the perspectives of Biographical and Feminist Criticism approaches.

References：

[1]Patricia Highsmith.1983.The Romantic.Cosmopolitan，London.

[2]Tim Gillespie.2010.Doing Literary Criticism.Stenhouse Publishers.