Rebecca vs Jane Eyre
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- In which I compare Rebecca and Jane Eyre...
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier: / rebecca
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte: / 10210.jane_eyre
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I buddyread Rebecca with Claire Reads Books: / @clairereadsbooks
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Such an enlightening video! I read Rebecca a year ago and also have kept thinking the differences between Jan Eyre and Rebecca.
The one interpretation I find very interesting about Rebecca is that the unnamed narrator and Rebacca, in many ways, are two sides of a coin. They are of course vastly different in character and personality, but they also share a lot of similarities in the way Du Maurier would intentionally describe the unnamed narrator kept feeling haunted, and with the plot progressed, more and more in sync with Rebecca. And finally in the final scene, when Maxim was driving, she dreamt she had looked into a mirror, and she saw her reflection was not herself but Rebecca. While Rebecca's physical form was murdered by Maxim, the unnamed narrater was also murdered by same man, only in a spiritual way. She was totally deprived her indepence when she had forgiven her husband. Even he himself sensed he had "killed" her somehow.
Du Maurier have presented the two extreme type of female, and combined, they are actually one metaphor. How women's agency was deprived by the so-called love, and how destructive for a women who don't believe love, and refuse to obey the social role can be in that society. Either way, they were killed.
I don't think Jane Eyre has that layer to it. Jane is more a grounding character than a metaphor. If what Bronte wrote is a love story with a gotheic twist, a awakening feminist touch and the power shift beweent gender/class, then Rebecca is more an anti-love story with pessimistic view towards female's status, it is bitter and cruel in many ways.
Thanks Zoe! Such an interesting idea. I do think Jane Eyre is a much more grounded character, but I have heard interpretations of Jane Eyre talking about how she and Bertha are two sides of a coin, or two halves of a person, two different aspects of a person separated into two people. Such interesting books.
Awesome! I would argue that Jane Eyre has more power than does Rochester by the end of the book, although the mutual love between them is an equalizer. Thank you for this great discussion.
I certainly think that can be argued, although that Rochester gets his sight back towards the end possibly changes that a little?
I love how insightful your videos are! I first read Jane Eyre when I was a teenager, and read Rebecca in my 20s, and of course, loved them both. The only other two DuMaurier books I have read are Jamaica Inn and My Cousin Rachel. I would definitely recommend both of them. They are chilling and creepy and wonderful! I recently watched the new movie of My Cousin Rachel as well, and enjoyed it very much. Happy REading!
Thanks! I'm really looking forward to reading both of those Du Maurier books in the future.
When i first read Rebecca and Jane Eyre i unintentionally read them close together and noticed some of the similarities you mentioned in the storylines. Though I would agree that Rebecca does take things further. Though the book ends with the scene in the car the story ends in the second chapter. In which you see the characters living abroad. The unnamed narrator begins the story as a companion to an older person who treats her terribly and essentially ends it the same. The only thing that changes is her feelings towards her situation. I think this was a comment on the fact that for all she did in keeping his secret she gains nothing in doing so, even if she things she does.
It must have been really interesting to read them so close together. I think I'm going to go back and reread the first few chapters of Rebecca to go back to the end of the story, as you say - it'll be so interesting. I hadn't thought of the cyclical nature of that story, which I certainly think is interesting, that she gains nothing but thinks she's gained everything.
i know I'm kinda off topic but do anybody know a good website to watch new series online?
@Gideon Finley I would suggest flixzone. You can find it on google :)
@Avi Muhammad Definitely, been using Flixzone for since april myself =)
@Avi Muhammad thank you, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I appreciate it !
I also read Rebecca a few weeks ago. It really is fantastic.
This is so fantastic! It was so fun discussing the Rebecca/Jane Eyre parallels with you while buddy reading, and it’s great to hear your full thoughts here as well - great breakdown of all the parallels (and great textual evidence! 😉).
It was great to read it with you too - Rebecca is such a great book!
I know this is an old video but your channel only recently showed up on my feed and I've been binge watching a bunch of your videos. I've read a ton of Victorian novels (the only type of fiction I will read now) and I love the way you talk about them. I just wanted to say I found this comparison particularly brilliant.
Thanks very much :)
I'm with you, Chrisy. I've been watching Booktube for less than a year but am now addicted. I watch a half dozen presenters fairly religiously, but because I love 19th century British literature, and Katie is the best and most enthusiastic booster, she has become a favorite. She challenges us to read and reread, and she reminds us why we love literature.
I don't think I'm talking just for myself when I say we are all anxiously awaiting release of her first novel. A ray of sunshine in these dark times.
I completely agree with your comparisons. Du Maurier was heavily influenced and a great admirer of the Brontes. So much that she wrote a biography on Branwell. Jamaica Inn is very reminiscent of Wuthering Heights and is my second favorite du Maurier after Rebecca. This was a great video.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading Jamaica Inn in the future :)
Very interesting thoughts :)
I would have never thought that these books have so many similarities, although I have read them both. The protagonists are so different in there nature (Jane being obviously the stronger, more confident women while still being aware of her social standing and the heroine from Rebecca being not very self-confident and directed by others, leading to a much different reading experience) that I would never have drawn this comparisons.
Nicely done
Thanks - it was really interesting to compare them.
Great video! I really loved both books and never thought to compare them like this before. Thanks!
This is just brilliant, Katie! Jane Eyre is a favorite, so I could identify with all your comments re: that book, but I’ve only read Rebecca once, so this video inspired me to revisit that book. Excellent video!
Thanks very much. Rebecca is such an interesting book!
I'd never made the connection between the two, but am persuaded by your presentation. I've read Jane but only watched Rebecca; I'll have to re-assess. Nice job.
It might be a value dissonance with Mr Rochester locking his wife in the attic. Back then asylums or 'mental health hospitals' were notoriously brutal and dangerous. The staff abused, tortured and even in some cases raped and murdered the 'patients' so by the standards of the time keeping his wife locked at home was possibly the most humane way to treat a mentally ill person. It sounds horrible, but that was a fairly common practice for families who didn't want to see their family in an asylum. So by their standards it was a mercy
Yes, I do know that. Mr Rochester talks in the book about how much he wanted to make sure she never had to go to an asylum.
Rebecca is famous for its opening line. I find the last line of the novel to be really formidable too. I am reading My Cousin Rachel too right now and it is fantastic.
A great response to Jane Eyre is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys in which she tells the story of Bertha and how she came to be the woman in the attic. It is an excellent novel in every way, intense, memorable, with all sorts of reflections upon the plantation life in colonial British caribbean that Jean Rhys herself emerged from, and must be why she identified with Bertha so much.
I am so excited to read Mr Cousin Rachel. I have read Wide Sargasso Sea, which I did really like, and found really interesting to compare with Jane Eyre,
My Cousin Rachel is magnificent...I have read most du Maurier and must admit to only loving two
Helped me with my AP Lit midterm. Thank you
Read these two books at completely different times (like years!) so I had forgotten most of Rebecca. You're amazing-this was brilliant!!
Thanks :)
I think this is brilliant. I am a huge Daphne du Murier fan. I loved Rebecca. I love the comparison of the two books and agree with you. I think The Kings General is a book of hers you will enjoy. Jamaica Inn and Frenchmans Creek are books you will enjoy., particularly the latter. Good job Kate.
Wow wow wow... I have to firstly appreciate as to how well you're attached with books... Classics especially... There are few in this world who hold books and enjoy reading it... This is the century of technology and people dig to know more of smartphones and other robotic things. But you're so passionate in classics... I love it... I like the way you express whatever classics you've read. Im subscribed to your channel and I should also mention that you're worth to have more than 1k subscribers.... Good luck for your future videos... Love from India.... 😍🤗😘😘😘
Thanks so much! I do love classics :P
_AND_ ... both Jane Eyre and the second Mrs. de Winter were portrayed in the movies by Joan Fontaine.
This is a great discussion. I just finished reading Rebecca this week so I found this so timely. I didn’t think of it in relation to Jane Eyre, but now I can see the connections. -Amy
Thanks so much :)
One of the differences I noticed was that Rochester is more open with his feelings towards Jane while Maxim is very distance with the narrator.
Very true.
I love this video so much. These are two of my all-time favourite books, and this video makes me love them even more. I read Jane Eyre and Rebecca the same month so to me, Rebecca absolutely read like a retelling/reimagining of Jane Eyre. Rebecca's character is clearly written in response to Bertha. In a way, Rebecca is Bertha if Rochester hadn't locked the latter up in the attic. Both women were rebellious, didn't conform to the conventional standards of morality and were despised by their husbands.
The major difference between the books, as you brilliantly pointed out, is the difference between Jane and the unnamed heroine's personalities and narrative voices - the former is much stronger, has moments of self-doubt but is ultimately a confident, self assured woman. The unnamed narrator in Rebecca is much more self-deprecating and socially awkward. She mainly struggles to find her identity, and I think identity is one of the major themes of the book. We only know the heroine as Mrs. De Winter - her identity is in relation with her husband. And throughout the book, she is constantly living in Rebecca's shadow. The servants expect her to have a routine identical to Rebecca's, she isn't allowed to make changes in her own home, and she constantly compares herself to Rebecca. There's a beautifully written passage where she compares her handwriting with Rebecca's. She admires Rebecca's signature and says, "the name Rebecca stood out black and strong, the tall and sloping R dwarfing the other letters." And then she describes her own writing as that of "an indifferent pupil taught in a second-rate school."
Sorry for the long comment, but there's so much to dissect. Thank you so much for this wonderful discussion!
Thanks so much! I can certainly see how Rebecca is Bertha if Rochester hadn't locked her up, and they are just so interesting to compare. Yet Jane and the second Mrs De Winter are so different, as you say. I found it fascinating how the narrator of Rebecca compares herself constantly to Rebecca. I also love how the edition of Rebecca I have has 'Rebecca' written like the book describes her signature!
This video is sheer brilliance! These are two of my favorite books and I feel the need to reread them both in the near future (especially Rebecca, now that I know the ending)! I think that Rochester can be read as far more sinister than you make him out to be in this video. Though his maliciousness is far less overt than Maxim's, and is something that I never picked up until later readings of the book. I also question what the word "normal" means in the Rebecca quote you read. I never perceived it as a sign of mental illness, at least not in the same way as Bertha's mental state. Rather, I read it two ways: either as an indication that Rebecca was a psychopath, or as Maxim's interpretation of a woman who pushed the boundaries of her role and chose to defy societal norms. I always wonder what an adaptation like Wide Sargasso Sea for Rebecca (Rebecca's perspective of the story) would be like. Is she simply a cruel, malicious psychopath? Her treatment of Ben, as you mentioned, is abhorrent. Or is she trapped by society like Bertha, and works to defy her situation? In this case her cruelty towards Ben would be a matter of self preservation, an idle threat to keep him from spreading word of her transgressions. And in some ways Maxim's use of the word "normal" reveals more about him and his lack of understanding towards his first wife than it does about her actual character. Thank you for getting me to think deeply and critically about these two! I can't wait to read My Cousin Rachel with you soon! ❤
Thank you! I've often heard Rochester as talked about as being more sinister, but I just find it so hard to see him that way after knowing the book so well for so long. I would love a retelling like Wide Sargasso Sea but for Rebecca! Maxim seems to view her as a psychopath, but perhaps she was as much trapped in their marriage as Maxim was. Ah, all just so interesting...I can't wait to read My Cousin Rachel too!
Hello Katie, I have been watching your videos for about a year now. Jane Austen july started me off. I am a big Jane austen fan. I find your enthusiasm so infectious.
I loved both Jane Eyre and Rebecca and found your comparisons so interesting. I could see the similarities when you pointed them out.
I hope your new job is going well. I look forward to many more videos.
Thanks very much!
My mom loves Gothic Literature, and was the first person who got me to read both books. When she handed me Rebecca, she called it "Jane Eyre but creepier" haha. Love them both.
That is a pretty accurate description!
Wonderful analysis--thanks! I especially love the observation about the titles--with Rebecca completely eclipsing the unnamed character in Du Maurier's novel, as opposed to the way that Jane's own name prevails in Bronte's novel. As you were discussing Maxim I began to feel defensive of him, because I had remembered the killing as an accident. Then I reread that passage and realized what I was remembering was Hitchcock's film. (Have you seen it?)
Thanks! I haven't seen the film but do really want to.
Don’t bother watching the new version of Rebecca on Netflix. It’s a mess!
Whereas the Hitchcock is really very good!
I adore Hitch’s Rebecca! Judith Anderson played Mrs Danvers as her lovelorn suitor, and Joan Fontaine is everything that is Victorian excellence in a woman’s character, at a time when women were demanding their own degrees, and publishing in her own name.
I felt a sense of foreboding all the way through Rebecca. I often did not feel like picking it up. I thought the plot was very clever. The only thing is I wonder why Maxim brought a gun with him to the boat house.
Do you think Bertha had syphilis? There was a lot of it about back then.
It is possible, though I hadn't really thought of it before.
Wow!
Thanks!
My Cousin Rachel, Frenchman's Creek, Jamaica Inn, The King's General. Several of these were made into movies, several by Hitchcock, including The Birds, which was more of a novella/short story.
So I have heard. I must read more Du Maurier.
Wildfell Hall is MASSIVELY underrated...beautiful work
It is a fantastic book!
bars
I read both these books as a mature adult and neither "love interest" seems very desirable to me. It's one thing to be young and naive but yet another to support a murderer. Nor does someone who lies and manipulates you seem like a good choice either. I doubt that being humbled in the end would improve his character. The books have other redeeming qualities, but...
Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier is very reminiscent of Wuthering Heights, although not quite to the extent that Rebecca resembles Jane Eyre. I really want to reread Rebecca, I've only read it once. I've read Jane Eyre many times and disliked Mr Rochester more after each reading - his treatment of Bertha, his lying to Jane, his threatening to rape Jane if she does not do what he wants: she shouldn't have married him. And I don't buy into the idea that in imprisoning Bertha in the attic he has saved Bertha from the horrors of the asylum, because he isn't caring for her, he's just built her her own asylum. But your video has really made me want to reread Rebecca, I loved it 4 years ago and I wonder how I'd interpret it now
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys tells the story of Bertha and how she ended up in the attic. Its really a very good book
Jay Paul Yes I've read it and think it's a wonderful and moving book. It's probably what started my distrust of Mr Rochester, which then deepened each time I returned to Jane Eyre
Yes its impossible to think of the novel in the same way again. The slavery, the racial issues, the colonialism, the plantations.....and then to the house in Yorkshire the madwoman in the attic. Its like Jean Rhys threw a handgrenade into the novel 'Jane Eyre'. In its way I think its a little masterpiece.
I definitely hope to read Jamaica Inn in the future! I loved reading Rebecca and I'm sure I'd love to reread it in the future. Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea is fascinating too - I wish there was a Rebecca retelling from the perspective of Rebecca and Maxim!
That would be fascinating and wonderful!
Lovely video and very interesting ideas and comparisons!
Thanks!
Oops. I saw Rebecca the film but haven't read it yet. Still watching... In the book, her husband killed Rebecca?! Well, I still plan to read some Daphne du Maurier hehe. Love this comparison video.
Thanks! And yes - I hear that's not quite the same as in the film! I need to see the film.
Try The King's General.
I'll add it to the list!
This was such a good discussion! I read Rebecca after having read Jane Eyre, so as soon as the forbidden West Wing came up, I thought that Rebecca might still be alive. I'm glad the mystery was a different one. The descriptions of Rebecca and Bertha from their husbands' perspectives are so similar! The connection they draw between female sexuality and insanity are the same. I agree about the power dynamics between the men and women in these couples. In Jane Eyre, the balance between them is restored in the end, whereas in Rebecca Maxim stays condescending throughout the book. Like you, I found Maxim so much more unlikeable than Rochester. I noticed similarities between Grace Poole and Mrs Danvers, as creepy employees of the house who guard the secret.
Thanks! They're both such interesting books and so fascinating to compare.
My Cousin Rachel next!! I love Rebecca but MCR even more.
I'm really excited to get to that one. It'll probably be my next Du Maurier read.
btw I think what you did with this video, comparing the two novels, to be really fantastic and illuminating, one of the best book vlogs I've seen
Thank you so much :)
Great analysis. I would love to know more about what you think the last lines in Jane eyre means? Why is it ominous? It talks about what her cousin is up to india right? The cousin was weird, he could have let Jane accompany him as his sister instead of his wife.
I've always found that ominous ending interesting. I sometimes wonder if it's just a reminder that not everything is perfect, that no need ending is fully neat.
Which edition is that of Jane Eyre? I've seen the same edition of Pride and Prejudice I believe on your channel. Great video by the way!
It's the Collector's Library edition, although they have since changed the design.
Books and Things thanks!
Oh you know this is getting a video response.
I know your video is already up but YAY
spoilers don't bother me because i want to know the plot.and lucky for me i don't remember them when i go to read them. lol as usual great video! :)
Thanks :)
These two books are both in my top 10. I loooooove them. Maxim is such an interesting character to me. You don't know whether to have sympathy or whether he was really justified, since you never get Rebecca's side of the story. At the end of the story, is Maxim really worthy of his second wife's love? Is he really supposed to be a good character? It is spooky how everything aligns to support Maxim's supposed innocence, even when he's practically confessing to the murder of his wife. So many complex issues.
Both such great books! I don't like Maxim, but that almost makes the book more compelling. So interesting.
I agree with pretty much everything you said ! You can't read Rebecca without thinking about Jane Eyre, so may similarities, to the burning house in the end... But I do feel Rochester & Jane really are equal (as Jane claims, she's not a bird, she's his equal, she sees herself as such) and truly love each other, whereas Maxim and ... Mrs deWinter n°2 are not equal, the poor girl doesn't even have a name... But she does get a spine in the end, after knowing the truth. She becomes complicit of his crime in a way, and we truly feel he does need her I think (maybe more in the film than in the book? It would be really interesting if you could do a video comparing the film & the book btw... I would love that!).
Anyway, Daphne du Maurier is indeed wonderful, and you should read "My Cousin Rachel" next ! :)
I'm hoping to read My Cousin Rachel quite soon! I'm hoping to see the film some time soon as I've heard how different they are.
You've got the new film with the wonderful Rachel Weisz but also the great version with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton.
I know you probably will not see this because this is an old video I do not have a copy of Jane Eyre so I cannot look it up and I cannot remember what the line was about St John at the end. If you or someone could tell me that would be much appreciated.
This may help you: www.gutenberg.org/files/1260/1260-h/1260-h.htm
Just read Rebecca. Didn't get the ending? What happens in the end?
I've always thought that Mrs Danvers set fire to the house - then our narrator and Maxim go abroad together. I went back and read the first few chapters of the novel after having finished it, which I would recommend.
Rebecca is my favourite.
And can you please give me a detailed difference between Feminism and Womenism??? Really it kind of confusing me...
I'm afraid I don't really know.
Immediately as I read Rebecca, I noticed the striking similarities to Jane Eyre. Mainly the youth and status of the heroine, the intrigue and suspense in the atmosphere, the pride and arrogance of both their suitors, and the devastating result of their estates. And I completely agree! Mrs. DeWinter (2nd wife) always seemed less mature, less self assured and more sheepish than Jane. And yet, I found this made her more relatable.
And as far as their suitors. I believe that both Rochester and Maxim are incredibly selfish. Rochester cared more for his own feelings than for Janes; he toyed with her emotions like a cat would a mouse. Then, when she discovered he lied, his own grief and future seemed to be his sole focus. Maxim, obviously selfish, refusing to even express his love for the poor girl, showed, in my opinion, a more realistic loyalty to young Mrs DeWinter. Less poetic and glamorized than Rochester. The scene in the courthouse? I can’t fathom a selfish man on trial, for possibly his life, keeping a pulse on the general welfare of his new bride in the audience. Basically, I think both men were equally selfish in ways yet devoted in the grand scale.
Love this video!! Love your topics of discussion.
Thanks very much! It's so interesting how similar the books are in some ways.
I have to add that I think that Mrs. Danvers was portrayed as a mad woman, just like Grace Poole. She gives the unnamed heroine sinister looks, she's clearly obsessed with Rebecca and it's not certain whether or not she may have had anything to do with Rebecca's death.
Agreed - that's a really interesting connection.