Dissecting the Power Dynamics, Sexuality and Horror in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rebecca' (1940)

By Avik Basak

Considered among Alfred Hitchcock’s finest works, Rebecca (1940), which was adapted from English writer Daphne du Maurier’s celebrated novel of the same name, is a significant landmark in the filmmaker’s career as well as in the history of American Cinema. Not only did it mark Hitchcocks’ arrival in Hollywood but also it remains as the only film of his that won the Academy Award for Best Picture (Known as “Academy Award for Outstanding Production” at that time). The film is also significant for the kind of tussle it generated between the Production Code Administration (PCA) and the production company Selznick International Pictures over various issues such as, Sex Perversion, Lesbianism and getting away with murder.[i]

The film opens in Monte Carlo where our unnamed protagonist, a young lady, works as a paid companion of a spoilt rich socialite, Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper. She then meets the aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter who seems to be mourning the death of his first wife, the titular character, Rebecca. He seems to fall in love with her and they get married and after that, Maxim takes his new bride to Manderlay, his grand ancestral mansion by the sea where the real plot takes place. If playing the role of the wife of a rich aristocrat was not tough enough, it was made harder by Manderlay’s housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, a servant who remained loyal to Rebecca even in her death and does not accept the new bride as the mistress of the mansion. Here, a woman is portrayed in a negative light while the other is portrayed as violently victimised by the former’s actions. These are the stereotypical portrayals of women found in Hitchcock’s films and are also present here in Rebecca.[ii]

Alfred Hitchcock used to employ a particular style to construct the narrative of his films as Raymond Bellour mentions in his book, “The Analysis of Film”. In the book, Bellour argued, “In the Hitchcockian fable, investigations conform to two major modalities”. We can summarise his description of the first mode of Hitchcockian narrative by noting that it reserves the position of knowledge for the spectator and it employs the hero or the heroine to play the primary role of the investigator. On the other hand, the second mode denies the hero or the heroine the access to the truth of the investigation and often depends on a third person to unfold the mystery.

We can fit Rebecca in the first mode of Hitchcockian narrative but again it does not meet all the requirements of that style. Here, the heroine, the new Mrs. de Winter investigates the truth about the late Rebecca de Winter but it does not reserve the position of knowledge for the spectator as the truth is revealed only when the film moves into its last quarter when Maxim confesses to his newly-wed wife.

According to Kristin Thompson, it is the tendency of the classical cinema to attract audience attention forward by frequent 'priming' of future events in the plot and Hitchcock used this style in his own specific way. In this context, we can look at the first bedroom sequence from Rebecca, where Mrs. Danvers first showcases her late mistress’ bedroom to the newly-wed Mrs. de Winter to make her understand the legacy she needs to live up to or rather a legacy she cannot live up to.

The sequence consists of approximately 38 cuts and spans just over six and a half minutes. (I have assigned one screenshot to each shot starting with “Shot1”. I have assigned more than one screenshots to some of the shots to stress on their impact on the sequence and in turn the overall film.) It begins just after Jack Favell, who introduces himself as Rebecca’s favourite cousin, leaves and upon seeing Mrs. Danvers nowhere, the new Mrs. de Winter decides to go up to late Rebecca’s bedroom out of curiosity (Shot 1 to 3). One cannot help but notice the cautious way she approaches the door before finally opening it (Shot 4 to 6).

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

Shot 4

Shot 5

Shot 6

The room is dark when she enters and the only light source is behind her that projects a shadow on the wall (Shot 7). It hints at her venturing into an area of unknown which is further emphasised by her facial expressions while she wanders into the room before opening up the window and then nervously moving the hairbrush on the table (Shot 8 to 11) where the medium-long shot also captures Maxim's photo frame on the table as if to hint at her thought of Maxim smiling at her foolishness. Her trail of thoughts comes to a disruptive end with the noise of the window slamming that invokes the shock element (Shot 12 and 13) that she would experience upon hearing Mrs. Danvers' voice and seeing her silhouette in the following two shots (Shot 14 and 15). The reference to the window is also significant due to its later occurrence in the film when Mrs. Danvers tries to manipulate the new bride in leaping from that.

Shot 7

Shot 8

Shot 9

Shot 10

Shot 11

Shot 12

Shot 13

Shot 14

Shot 15

After she asks Mrs. de Winter if she was looking for anything, Mrs. Danvers appears from the dark. She is shown in a medium shot with hard lighting and a particular emphasis on her dramatic eyes that not only symbolises her cold intentions but also addresses the horror elements and the psychological intentions of the film (Shot 17). Mrs. de Winter, despite being the mistress of Manderlay, lies that she came to the room to close an open window but is immediately caught by Mrs. Danvers (Shot 18 and 18A).

Shot 16

Shot 17

Shot 18

Shot 18A

For most of the following shots, Mrs. Danvers establishes the room as the “loveliest room ever” and a part of Rebecca’s legacy that has been kept just the way it was since her late mistress’ death (Shot 19 and 20). She starts off by showing Rebecca’s dressing room to the new Mrs. de Winter and through her, to the spectator (Shot 21 and 22). Danvers asks the new bride if she wants to see the clothes but the way she frames the question, it leaves no space for any other answer than ‘yes’ that further draws our attention to the power dynamics between the characters as well as the psychological hold the former has on the latter (Shot 22A and 23). It is further stressed by her next act when she brings out a fur coat from the cupboard and first, feels the touch of the sleeve herself and then asks the new bride to follow suit. It also almost hints at the homosexual attraction Danvers might have felt towards Rebecca (Shot 24 to 27).

Shot 19

Shot 20

Shot 21

Shot 22

Shot 22A

Shot 23

Shot 24

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Shot 27

Shot 28

Then, Danvers takes the new Bride to see Rebecca’s innerwear collection that was made especially for her by convent nuns and she also talked about how she used to wait up for her mistress when the latter used to come home late from parties or outings (Shot 29). Danvers then takes the new bride to the dressing table where she displays her knowledge of the exact place of the essentials and how she used perform the 'hair drill' for her late mistress (Shot 31, 31A and 31B). Finally, Danvers takes our unnamed heroine to see the bed, where she showcases the case which she embroidered for Rebecca (Shot 32 and 33). Apart from the window we mentioned before, this embroidered case is another important element of the sequence that appears later. In fact, it plays the most crucial part of concluding the film when it gets consumed by the flames as if to indicate that Rebecca’s spirit is confined in that case which is finally destroyed.

Shot 29

Shot 30

Shot 31

Shot 31A

Shot 31B

Shot 32

Shot 33

Coming back to the sequence, Mrs. Danvers next brings out a nightdress from the case and almost forces the new bride to observe the fact that it was so delicate that one can almost see across the fabric which again hints towards her sexual attraction towards Rebecca (The shots below). It also suggests her obsession that her late mistress is the only one who deserves to be called, ‘Mrs. de Winter’ as she always refers to her with this title during this sequence.

Shot 34

Shot 34A

Shot 34B

The passionate way in which Mrs. Danvers describes each part of the room along with every object in it brings Rebecca alive. It almost makes the new bride suffocate and run out of the room but Mrs. Danvers is not done yet. She begins to explicitly talk about Rebecca’s spirit trudging the halls and rooms of Manderlay to further break the confidence of her prey. Rebecca’s spirit never appears but the haunting image of Mrs. Danvers and the psychological pressure she puts on the newly-wed Mrs. de Winter (The camera also tracks in to further emphasise the suffocation the new bride is experiencing) does more than a convincing job in preying on her fear and to send her running for her life. (Shot 35 to 37C)

Shot 35

Shot 36

Shot 36A

Shot 37

Shot 37A

Shot 37B

Shot 37C

The sequence finally ends with Mrs. Danvers asking the new bride to listen to the sea without realising that the latter has already left the room which also suggests that she went into a trance while talking about her former mistress. The next shot showing the raging sea waves and then a dissolve into the close shot of a diary with an engraved “R” are also crucial to the plot as they hint towards the fate of Rebecca as we find out later in the film that her body lies in the depths of the sea (Shot 38).

Shot 38

It is also quite important to observe the mise-en-scene of the sequence especially its lighting. Hard lighting and strong shadows are the key elements we can find here which aid in putting together the haunting image that Mrs. Danvers tries to portray in front of the new bride while also symbolizing the cold intentions of this loyal housekeeper. Moreover, the room with its long walls also seems to be designed to give an overbearing feeling that encases the protagonist.

So, it can be clearly said that in this most important sequence from Rebecca, Hitchcock not only lays open his plans for the characters but also provides us with hints to decipher the future plot points. For example, Mrs. Danvers is unable to accept anyone else other than Rebecca as the mistress of Manderlay, hence she would try to get rid of the new bride and that is why she tries to manipulate the latter to leap to her death. Hence, it also adheres to David Bordwell’s cause-effect-motivation storytelling of Classical Hollywood Era. Hitchcock also brings out the dominant themes of power dynamics, sexuality and horror in this sequence to explain the subtext of the events already happened as well as those which would happen at a later time in the film. Hence, through the analysis of this sequence, one can dissect the mystery of Rebecca.

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[i] Berenstein, Rhona J. “Adaptation, Censorship, and Audiences of Questionable Type: Lesbian Sightings in"Rebecca" (1940) and "The Uninvited" (1944)”, Cinema Journal, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Spring, 1998), pp. 16-37
Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225825

[ii] Langenfeld, Elizabeth Irene, "Hitchcock's "Rebecca": A rhetorical study of female stereotyping" (1999). Theses Digitization Project. 1718.

Link: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2718&context=etd-project