Rebecca story
Rebecca is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock's first American project, and his first film under contract with producer David O. Selznick. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, and adaptation by Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, were based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.
23 total · 3 choice · 11 major · 9 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| beating one's self up | choice | The focal character of the story, the new Mrs. de Winter, berated herself for not being able to make her new husband, Maxim, happy. |
| living up to expectations | choice | The focal character of the story, the new Mrs. de Winter, was from a humble background and became the lady of an aristocratic English manor. She struggled to meet the expectations of others who were born into the family, and worried about what they would think about her. |
| romantic love | choice | Maxim and the story's unnamed heroine married after a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo. The remainder of the story concerns Maxim's working class bride getting used to her new life as the lady of the Manderlay estate. The recent passing of his former wife was the source of much tension in their relationship. |
| anger | major | It came to light that Maxim had killed Rebecca in a moment of rage. Maxim was known for having a temper. In one scene, he lashed out and slugged Jack in the jaw, prompting Jack to say, "that temper of yours will do you in Max". |
| contemplating suicide | major | The story opened with Maxim standing at the edge of a cliff with thoughts of hurling himself down into the sea below clearly in his mind. The woman who would become his second wife snapped him out of going through with it. Rebecca was suspected of having taken her own life. Mrs. Danvers tried to shame the new Mrs. de Winter into jumping out of a window to her death after the debacle at the costume ball. |
| coping with the death of a spouse | major | The viewer is made to think that Maxim was haunted by memories of the untimely death of his seemingly beloved first wife, Rebecca. In reality, Maxim and Rebecca had despised one another. |
| disintegrating romantic relationship | major | The viewer gradually learns that Maxim and Rebecca's marriage far from being idyllic, was actually a sham. Rebecca was shamelessly cheating on Maxim and they both hated each other's guts. They kept up appearances to keep from losing face in their upper class society. |
| having a skeleton in the closet | major | Maxim was hiding that he'd accidentally killed his first wife, Rebecca, after she'd deliberately provoked him. |
| husband and wife | major | Maxim and an attendant to an aging socialite married after a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo. His new bride struggled with her new and unfamiliar role as the lady of the Manderley estate. |
| interclass romance | major | Maxim and an attendant to an aging socialite married after a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo. His new bride struggled with her new and unfamiliar role as the lady of the Manderley estate. |