Social Classes In Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca

On the surface Rebecca appears to demonstrate the conventions of the romantic genre. The storyline includes a heroine, who is thinks herself to be very plain “with straight, bobbed hair and youthful, unpowdered face, dressed in an ill-fitting coat and skirt…”, as well as a hero, who the heroine believes is

Mrs de Winter in Rebecca, is a young woman who openly admits to herself and her readers that she is "a martyr to [her] own inferiority complex";

Often times one part of the book, for example a character, will have an effect on another part of the book, for example the plot. In Rebecca, Manderly plays and important role in the mood, action and conflict, and character, which make it the most significant setting in Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier brings Manderly alive in a sense, giving it many roles that make the mansion and grounds seem more like a character than a setting. The mansion has much influence over many aspects of the story and characters, much like another character would. Like a main character, Manderly is used to develop characters, advance the plot, and set the mood.

She has no power, possession, belonging, or respect. She is an outcast who desires to belong as shown by Miller through the emotionally charged plea of Abigail “I am a good girl, a proper girl! She made me do it!” .It is with great dramatic irony that the same child whom attains belonging by accusing others would ask Danforth “Let you beware Mr Danforth. Think you be so mighty that the power of hell may not turn your wits?” This is demonstrating both dramatic and verbal irony of her actions and the establishments of her ignorance. On the other hand Danforth is the personified symbol of rigid social bonds. He calls out to Goody Nurse “Do you know who I am? Mrs. Nurse” showcasing how his place in society calls for respect and power. His statement of oppressive power over those who belong to his address is further reflected in his parable “Hang them high over the town, who weeps for these, weeps for corruption.” Suggesting that his power holds hostage over the belonging of those who may rebel, thus showing the power of belonging in creating identities and the human need for acceptance and security.

It is important to put yourself in one’s shoes. By doing so, you can understand that person’s situation better. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Aunt Alexandra is prejudiced towards social classes, and Bob Ewell is prejudiced towards people whose skin color is different than his.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is about two children, Jem and Scout, and their relationships with their father, Atticus. The children raise themselves growing up, many people would say they were irresponsible, but they are both appear to be intelligent individuals. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird the novel demonstrates a rigid class structure and social stratification in the County of Maycomb. People should not be judged by their social class, they should be judged on their personality.

In the book, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, there exist a big emphasis on social class and position during the time of this story. When we are introduced to the main character of the story, the narrator, we are right away exposed to a society in which different privileges are bestowed upon various groups. Social place, along with the ever present factor of power and money are evident throughout the story to show how lower to middle class groups were treated and mislead by people on a higher level in society. When we are introduced to the narrator, we are told that she is traveling with an old American woman; vulgar, gossipy, and wealthy, Mrs. Van Hopper travels across Europe, but her travels are lonely and require an employee that gives

There are many different social classes in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The factors that separate people into these social classes are their skin color and their occupation. For example, Atticus, Scout, and Jem are part of the highest social class. They are part of this social class because Atticus is a lawyer, which makes him a highly respected person in the community. He is also white, which, at that time was a very important factor that chose who belonged in what social class. Scout and Jem are his children and therefore are also part of this social class.

As the reader goes on through the story we learn Rebecca was a truly dark woman. Just as Maxim had described. Allegedly, Rebecca had an affair with her cousin behind Maxims back. Rebecca may have been idealized by everyone that met her however she wasn’t what the narrator or anyone, had

The Great Depression devastated millions of people nationwide in the 1930’s. Nobody escaped the suffering that went along with the Great Depression; especially women. Women were considered more as house maids than capable human beings. The only job men thought women to be capable of was to raise their children and clean their house as they went off to work and made money. Women and men’s roles varied greatly in the 1930’s. The expectancies for both genders were very different. Rebecca was set in this time period and follows along with how women were treated during this time. The characters in Rebecca are justified in their actions and reactions throughout the book due to the societal norms of the time period.

In Jeannette’s life her social class changes multiple times. She starts her life doing the skedaddle through many towns because her family couldn’t afford to live in the places they did. “We were always doing the skedaddle, usually in the middle of the night. I sometimes heard Mom and Dad discussing the people who were after us. Dad called them the henchmen, bloodsuckers, the gestapo”(19). The way her father made it sound, it didn’t seem so bad to Jeannette but it really was, having to leave town after town because your father was ‘illegal’ and couldn’t get a job to provide for her family. Towards the middle of the book, Jeannette’s grandmother dies, Naturally Jeannette is devastated, But her family inherits her grandma’s mansion “practically,

How far do you think Harper Lee has effectively shown social class and family groups to be important at that time? The rigid class structure and social stratification of Maycomb County had a profound effect on the events in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The impact of this class structure was especially evident in the trial of Tom Robins on, a Maycomb Negro. The extreme prejudice of the town eventually led to the unjust conviction of Robinson for a crime he did not commit.

The conventions that Rebecca reflects of the romantic genre are those of the characteristics of the hero and heroine (as mentioned above). The heroine is

According to Max Weber, social class is a person’s economic position in a society whereas status refers to one’s prestige, popularity and influence and oftentimes, is not determined by economic worth. For example, a priest may be regarded highly in society however may not be in the same economic bracket as a doctor or lawyer. The film, My Fair Lady tells a story about a man, Professor Henry Higgins and his efforts to transform a lower-class woman Eliza Doolittle into a well brought up “lady”, advising her to change previous behaviors and image. Henry Higgins, a distinguished language professor of high class challenges his good friend Colonel Pickering that he cannot fool society into thinking Eliza as a duchess.

By the later part of the 1800’s New York and Chicago were some of the largest cities in the world and both had populations that exceeded a million. With the growing population, the economy’s stability began to fluctuate. The instability within the states gave rise to two distinct populations within America, the upper and the working classes. Theodore Dreiser, knowing the volatile state America was built upon, highlighted the economic differences between the wealthy and the poor in his novel Sister Carrie.