Rebecca & Marnie & Feminism

Women’s Films

The two films Rebecca (Hitchcock, 1940) and Marnie (Hitchcock, 1964) are women’s films, as they both “highlight a woman’s difficulty (with Marnie, her failure) in negotiating the oedipal trajectory and her problematic attachment to another woman, here [in Marnie] the mother”  (Jacobowitz, pg 16). Mrs. de Winter has no mother figure, so she attaches herself (unknowingly) to Mrs. Danvers. Marnie looks for affection and approval from her mother. 

Mrs de Winter

The starring female character in Rebecca has no name. Is this because she is not important enough to have a name or to make it easier for women spectators to put themselves in her place? After all, she has no defining characteristics. She is a blank slate for any woman to step in and become her.

Mr & Mrs Maxim de Winter

he relationship between Mr. and Mrs. de Winter is unusual as it was a fast marriage and not much is know about either person.  She is in fact “marrying a father-figure, who has rescued her from the tyranny of the domineering old woman (i.e., mother)” (Modleski, pg 44). Maxim appears to be haunted by the memory of Rebecca and doesn’t always give his new wife all his attention, except when he treats her like a child. He orders her about at points, as if she was a child (Modleski, pg 44).

The couple is happy in their marriage and love each other, except the “ghost” of Rebecca keeps dividing them and creates a misunderstanding between them. Mrs. Danvers is a big help in creating the “ghost” of Rebecca.

Mrs de Winter & Mrs Danvers

The relationship between Mrs. de Winter and Mrs. Danvers is much more complicated than any other relationship. Mrs de Winter seems very determined to have Mrs. Danvers approve of her. It is like she casts Mrs. Danvers as a mother figure. Because of this Mrs. Danvers has power over her and is able to convince her that she doesn’t belong with Maxim. That she can never replace Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers uses this power to her advantage and tries to convince Mrs. de Winter to kill herself.

Marnie

While Marnie has a first name she is also somewhat blank as if she is just going through the motions of life. She often had a blank stare that seemed to see nothing of what was happening around her. Sometimes she appear to not even know what she was doing. 

This is more due to her emotional disability. She only has any character when she is playing a role before she steals money from the company she works for. This may be why Mark was so controlling over what she did. She was like a child that needed caring for when she wasn’t playing a role.

Marnie & Mark

The relationship between Marnie & Mark is complicated. On one hand, Mark is using his blackmail and his physical strength to exert control over Marnie. 

But on the other hand, he is also trying to help her to get better. As Jacobowitz succinctly says “[Marnie is] held captive by a combination of blackmail and good intentions” (Jacobowitz, pg 17). This type of relationship is often found in gothic novels.

Marnie & Bernice

Marnie and Bernice’s relationship is unusual. Bernice does not appear to have any affection for her daughter. They don’t explicitly say why, but it is easy to understand that it is because her daughter killed a man that was accosting her. She feels she failed as a mother to her daughter so she continues to fail. Marnie just wants her mother’s love, she doesn’t care that her mother failed, she only wants her love.

It isn’t until Mark confronts Bernice with the truth does it come out why she treats her daughter the way she does. At the same time she realizes that it hurt her daughter and caused her to commit criminal acts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both Marnie and Rebecca feature female characters that struggle with the oedipal complex. While Mrs. de Winter’s struggle is with Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca’s “ghost”, Marnie’s is with her mother and with Mark. Mrs. de Winter overcomes her struggles by finding her own inner strength, while Marnie needs Mark to help her confront her mother.

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