The Importance Of Gothic Villain In Rebecca

The gothic villain in modern gothic novel develops and takes a variety of possibilities. In Rebecca, there is no specific gothic villain, multiple characters have a gothic villain quality, it is not easy to determine which one of them is the gothic villain. If we consider Mrs. de Winter as the helpless heroine, so the gothic villain is the one who peruses or threats her and this includes: Rebecca, Mrs. Danvers, and even Maxim. Starting with Rebecca , though she does not appear in the whole novel as a living character but she is considered as a gothic villain in a shape of ghost who haunts the heroine and makes her in a state of horror and risk. Rebecca is described as a demonic character by Maxim:

I hated her, I tell you, our marriage was a farce from the very first. She was vicious, damnable, rotten through and through. We never loved each other, never had one moment of happiness together. Rebecca was incapable of love, of tenderness, of decency. She was not even normal (R., P.298).

This quote suggests that Rebecca was not a human, she was “damnable” and wicked. She is described by Ben, a gardener who works at Manderely as “ Tall and dark … [and] gave you the feeling of a snake. I see her here with me own eyes . By night she 'd come ” (R.,P.169) . Whereas all characters in the novel appreciate Rebecca 's beauty, Ben is the only character who admits Rebecca 's evil nature . He ominously describes her as a tall, snake-like woman who only appears at night. 32

Rebecca is a