Ambiguity Of Mrs. Danvers And Rebecca In 'The Celluloid Closet'

Along with conflicting perspectives of Mrs. Danvers and her relationship with Rebecca, part of the ambiguity of Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca’s relationship stems from Rebecca’s physical absence in the narrative. Rebecca cannot speak for herself, and she is never shown in the story, but her absence speaks much louder than her words ever could. Because of this absence, her feelings and even her sexuality have to be inferred through dialogue and other characters’ descriptions of her. Every person the new Mrs. de Winter encounters lauds Rebecca as beautiful, intelligent and well bred. She seems to be the perfect wife, creating a serious inferiority complex in Mrs. de Winter, who has to attempt to fill her shoes. However, Rebecca has deep secrets that surface toward the end of the film when Maxim reveals that she was living of life of “filth and deceit” and that, “She told me about herself, things [Maxim] will …show more content…
Mrs. Danvers is featured in the documentary as an example of the archetypal villain character, as her sexuality shown through her obsession with Rebecca makes her evil and the main antagonist of the film. In the same way, Rebecca is shown to be a villain as well. Although Maxim caused her death, his actions are seen as righteous because she is so obscene and indecent. Maxim must kill her to punish her for daring to show any sexuality that is outside of the norm. In this way, both Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca are punished for their queerness, linking them even closer together. In the final scene of the film, as Mrs. Danvers burns to death in Rebecca’s room, the camera pans to a pillow case embroidered with the letter “R” burning in the flames. This image is very poignant, as it directly links the death of Mrs. Danvers to Rebecca, connecting the women in their punishments for subscribing to anything other than the heteronormative