The Expretation Of Moods In Rebecca By Du Maurier

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Throughout the excerpt Rebecca, the narrator is recounting a dream she had about a place that is dear to her, which is called Manderley. While reading the excerpt the reader will come across a variation of moods. In the beginning one will come across a mood of mystery. Eventually, as the reader continues on throughout the passage the atmosphere starts to become nightmarish and very eerie. Subsequently, as the reader nears the end of the passage they will start to get a feeling of nostalgia created by the passage. With the intention of creating various moods, du Maurier uses literary devices such as detail, diction, and imagery to create a shift in the moods which are a mystery, nightmare, and a nostalgia.

In the beginning of the passage,
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Seeming as though the trees don’t appear to look like normal trees. One can imagine the trees looking as if they’ve deteriorated over time due to the lack of proper care because the area is uninhabited. Subsequently, the narrator states, “...the gnarled roots looked like skeleton claws (lines 35-36).” With the intention of creating a shift in the mood from a mystery to a nightmare du Maurier uses detail to help the reader comprehend how much proper care the nature lacked. Daphne du Maurier uses words such as “gnarled” and “skeleton” to elucidate how atrocious the nature appeared on her path to Manderley. The roots are depicted as being very eerie and almost like things that would appear in someone’s nightmare. Using literary devices in the passage such as diction, detail and imagery, this is how du Maurier creates a shift in the mood from a mystery to a …show more content…
In a piece of literary work, literary methods are vital and necessary in order to help contribute to creating the mood or moods one should feel as they read the piece. Throughout the passage there are three significant moods created. The first mood created is a mystery and is apparent in lines 1-11 with the help of words such as “uninhabited”, “padlock”, and “chain”. Afterwards, the mood created is a nightmare which can be felt by the readers in lines 12-54 with the help of words such as “insidious”, “tortured”, and “gnarled”. Lastly, the mood created in lines 55-69 of the passage is an atmosphere of nostalgia with the assistance of words such as “sepulcher”. “mullioned”, and “resurrection”. Throughout the excerpt these moods shift occasionally with the help of the literary devices including detail, diction, and

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