Strong Women
Throughout the course of my reading career, I’ve always gravitated to novels featuring strong females. Books with strong women who don’t necessarily know just how much strength they possess are my most enjoyable reads. For my craft analysis final project I’ve chosen two works featuring these types of women; Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938) and The DUFF by Kody Keplinger (2010). The two women in these books are at very different places in their lives at the beginning of their journeys nevertheless they both come to the same realization: they are in control of their own happiness.
The struggle to find yourself is something every person, of either gender, can relate to. I chose Rebecca because of the obstacles the protagonist faces throughout …show more content…
the book. A degrading older boss, a distant husband, and an inferiority complex with her husband’s first wife are just a few examples. All the while remaining nameless in the book. These struggles and her handling of them are the types of stories I love writing. Rebecca focuses on one woman’s struggle with her sense of worthiness, The DUFF, however, focuses on the viewpoint of independent Bianca Piper.
Ordinarily, Bianca knows exactly who she is and needs approval from no one.
Consequently, when Bianca’s world turns to chaos, we the readers see her making choice after choice that goes against who we believed she was. Hence, the reason I chose to pair this book with Rebecca is for the strength they gain. These women lose themselves in their own eyes. The fight to re-establish who they are creates a beautiful journey to read.
One of the best parts about selecting these books is the large span of time between the two. Literature has changed so much in that time. Although literary conventions, the techniques writers use to convey a message, have remained largely the unchanged, the ways to use them have evolved. In Rebecca the most prominent convention is the love triangle. Instead of the triangle being between three people, du Maurier writes it in subtle manner. She creates a distance between the husband and wife just by leaving everything in the house the way Rebecca wanted.
The story takes the classic Cinderella story and shows us what happens after the ball. The rags-to-riches convention is taken to a new level, when our protagonist is given the life she’s always wanted but not the security of a loving marriage. Nowadays the rags-to-riches stories has a gloss to them Rebecca doesn’t making it more enjoyable. We don’t know until the very end if the lovers work through their
difficulties.
Whereas in The DUFF, the classic girl meets boy convention is used. In this case, the two already know each from childhood but grew apart in their early teens. This method compels the reader to believe there may already be a connection there without outright stating it. Another convention is the use of the disapproving authority figure, Bianca’s father. He becomes a darker, abusive version of himself. He dislikes her relationship with Wesley and eventually strikes her for taking an opposing view. Both of these create a constant rising tension in the novel leading readers wanting more.
Finally, the theme I see connecting both of these novels together, despite the space of time between publications, is disillusionment. The second Mrs. de Winter is struck with a sudden disillusion about how her married life will be at Manderley upon meeting Mrs. Danvers. Bianca’s disillusionment steams from seeing her father turn into an abusive drunk only to get his life together for another woman and her children. Both books are truly fascinating to analyze and I look forward to digging deeper into them in the coming weeks.
The struggle to find yourself is something every person, of either gender, can relate to. I chose Rebecca because of the obstacles the protagonist faces throughout …show more content…
the book. A degrading older boss, a distant husband, and an inferiority complex with her husband’s first wife are just a few examples. All the while remaining nameless in the book. These struggles and her handling of them are the types of stories I love writing. Rebecca focuses on one woman’s struggle with her sense of worthiness, The DUFF, however, focuses on the viewpoint of independent Bianca Piper.
Ordinarily, Bianca knows exactly who she is and needs approval from no one.
Consequently, when Bianca’s world turns to chaos, we the readers see her making choice after choice that goes against who we believed she was. Hence, the reason I chose to pair this book with Rebecca is for the strength they gain. These women lose themselves in their own eyes. The fight to re-establish who they are creates a beautiful journey to read.
One of the best parts about selecting these books is the large span of time between the two. Literature has changed so much in that time. Although literary conventions, the techniques writers use to convey a message, have remained largely the unchanged, the ways to use them have evolved. In Rebecca the most prominent convention is the love triangle. Instead of the triangle being between three people, du Maurier writes it in subtle manner. She creates a distance between the husband and wife just by leaving everything in the house the way Rebecca wanted.
The story takes the classic Cinderella story and shows us what happens after the ball. The rags-to-riches convention is taken to a new level, when our protagonist is given the life she’s always wanted but not the security of a loving marriage. Nowadays the rags-to-riches stories has a gloss to them Rebecca doesn’t making it more enjoyable. We don’t know until the very end if the lovers work through their
difficulties.
Whereas in The DUFF, the classic girl meets boy convention is used. In this case, the two already know each from childhood but grew apart in their early teens. This method compels the reader to believe there may already be a connection there without outright stating it. Another convention is the use of the disapproving authority figure, Bianca’s father. He becomes a darker, abusive version of himself. He dislikes her relationship with Wesley and eventually strikes her for taking an opposing view. Both of these create a constant rising tension in the novel leading readers wanting more.
Finally, the theme I see connecting both of these novels together, despite the space of time between publications, is disillusionment. The second Mrs. de Winter is struck with a sudden disillusion about how her married life will be at Manderley upon meeting Mrs. Danvers. Bianca’s disillusionment steams from seeing her father turn into an abusive drunk only to get his life together for another woman and her children. Both books are truly fascinating to analyze and I look forward to digging deeper into them in the coming weeks.