J R answers “Do you think Mrs. Danvers was in love with...”

Leanna asked this question about Rebecca:

Do you think Mrs. Danvers was in love with Rebecca?

J R I think she may have loved her as a hybrid of a goddess a daughter. I don't know if she was in love with her as in a romantic sense; it could be read …moreI think she may have loved her as a hybrid of a goddess a daughter. I don't know if she was in love with her as in a romantic sense; it could be read that way but the fact that Mrs. Danvers was Rebecca's maid since she was a child makes that interpretation disturbing because it begs the question of, did Mrs. Danvers molest Rebecca? After all, Rebecca seems like she was a psychopath or at least had severe mental or emotional problems. By Danvers' own admission she once beat a horse until he was trembling, frothing, and bleeding. Even if you discount Max's version of his marriage, Rebecca wasn't a mentally healthy individual. Childhood sexual abuse usually doesn't turn most people into psychopaths, but it does traumatize them. If Mrs. Danvers was "in love with" Rebecca, then when did their relationship start? If Rebecca turned out the way she was at least partially due to Mrs. Danvers? And if they were in a relationship that only started much later, isn't it still creepy that Mrs. Danvers was in a romantic relationship with someone she would have practically raised (servants of the upper class were pretty much nannies back then)? I prefer to think of it as a twisted obsession, maybe mixed up with maternal love.(less)

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Phoenix J. Someone should write a prequel using this answer. I feel like it could be possible that Mrs Danvers molested Rebecca and retained that obsession with ...more
Feb 19, 2020 08:28PM

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