A-Level OCR English Gothic Literature Essay Exemplar (27/30 - A)
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Course
Gothic
Institution
OCR
This essay is a critical appreciation of an extract from Du Maurier's 'Rebecca' (1938), and achieved a 27/30 (A) in my exam. Feedback is included, as well as the question.
Write a critical appreciation of this passage, relating your discussion to your reading
of the Gothic (30 marks).
Within this extract, Du Maurier adopts a first person narrator within the documentation of a
lucid dream. In this way, ‘Rebecca’ is placed at the heart of the gothic through the discussion
of dreams, the gothic edifice and the overpowering existence of nature against a Western
background.
Through Frued’s interpretation of dreams, it is identified that dreams encapsulate an
individual’s conscious desires. With such a theory at play, the first clause of the extract
embodies this instinctual desire, with the narration of an ‘iron gate’. This particular use of
lexis - ‘iron’ - holds greater volume and definition when alluding to a theme of confinement
and unease. The narrator explicitly states that ‘the way was barred to me’, accentuating this.
In this way, the language and despondent tone work hand in hand to establish and
emphasise a particularly unwelcoming setting, with a foundation of unease and unclear
intentions on behalf of the narrator. This unease is significantly relevant to Harer’s
impression of the Count’s castle in Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ (1897), and this recurring theme of
dreams is similarly prominent - with reference to Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Within the
narrator’s dream, there is consistent imagery of the aforementioned unwelcoming tone, and
this, alongside the first person narration, creates tension in which the reader is left anxious
and anticipating; unknowing of what is to come. The fact that the reader only knows what the
narrator knows heightens the ever-recurring theme of terror, in which - as defined by Ann
Radcliffe - is a state of being apprehensive in the likely event of something horrific occurring.
In other words, Du Maurier’s use of dreams internalises the narrator’s unconscious
comprehension and works to validate the renowned gothic theme of terror from uncanny
experiences.
Similarly, the second clause of the extract illustrates the typical gothic edifice, with reference
to the first clause’s ‘lodge’. In this clause, there is significantly greater emphasis on a widely
explored theme by romantics, nature. Initially, the narrator establishes a sense of liminality
as they pass through the gate ‘like a spirit’. This engraves an overwhelming feeling of
discomfort, as the reader finds themselves to be one with the narrator as they embark on
this unnerving physical and epistemological journey. In other words, this unstable state ties
in with the looming atmosphere of the ‘woods’ and this gothic setting almost conflicts with the
establishment of a ‘lodge’, in which the character is progressing from an urban to rural
placement. The ‘woods’ were described to have ‘triumphed in the end’, and this ambiguity
could allude to the drowning manner in which the narrator is losing themselves in this cursed
state of uncertainty within a deeply personally significant uey unfamiliar setting. This gothic
edifice not only alludes to the titular castle in Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ (1764), but
proves effective when categorising this physical placement as an ideal model for the late
years of gothic literature. Alongside this, the ‘crowded, dark and uncontrolled’ triple within
such an evidently short sentence highlights the slow pace of the extract, because while this
triple would perhaps discomfort the reader further, the sudden end of the sentence forces the
reader to hesitate and ponder anxiously about what they could possibly do to eradicate the
heightened sense of unease the unfamiliar setting draws them into. Also, there is mention of
a ‘church’ rather briefly, but this mention alone suggests a theme of repentance or utmost
regret that in this case, may completely sabotage the reader’s plans.
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