‘An invention…that bottled up a memory, like scent’: phantom fragrances in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca

ABSTRACT

In the opening chapters of Rebecca, du Maurier’s unnamed narrator makes a poignant remark about her desire to re-experience certain memories: ‘If only there could be an invention … that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale’. Although her suitor curtly dismisses this comment, readers should not be as quick to forget the tie that the narrator draws between memory and scent. In this article, I argue that fragrance is not an insignificant detail of du Maurier’s story but rather an emotively charged presence that can help readers better understand the relationship between the narrator and the first Mrs. de Winter. After discussing neurological and anthropological studies that have emerged around smell’s connection to memory and liminality, I explore moments in du Maurier’s text where fragrances reanimate Rebecca and create a visceral connection between the protagonist and this deceased yet very much present character. By examining the way Rebecca rises to the surface through smell, I ultimately show that odours play a pivotal role in allowing readers to recognize how her forceful and resilient personality continues to dismantle the boundaries of patriarchal control from beyond the grave.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• sensory studies
• fragrance
• memory
• Rebecca
• Daphne du Maurier

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Barbara Green for her encouragement, support, and insightful comments on earlier versions of this paper. I would also like to thank the Journal of Gender Studies editors and reviewers for their guidance and expertise.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Direct references to Rebecca will hereafter be cited parenthetically by page number.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stacy Sivinski

Stacy Sivinski is a PhD candidate in English and a Gender Studies minor at the University of Notre Dame. She explores intersections between fashion, bodily sensation, and gender, especially as they relate to the fin de siècle period. Her dissertation considers the ways New Women writers utilize positive portrayals of sensation as a means of contesting power hierarchies and promoting more fluid forms of identity-making. The project’s primary emphasis centres on moments in which pleasurable sensations (touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing/speaking) encourage female characters to experience a personal awakening and recognize tools that they can use to disrupt patriarchal systems. Stacy also possesses a passion for studying Appalachian literature and often explores this genre’s unique reliance on embodied forms of history. Her latest article, ‘Velvet, Silk, and Other Ecstasies: Affective Encounters with Clothes in Early Issues of Vogue’ will be published in the Journal of Modern Periodical Studies this upcoming fall.