Daphne du Maurier, one ofthe greatest female English authors and playwrights, was highly valued byanother famous English writer E.M.Foster. He praised that no one else canrepeat the success of Daphne du Maurier , that is to break the line betweenpopular fiction and pure literature, and let his works meet all demands ofthese two kinds of literature at the same time. Although she is always regardedas a romantic novelist, her stories have been described as "moody andresonant" with overtones of the paranormal. At first her bestselling worksare not taken seriously by critics, but later have earned an enduringreputation for narrative craft. Many of her works have been successfullyadapted into films. Here some of her famous works include the novels: Rebecca, My Cousin Rache, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories : The Birds, Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight.

Du Maurier’s work Rebecca published in 1938 and it is one of Du Maurier's most successful works. After the book was published, itcaused an immediate hit: selling nearly 3 million copiesbetween 1938 and 1965. The novel has never gone out of print and hasbeen adapted for both stage and screen several times. In the U.S. Rebecca won the National Book Award for favorite novel of 1938, voted by members of the American Booksellers Association. In the UK, it was listed at number 14 of the"nation's best-loved novel" on the BBC's 2003 survey “The Big Read” among 20 novels.

Rebecca is writtenin first person narration, the whole story is going on through what Mrs. DeWinter--the main character of this story—has experienced in Manderly. Since thestory is so attractive and the main female character is such a lovely girl,this book have made a great success. After the book is published, readers are pleasedto talk about Mrs. De Winter and she is highly praised for her innocence andpurity. There are lots of book reviews and papers discuss her character andimage, while another extremely significant role the last Mrs. De Winter:Rebecca seems not really welcomed by critics. Critics and scholars are morepreferred to discuss the gothic elements and feminist included in Rebeccarather than expend their energy and ink to analyze a so called infamous woman. Fora long time critics see Rebecca as a licentious woman, the embodiment ofhypocrisy, and even an evil who is wearing human skin. However, most of them regardCarmen —the protagonist of Prosper Merimee's novel Carmen who has thesame temperament as Rebecca— as the representation of freedom and feminism. Butjust like every coin has its both sides, every human has his virtues andblemishes. Thus Rebecca won’t be a totally villain.

This paper will focus on Mrs. De Winter’s narration to analyzeRebecca’s actions and thoughts, in order to dig up a more real characteristicof this woman who is hovering around Manderley like a ghost, and it is tryingto abandon the stereotypes about Rebecca and analyze her image in a new way.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

Content：

This paper will divided into the followfour parts.