Maurier

- August 22, 2011

TODAYS PERSONALITY:

Maurier.

Contents

1 Early life

2 Novels, short stories and biographies

3 Plays

4 Personal names, titles and honours

5 Plagiarism accusations

6 Personal life

6.1 Secret sexual relationships

7 Death

8 Cultural references

9 Publications

9.1 Fiction

9.2 Non-fiction

9.3 Translations

10 See also

11 References

12 Further reading and other sources

13 External links

Early life

Daphne du Maurier was born in London, the second of three daughters of the prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du

Maurier and actress Muriel Beaumont (maternal niece of William Comyns Beaumont).[1] Her grandfather was the author

and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the novel Trilby.

These connections helped her in establishing her literary career, and du Maurier published some of her very early work in

Beaumont's Bystander magazine. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931.

Du Maurier was also the cousin of the Llewelyn Davies boys, who served as J.M. Barrie's inspiration for the characters in

the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. As a young child, she met many of the brightest stars of the

theatre, thanks to the celebrity of her father. On meeting Tallulah Bankhead, she was quoted as saying that the actress was

the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.[citation needed]

Novels, short stories and biographies

Influences

Influenced

Literary critics have sometimes berated du Maurier's works for not being "intellectually heavyweight" like those of George

Eliot or Iris Murdoch.[citation needed] By the 1950s, when the socially and politically critical "angry young men" were in

vogue, her writing was felt by some to belong to a bygone age.[citation needed] Today, she has been reappraised as a firstrate

storyteller, a mistress of suspense. Her ability to recreate a sense of place is much admired, and her work remains

popular worldwide. For several decades she was the most popular author for library book borrowings.[citation needed]

The novel Rebecca, which has been adapted for stage and screen on several occasions, is generally regarded as her

masterpiece. One of her strongest influences here was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Her fascination with the Brontë

family is also apparent in The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë, her biography of the troubled elder brother to the Brontë

girls. The fact that their mother had been Cornish no doubt added to her interest.[citation needed]

Other notable works include The Scapegoat, The House on the Strand, and The King's General. The latter is set in the

middle of the first and second English Civil Wars. Though written from the Royalist perspective of her native Cornwall, it

gives a fairly neutral view of this period of history.

Several of her other novels have also been adapted for the screen, including Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek, Hungry

Hill, and My Cousin Rachel (1951). The Hitchcock film The Birds (1963) is based on a treatment of one of her short

stories, as is the film Don't Look Now (1973). Of the films, du Maurier often complained that the only ones she liked were

Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now. Hitchcock's treatment of Jamaica Inn involved a

complete rewrite of the ending to accommodate the ego of its star, Charles Laughton. Du Maurier also felt that Olivia de

Havilland was totally wrong as the (anti-)heroine in My Cousin Rachel.[2] Frenchman's Creek fared rather better with its

lavish Technicolor sets and costumes. Du Maurier later regretted her choice of Alec Guinness as the lead in the film of The

Scapegoat, which she partly financed.[3]

Du Maurier was often categorised as a "romantic novelist" (a term she deplored),[4] though most of her novels, with the

notable exception of Frenchman's Creek, are quite different from the stereotypical format of a Georgette Heyer or a

Barbara Cartland novel. Du Maurier's novels rarely have a happy ending, and her brand of romanticism is often at odds with

the sinister overtones and shadows of the paranormal she so favoured. In this light, she has more in common with the

"sensation novels" of Wilkie Collins et al., which she admired.[3]

Du Maurier's novel Mary Anne (1954) is a fictionalised account of the real-life story of her great-great-grandmother, Mary

Anne Clarke née Thompson (1776–1852). From 1803 to 1808, Mary Anne Clarke was mistress of Frederick Augustus,

Duke of York and Albany (1763–1827). He was the "Grand Old Duke of York" of the nursery rhyme, a son of King

George III and brother of the later King George IV.

In Ken Follett's thriller The Key to Rebecca, du Maurier's novel Rebecca is used as the key for a code used by a German

spy in World War II Cairo. Neville Chamberlain is reputed to have read Rebecca on the plane journey that led to Adolf

Hitler signing the Munich Agreement.

The central character of her last novel, Rule Britannia, is an aging and eccentric actress who was based on Gertrude

Lawrence and Gladys Cooper (to whom it is dedicated). However, the character is most recognisably du Maurier

herself.[citation needed]

Indeed, it was in her short stories that she was able to give free rein to the harrowing and terrifying side of her imagination;

"The Birds", "Don't Look Now", "The Apple Tree" and "The Blue Lenses" are exquisitely crafted tales of terror that

shocked and surprised her audience in equal measure.

A more recent discovery of a collection of du Maurier's forgotten short stories, written when the author was 21, provides an

intriguing insight into the writer she was to become. One of them, "The Doll", is a suspense-driven gothic tale about a young

woman's obsession with a mechanical male sex doll; it has been deemed by du Maurier's son Kit Browning as being "quite

ahead of its time".[5]

Perhaps more than at any other time, du Maurier was anxious as to how her bold new writing style would be received, not

just by her readers (and to some extent her critics, though by then she had grown wearily accustomed to their often

lukewarm reviews) but also by her immediate circle of family and friends.

In later life, she wrote nonfiction, including several biographies that were well received. This, no doubt, came from a deeprooted

desire to be accepted as a serious writer, comparing herself to her neighbour, A. L. Rowse, the celebrated historian

and essayist, who lived a few miles away from her house near Fowey.

Also of interest are the "family" novels/biographies that du Maurier wrote of her own ancestry, of which Gerald, the

biography of her father, was most lauded. Later she wrote The Glass-Blowers, which traces her French ancestry and gives

a vivid depiction of the French Revolution. The du Mauriers is a sequel of sorts describing the somewhat problematic ways

in which the family moved from France to England in the 19th century and finally Mary Anne, the novel based on the life of a

notable, and infamous, English ancestor—her great-grandmother Mary Anne Clarke, former mistress of Frederick, Duke of

York.

Her final novels reveal just how far her writing style had developed. The House on the Strand (1969) combines elements of

"mental time-travel", a tragic love affair in 14th century Cornwall, and the dangers of using mind-altering drugs. Her final

novel, Rule Britannia, written post-Vietnam, plays with the resentment of English people in general and Cornish people in

particular at the increasing dominance of the U.S.

In late 2006, a previously unknown work titled And His Letters Grew Colder was discovered by Ann Willmore of

Bookends of Fowey. This was estimated to have been written in the late 1920s and takes the form of a series of letters

tracing an adulterous, passionate affair from initial ardour to deflated acrimony.

Plays

Daphne du Maurier wrote three plays. Her first was a successful adaptation of her novel Rebecca, which opened at the

Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1940 in a production by George Devine, starring Celia Johnson and Owen Nares

as the De Winters and Margaret Rutherford as Mrs. Danvers. At the end of May, following a run of 181 performances, the

production transferred to the Strand Theatre, with Jill Furse taking over as Mrs. De Winter and Mary Merrall as Danvers,

with a further run of 176 performances.

In the summer of 1943, she began writing the autobiographically inspired drama The Years Between about the unexpected

return of a senior officer, thought killed in action, who finds that his wife has taken his seat as Member of Parliament and has

started a romantic relationship with a local farmer. It was first staged at the Manchester Opera House in 1944 and then

transferred to London, opening at Wyndham's Theatre on 10 January 1945, starring Nora Swinburne and Clive Brook. The

production, directed by Irene Hentschel, became a long-running hit, completing 617 performances. After 60 years of

neglect, it was revived by Caroline Smith at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames on 5 September 2007,

starring Karen Ascoe and Mark Tandy.[6]

Better known is her third play, September Tide, about a middle-aged woman whose bohemian artist son-in-law falls for

her. The central character of Stella was originally based on Ellen Doubleday and was merely what Ellen might have been in

an English setting and in a different set of circumstances. Again directed by Irene Hentschel, it opened at the Aldwych

Theatre on 15 December 1948 with Gertrude Lawrence as Stella, enjoying a run of 267 performances before closing at the

beginning of August 1949. It was to lead to a close personal and social relationship between Daphne and Gertrude.

Since then, September Tide has received occasional revivals, most recently at the Comedy Theatre in London in January

1994, starring film and stage actress Susannah York as Stella with Michael Praed as the saturnine young artist. Reviewing

the production for the Richmond & Twickenham Times, critic John Thaxter wrote: "The play and performances delicately

explore their developing relationship. And as the September gales batter the Cornish coast, isolating Stella's cottage from the

outside world, she surrenders herself to the truth of a moment of unconventional tenderness."

In 2005, "September Tide" adapted by Moya O'Shea and Produced/Directed by Tracey Neale was broadcast on BBC

Radio 4 and starred Paula Wilcox as Stella and Jonathan Firth as Evan. It has since been repeated on BBC 7.

Personal names, titles and honours

She was known as Daphne du Maurier from 1907 to 1932 when she became Mrs Frederick Browning while writing as

Daphne du Maurier (1932–1946). She was titled Lady Browning; Daphne du Maurier (1946–1969). Later, on receiving

the honorific Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, she was Lady Browning; Dame Daphne du Maurier

DBE (1969–1989).

When in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for June 1969 Daphne du Maurier was created a Dame Commander of the

Order of the British Empire,[7] she accepted but never used the title. According to Margaret Forster, she told no one about

the honour, so that even her children only learned of it from the newspapers. "She thought of pleading illness for the

investiture, until her children insisted it would be a great day for the older grandchildren. So she went through with it, though

she slipped out quietly afterwards to avoid the attention of the press".[8]

Plagiarism accusations

Shortly after Rebecca was published in Brazil, critic Álvaro Lins and other readers pointed out many resemblances between

du Maurier's book and the work of Brazilian writer Carolina Nabuco. Nabuco's A sucessora (The Successor) has a main

plot similar to Rebecca, including a young woman marrying a widower and the strange presence of the first wife—plot

features also shared with the far older Jane Eyre. Nina Auerbach claimed in her book Daphne du Maurier, Haunted

Heiress that du Maurier had read the Brazilian book when the first drafts were sent to be published in England and based

her famous bestseller on it. "Ms. Nabuco had translated her novel into French and sent it to a publisher in Paris, who she

learned was also Ms. du Maurier's".

The controversy reached The New York Times Book Review, which exhaustively compared excerpts from both books.

According to Nabuco's memoirs, when Hitchcock's movie Rebecca was first shown in Brazil, United Artists wanted her to

sign a document saying that all the similarities were merely a coincidence. The Brazilian writer refused to sign it.[9]

According to the New York Times Book Review, in an article published in November 5, 2002, these were the words on

Nabuco's memoirs, on this episode: "When the film version of 'Rebecca' came to Brazil, the producers' lawyer sought out

my lawyer to ask him that I sign a document admitting the possibility of there having been a mere coincidence. I would be

compensated with a quantity described as 'of considerable value.' I did not consent, naturally.[10]

Du Maurier denied having copied Nabuco's book, as did her publisher, claiming that the plot used in Rebecca was quite

common.[11] According to Nabuco and her editor, not only the main plot, but also situations and entire dialogues had been

copied.[12] More recently, the NY Times Book Review brought the issue back to attention on the subject of the book The

Life of Pi, allegedly plagiarized from a short story by Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar.[citation needed]

Personal life

She married Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick "Boy" Browning, with whom she had two daughters, Tessa and Flavia, and a

son, Christian. Tessa Browning (b. 1933) married Major Peter de Zulueta, whom she divorced and married David

Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1970. Flavia (b. 1937) married Captain Alastair Tower, whom she

divorced, before marrying General Sir Peter Leng. Christian (b. 1940) became a photographer and film-maker.

Biographers have noted that the marriage was at times somewhat chilly and that du Maurier could be aloof and distant to her

children, especially the girls, when immersed in her writing.[13] "Boy" died in 1965 and soon after Daphne moved to

Kilmarth, near Par, which became the setting for The House on the Strand.

Du Maurier has often been painted as a frostily private recluse who rarely mixed in society or gave interviews.[13] An

exception to this came after the release of the film A Bridge Too Far, in which her late husband was portrayed in a lessthan-

flattering light. Du Maurier, incensed, wrote to the national newspapers, decrying what she considered unforgivable

treatment.[14] Once out of the glare of the public spotlight, however, many remembered her as a warm and immensely funny

person who was a welcoming hostess to guests at Menabilly,[3] the house she leased for many years (from the Rashleigh

family) in Cornwall. Letters from Menabilly contains the letters from du Maurier to Oriel Malet over 30 years, with Malet's

commentary. (Malet's real name is Auriel Malet Vaughan.)

Daphne du Maurier was a member of the Cornish nationalist pressure group/political party Mebyon Kernow. She was

spoofed by her slightly older fellow writer P. G. Wodehouse as "Daphne Dolores Morehead".

Secret sexual relationships

After her death in 1989, numerous references were made to her secret bisexuality; an affair with Gertrude Lawrence, as well

as her attraction for Ellen Doubleday, the wife of her American publisher, were cited.[13] Du Maurier stated in her memoirs

that her father had wanted a son; and, being a tomboy, she had naturally wished to have been born a boy. Her father,

unusually for such a prominent theatre personality, was vociferously anti-homosexual. There is some evidence to suggest that

Daphne's relationship with her father may have bordered on incest.[15]

In correspondence released by her family for the first time to her biographer, Margaret Forster, du Maurier explained to a

trusted few her own unique slant on her sexuality: her personality, she explained, comprised two distinct people—the loving

wife and mother (the side she showed to the world) and the lover (a decidedly male energy) hidden to virtually everyone and

the power behind her artistic creativity. According to the biography, du Maurier believed the male energy was the demon

that fuelled her creative life as a writer.[16] Forster maintains that it became evident in personal letters revealed after her

death, however, that du Maurier's denial of her bisexuality unveiled a homophobic fear of her true nature.[13]

Death

Du Maurier died aged 81 at her home in Cornwall, which had been the setting for many of her books. Her body was

cremated and her ashes scattered at Kilmarth.[7]

Cultural references

English Heritage created controversy in June 2008 when they rejected an application to commemorate her home in

Hampstead with a Blue Plaque.

Daphne du Maurier was one of five "Women of Achievement" selected for a set of British stamps issued in August 1996.

The others were Dorothy Hodgkin (scientist), Margot Fonteyn (ballerina), Elizabeth Frink (sculptor), and Marea Hartman

(sports administrator).

Publications

Fiction

The Loving Spirit (1931)

I'll Never Be Young Again (1932)

The Progress of Julius (1933) (later re-published as Julius)

Jamaica Inn (1936)

Rebecca (1938)

Rebecca (1940) (play—du Maurier's own stage adaptation of her novel)

Happy Christmas (1940) (short story)

Come Wind, Come Weather (1940) (short story collection)

Frenchman's Creek (1941)

Hungry Hill (1943)

The Years Between (1945) (play)

The King's General (1946)

September Tide (1948) (play)

The Parasites (1949)

My Cousin Rachel (1951)

The Apple Tree (1952) (short story collection, AKA Kiss Me Again, Stranger)

Mary Anne (1954)

The Scapegoat (1957)

Early Stories (1959) (short story collection, stories written between 1927–1930[17])

The Breaking Point (1959) (short story collection, AKA The Blue Lenses)

Castle Dor (1961) (with Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch[18])

The Birds and Other Stories (1963) (republication of The Apple Tree[19])

The Glass-Blowers (1963)

The Flight of the Falcon (1965)

The House on the Strand (1969)

Not After Midnight (1971) (short story collection, AKA Don't Look Now[20])

Rule Britannia (1972)

"The Rendezvous and Other Stories" (1980) (short story collection)

Non-fiction

Gerald (1934)

The du Mauriers (1937)

The Young George du Maurier (1951)

The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë (1960)

Vanishing Cornwall (includes photographs by her son Christian)(1967)

Golden Lads (1975)

The Winding Stairs (1976)

Growing Pains -— the Shaping of a Writer (1977) (a.k.a. Myself When Young -— the Shaping of a Writer)

Enchanted Cornwall (1989)

Translations

Hungry Hill (1943) was translated into Dutch and published under the title 'De kopermijn. De geschiedenis van

de familie Brodrick' (literally: The coppermine. The history of the family Brodrick).

Search This Blog

Kathir's Blog

Maurier

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

டாக்டர் மு.வரதராசனார் (1912 – 1974)

அருணகிரிநாதர்

காளமேகம்