Abstract

This research undertakes an analysis of Daphne du Maurier's novelistic achievements, challenging the standard genre classifications often assigned to her work and seeking to define the fundamental aspects of her narrative strategies. Moving beyond the constraints of genre conventions and biographical interpretations, the central aim is to illuminate the inherent literary power of her fiction. To this end, the study examines a carefully chosen selection of seven novels spanning her extensive literary career (nearly four decades): Jamaica Inn (1936), Rebecca (1938), My Cousin Rachel (1951), The Scapegoat (1957), The Flight of the Falcon (1965), The House on the Strand (1969), and Rule Britannia (1972), with the explicit exclusion of works based on factual or historical events.
The findings of this research reveal several key insights. Primarily, it argues that analyzing Daphne du Maurier's novels through the lens of genre conventions is not the most fruitful approach. Instead, it advocates for an analysis centered on the concept of Uncertainty. Furthermore, it identifies a discernible literary chronology, organized into three distinct cycles: the Gothic Romance cycle, the Masculine cycle, and the Speculative cycle. Finally, this thesis observes the author's dynamic relationship with genre conventions, emphasizing her consistent resistance to being bound by any single category and the proactive creation of her own writing conditions to sustain her exploration of uncertainty.