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Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 4 (23), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

All dictionaries of this series consist of two parts (Russian and English), each of which contains a hundred entries. The lexemes in the dictionaries are not arranged alphabetically but according to their place in the frequency lists of the lexemes of the Russian and English languages of this part of speech. Sememes in the dictionary entries are also arranged in decreasing order of frequency according to their index of communicative relevance. In case there are no examples for any sememe in the Corpus it is noted at the end of the dictionary entry as communicatively irrelevant. The main meaning (D1 sememe) [8] of each lexeme is marked in bold type. The meanings of the index of communicative relevance of each sememe are given in brackets after the example of its use from the Corpus.

Thus, the data given in the dictionaries of communicative relevance of sememes of the most frequent lexemes of Russian and English languages allows us to pay attention to the changes in the semantemes of the lexemes, to single out the meanings that are most in demand at this stage of the language development, and also to identify those that have become irrelevant and practically not used.

For example, from the dictionary entry of the Russian verbal lexeme dumat' (to think) it is clear that the D1 sememe is “to consider; to reflect” has the index of communicative relevance of only 20%, while the sememe of the same lexeme “to believe, to suppose, to assume, to have an opinion” has the index of communicative relevance 3.5 times more - 70.9%, from which it can be concluded that the main meaning of the word at this stage of development of the Russian language is losing its relevance.

Similarly, it is clear from the dictionary entry of the verbal lexeme see that the main meaning of this lexeme (the D1 sememe “videt' (to see”) is not the most demanded at this stage of language development, the first place from the point of view of communicative relevance the sememe “smotret' (to look)” is taken and its index of communicative relevance (33.7%) is almost 10 percent higher than the index of communicative relevance of the D1 sememe (23.9%).

It should be noted that the merit of the considered dictionaries of communicative relevance of the sememes is also the inclusion in the composition of the semantemes a number of sememes that have not been recorded in traditional dictionaries, but actually existing in the language and were found in the process of analyzing the material from the National Corpus of English and Russian languages.

On the whole, dictionaries of communicative relevance of the sememes of the most frequent Russian and English lexemes undoubtedly contain rich material for teachers of the corresponding languages as foreign, allowing to pay students attention to the most frequent sememes at this stage of language development and not focus on unclaimed meanings. This series of dictionaries is supposed to be continued with a similar dictionary of adjective sememes of Russian and English languages. This dictionary is in the final stage and after its publication the dictionaries of this series will cover all the main significant parts of the speech of Russian and English languages.

Let us consider one more series of dictionaries: contrastive semes dictionaries of lexical groups.

The first in the series is the dictionary of names of school teachers and students [9].

The dictionary contains 116 Russian and 93 English names of school teaching staff and students, making up in total 210 contrastive pairs. The dictionary is compiled on a thematic basis; contrastive pairs are presented in it by groups: names of teachers and students.

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A distinctive feature of this dictionary is that for each contrastive pair the type of translated correspondence is defined and indicated. The conclusion about the type of correspondence is made on the basis of the scale of types of translated correspondences developed within the com- parative-parametric method of linguistic research [10]. This scale is based on the integrated index of lexemes identity introduced by L. V. Lukina, calculated as the arithmetic average of the indices of denotational, connotational and functional identity of lexemes of each pair, each of which is carried out through the ratio of coinciding denotational, connotational and functional semes respectively to the total number of semes of this category [11].

On the basis of the analysis of the meanings of the integrated index of lexemes identity 6 types of possible translated correspondences have been singled out. Thus, with the index of integrated identity of 100%, a correspondence is considered equivalent, with the index of integrated identity from 76% to 99% - optimal, from 51% to 75% - suitable, from 26% to 50% - acceptable. If the index meaning is less than 25%, a correspondence is considered unsuitable. The complete discrepancy between the indices of denotational, connotational and functional identity leading to the zero meaning of the integrated index indicates the lack of correspondence.

The proposed dictionary makes it possible to visually and objectively appreciate the degree of semantic proximity of the units making up the contrastive pair, and to choose the best translated correspondence which is important both for educational purposes and in translation practice. For example, in the mentioned dictionary there are 8 contrastive pairs with a lexeme uchitel' (teacher), two of which (uchitel' - teacher, uchitel' - schoolteacher) are optimal correspondences, five (uchitel' - pedagogue, uchitel' - educator, uchitel' - coach, uchitel' - schoolmaster, uchitel' - tutor) - suitable, and one (uchitel' - beak) - unsuitable.

This dictionary, as has been already noted, was the first published in this series. However, it was preceded the Contrastive Seme Russian-English Dictionary of Speech Events created by L.V. Lukina as a supplement to her Candidate's dissertation [11, p. 189-374]. This dictionary, in contrast to the one described above, is based on an alphabetical principal; it contains the optimal and single correspondences. Thus, this dictionary is also very useful for both teachers and translators.

Concluding consideration of this series of dictionaries, it is significant to note that it, like the series considered above, is supposed to continue.

Conclusion

The study showed that at present the comparative lexicography is undergoing a period of rapid development. Especially quickly, comparative lexicography began to develop from the middle of the first decade of the 21st century after the appearance of a new area of comparative research, which has been called comparative-parametric method [10]. The use of the compara- tive-parametric method the goal of which is to objectify the results of linguistic research, made it possible for compilers of dictionaries to rely on objective quantitative characteristics and thus overcome the subjectivism of the lexicographic description. It should be noted that the creation of two of the considered three series of dictionaries (dictionaries of communicative relevance of the sememes of the most frequent Russian and English words of different parts of speech and contrastive semes dictionaries of English and Russian lexical groups) the lexicographic description in which is based on the meanings of the corresponding indices, has been possible due to the appearance of comparative-parametric method.

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The analyzed new series of bilingual dictionaries created within the framework of the Voronezh school of comparative studies allow us to conclude about the prospects for the further development of comparative lexicography. These perspectives are seen in the development of these series of English-Russian dictionaries, as well as in the creation of similar dictionaries on the material of other pairs of languages.

References

[1]Mahonina A. A. Anglo-russkij slovar'. Sushchestvitel'noe / A. A Mahonina, M. A. Sternina – Voronezh: Istoki, 2006. – 305 s.

[2]Petrosyan ZH. V. Anglo-russkij slovar' bezehkvivalentnoj leksiki. Prilagatel'noe / ZH. V. Petrosyan, M. A. Sternina – Voronezh: Istoki, 2011. – 127 s.

[3]Suhanova O. V. Anglo-russkij slovar' bezehkvivalentnoj leksiki. Glagol/ O. V. Suhanova, M. A. Sternina– Voronezh: Istoki, 2012. – 295 s.

[4]Kopylenko M.M. Ocherki po obshchej frazeologii / M.M. Kopylenko, Z.D. Popova – Voronezh, 1989. – 191 s.

[5]Krivenko L. A., Sternina M. A. Slovar' kommunikativnoj relevantnosti semem naibolee chastotnyh substantivnyh leksem russkogo i anglijskogo yazykov / L. A. Krivenko, M. A. Sternina – Voronezh: Istoki, 2013. – 117 s.

[6]Nikitina I. N. Slovar' kommunikativnoj relevantnosti semem naibolee chastotnyh glag-

[7]Kochetova N. V. Slovar' kommunikativnoj relevantnosti semem naibolee chastotnyh adverbial'nyh leksem russkogo i anglijskogo yazykov/ N. V. Kochetova, M. A. Sternina – Voronezh: Istoki, 2016 – 93 s.

[8]Krivenko L.A. Nacional'naya specifika semantem russkoj i anglijskoj substantivnoj leksiki: avtoref. diss. … kand. filol. nauk/ L. A. Krivenko. – Voronezh, 2013. – 22 s.

[9]Kozel'skaya D.V. Kontrastivnyj semnyj slovar' naimenovanij shkol'nyh pedagogicheskih rabotnikov i uchashchihsya v russkom i anglijskom yazykah/ D.V. Kozel'skaya, M. A. Sternina – Voronezh: Ritm, 2018. – 90 s.

[10]Sternina M.A. Sopostavitel'no-parametricheskij metod lingvisticheskih issledovanij / M. A. Sternina – Voronezh: Istoki, 2014. – 115 s.

[11]Lukina L.V. Nacional'naya specifika semantiki slova i problema mezh"yazykovoj semanticheskoj ehkvivalentnosti (na materiale naimenovanij rechevyh sobytij v russkom i anglijskom yazykah): diss. … kand. filol. nauk /L. V. Lukina – Voronezh, 2008. – 374 s.

Dictionaries used

[1**] Mahonina A.A. Anglo-russkij tematicheskij slovar' bezehkvivalentnoj leksiki / A.A. Mahonina, M.A. Sternina. – M: FLINTA, 2019. – 480 s.

[2**] Lyashevskaya O.N. CHastotnyj slovar' sovremennogo russkogo yazyka / O.N. Lyashevskaya, S.A. SHarov. – Izd. «Azbukovnik», 2009. – 1112 s.

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UDC 82

ARTISTIC DETAIL AS A TOOL OF CREATING THE ANTAGONIST IMAGE

IN THE NOVEL “REBECCA” BY DAPHNE DU MAURIER

D.A. Knyazeva, L.V. Paloiko

Samara State Technical University PhD, Associate Professor

of Foreign Languages Department Daria A. Knyazeva

e-mail: knyazevadaryana@gmail.com

Samara State Technical University PhD, Associate Professor

of Foreign Languages Department Liudmila V. Paloiko

e-mail: skoro-milo@yandex.ru

Statement of the problem. The article defines the concept of "the object image". The artistic details that contribute to the disclosure of the image of the antagonist are distinguished. The language means for describing the object images are analyzed from the point of view of their contribution to the creation of the image of Rebecca de Winter in the novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

Results. The analyzed linguistic material allows to identify the details of the object images, which are the key means of creating the image of the antagonist. Linguistic analysis of the text fragments shows that while describing the object world Daphne Du Maurier mainly uses syntactic means, such as inversion, repetitions, polysyndeton, syntactic parallelism, figures of attachment and detachment. Among the expressive means of the lexical level, we have identified metonymy and numerous cases of epithets.

Conclusion. The identified details of the material world are the key means for creating Rebecca’s image. With their help, the author forms the image of a busy, efficient, authoritative, strong, bright and self-assured person. Analysis of linguistic and verbal means of creating images of the material world showed that the author deliberately endues the details of the object world with personifying elements, thereby forcing readers to suspect that Rebecca is alive and to reinforce the suspense.

Key words: artistic detail, artistic image, object image, antagonist, suspense technique, complex philological analysis, language means, verbal and speech means.

For citation: Knyazeva D.A., Paloiko L.V. Artistic detail as a tool of creating the antagonist image in the novel

“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier / D.A. Knyazeva, L.V. Paloiko // Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Me- thodical-and-didactic Researches”. – 2018. - №4 (23). – P. 17-25

Introduction

The novel Rebecca, published in 1938, is the most famous work of the English writer Daphne Du Maurier (1907 - 1989), the author of numerous love, historical and psychological novels, mystical stories, as well as several plays and a number of documentary books [1, p. 155]. The literary text under study is written in the suspense technique. We consider that suspense is successfully applied largely due to the talentedly created image of the antagonist of the novel - Rebecca de Winter. This literary technique still does not have a precise definition in science, however, in this article we tried to figure out the mechanism for creating the effect of anxious waiting (suspense) on the example of the novel Rebecca. This article aims to analyze

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© Knyazeva D.A., Paloiko L.V., 2018

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the parameters of the antagonist image, through which Daphne Du Maurier manages to create the effect of this character’s presence in the novel, who died before the onset of the events described, and thereby keep the reader in suspense until the very end.

Methodology

The object of the study is the image of the antagonist Rebecca de Winter in the novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The subject of the study is artistic details that contribute to the disclosure of the antagonist image, as well as verbal-speech and proper language means of describing the object images.

The purpose of the study is to highlight the artistic details that contribute to the disclosure of the antagonist image and to analyze which verbal-speech and proper language means of things’ describing Daphne Du Maurier uses to form the image of Rebecca de Winter in the reader’s mind.

The actual corpus of the study material consists of 5 things that belonged to Rebecca and are significant for revealing her image. The investigated object images that represent the personal belongings of the antagonist include: a book of poems, a writing table, a guest book, a handkerchief, a mackintosh.

We used a method of general philological analysis of the text, which synthesizes the methodological tools of linguostylistics, linguopoetics and literary studies to solve the problems of the study.

Research results

The suspense technique consists in the construction of the plot, where, along with the key main culmination, several local climax moments are introduced. They maintain the reader’s constant tension and gradually lead to a solution [1, p. 155]. This literary technique still does not have an exact definition in science and is usually defined by describing the mood in which novels based on this technique are shrouded, such as: “uncertainty, ambiguity, anxiety, anticipation, pendency” [2, p. 29]. The unpredictable plot, gloomy entourage, as well as the mysteriousness of the characters make the reader to anticipate the most terrible events, to crave the disclosure of sinister secrets.

One of the main literary techniques for creating an ominous, mysterious atmosphere, the feeling of a threat hanging over the main character, is the antagonist image skillfully conveyed by the author. The image of Rebecca is very unique and complex as she is an “absent” character. At the beginning of the novel, the reader finds out that she is dead. The novel is narrated in the first person, who is the second Mrs. de Winter, a young girl. A rich widower Maxim de Winter marries her after Rebecca’s death. The narrator never met Maxim's first wife, but with the help of “her words” the author forms the antagonist image in the reader’s mind.

The main tools for the formation of the antagonist image are: 1) object images that belonged to Rebecca during her lifetime; 2) the attitude towards her of the secondary characters of the novel, expressed in the form of memories. In this article we will focus on the object images, since such a significant and wide parameter of the literary image as the attitude towards him of secondary characters requires a separate, independent study.

As the object images of things that belonged to Rebecca are an integral part of the antagonist image formation, we shall consider the concept of “the object image”.

The study of such an important aspect of a literary text as object images started only in recent decades (works by N.Yu. Goncharova 2014, I.A. Zhavoronok 2012, M.A. Kashina 2000,

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Yu.N. Kutafina 1999, E.S. Myakinina 2006, V.N. Levina 2009, E.A. Razumovskaya 2013, D.A. Saraeva 2017) [3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10].

Thus, within the framework of one of the most recent scientific works devoted to the study of images of the real world, D.A. Saraeva explores the images of the material world in the semantic space of a literary piece of work [10, p. 28]. According to the author, images of material world occupy a certain place in the figurative system of a text [10, p. 31]. Considering the results of the above-mentioned works, let us summarize the various points of view on the term “object image”.

Literary scholars share the opinion that the author’s vision of the world reflects the depiction of things (objects) [4, p. 5]. The famous researcher A.P. Chudakov whose works are based on a deep analysis of the material world images and artistic details in the works of Russian writers, believed that the term “writer’s world” should include “terminological content”. The combination of descriptive real images, or “original and unique vision of things and spiritual phenomena, captured verbally”, allows the reader to interpret a particular literary work [11, p. 3].

Therefore, the world of object images creates the background, conditions or reasons for characters’ actions. The object images are motivated by the stated circumstances and designed for a certain reader awareness. Accordingly, artistic details that reveal object images are one of the most important components of a literary text.

Linguists have a different opinion. In particular, V.N. Levina writes that “the content of a literary text correlates with reality; an artistic vision of the world reflects both a logical and emotional interpretation of an objective vision of the world, contains value judgments, identifying itself with reality at the concept level” [7, p. 113]. Individual style is determined by the vocabulary that represents the vision of the author’s world, and at the same time, gives the uniqueness of each particular artistic vision of the world [12, p. 32]. It is the analysis of specific uses of textual units, in particular, landscape, portrait, interior, that underlies the text creation and perception [7, p. 243].

One of the examples of the author's marked lexical units can be the names of the object images. Some linguists’ works there are such terms as “the real world”, “the object lexicon”, “and the object image”, “the thing”. Referring to the dictionary definitions of the concept “thing”, we conclude that the real (or object) world is treated as everything real, material, that surrounds a person.

Things that are invariably present in human reality become one of the constituent parts of a literally transformed reality [13]. Accordingly, we understand a thing in a literary text as the entire set of objects created by a person, belonging to the real world. It can be a character's clothes, the interior of his/her house, personal objects and many other things that make up the usual sphere of cultural life.

For the purpose of in-depth analysis of the material world of a literary text, it is necessary to refer to the concept of “literary object”. After A.P. Chudakiv we identify this term as “conceivable realities that make up the depicted world of a literary text and which are located in literary space and exist in literary time” [11, p. 254].

For our study we consider the key statement of A.P. Chudakov that the “world of the writer” is divided into three important components: a) objects (natural and man-made), settled in the literary space-time and, thus, turned into literary objects; b) characters acting in the spatial

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material world and possessing an inner world; c) eventfulness which is inherent in both the aggregate of objects and characters. [11, p. 92].

We shall note that the researcher assigns the first place in the structure of a literary text to object images which form an integral and highly significant facet of literary imagery. Such images “enter” into literary texts in different ways. Most often, they are present in very few episodes of the text, often given casually. But sometimes the object images, individual objects, are highlighted and become the central link in the narrative. [14, p. 41].

We can’t but agree with the fact that the material world plays an important role both in the life of a person in the real world and in the world of the character of any literary text. The world of things is the habitat of people, an essential component of the culture of society. According to N.V. Toporov, “the thing outgrows its “thingness” and begins to act in the spiritual space” [15, p. 86], which indicates that any object is inextricably linked with the person’s behavior and consciousness. Obviously, the author of a text pays great attention to the creation of object images, since these images are symbolic, and they allow the reader to better understand the character, and to become a part of a space-time reality described in the text.

Quite often the object image is able to convey the psychological state of the character or judge about the development of the character’s personality. Objects in a literary text become a source of impressions and thought; they also correlate with personal experience and memory.

The world-modeling function of objects concludes in transferring the author's concept of the world. Things can reflect the way of life in general, as the author percepts it [4, p. 7]. The object images can be placed both in the center and on the periphery of the narration, depending on the writer’s worldview [13]. In any case, the description and functioning of the interior details or the personal belongings of characters help the reader to interpret the entire text.

Basing on the abovementioned facts, we interpret the object image as a literary image that describes all those material objects that surround the characters, creating the “background” of the literary text and revealing the essence of the characters [10, p. 37]. It should also be noted that the object images play an important role in the realization of the author's intention and its interpretation by the reader.

We have identified 5 things that belonged to Rebecca and which are of great importance for the revealing of her image. Let us consider each of them in detail.

1) Book of poems

I picked up the book again, and this time it opened at the title-page, and I read the dedication. 'Maxfrom Rebecca. 17 May', written in a curious slanting hand. A little blob of ink marred the white page opposite, as though the writer, in impatience, had shaken her pen to make the ink flow freely. And then as it bubbled through the nib, it came a little thick, so that the name Rebecca stood out black and strong, the tall and sloping R dwarfing the other letters. [1*, p.33].

This fragment describes the inscription in the book given to Max by Rebecca. Thanks to several linguostylistic devices the author depicts the antagonist as a living person showing her temperament, behavior, personality. The image of Rebecca «comes to life» due to the metonymic use of the word h a n d in the meaning of handwriting thanks to which the readers seem to see

Rebecca “in action”. The effect of impersonation is enhanced by the use of the epithet c u r i o u s

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with respect to the antagonist's handwriting while it is traditionally used to describe a personality. It is peculiar how the narrator imagines the way Rebecca was signing the book: the phrases i n i m p a t i e n c e and f l o w f r e e l y draw an image of a busy person who is nevertheless free in her gusts. The epithets s l a n t i n g , t h i c k , b l a c k , s t r o n g , t a l l , s l o p i n g , d w a r f i n g reveal the character of their author — a powerful, strong, bright, self-confident personality.

2) Writing table

But this writing-table, beautiful as it was, was no pretty toy where a woman would scribble little notes, nibbling the end of a pen, leaving it, day after day, in carelessness, the blotter a little askew. The pigeon-holes were docketed, 'letters unanswered', 'letters-to-keep', 'household', 'estate', 'menus', 'miscellaneous', 'addresses'; each ticket written in that same scrawling pointed hand that I knew already. [1*, p.83]

With the help of the adjective inversion in the phrase b e a u t i f u l a s i t w a s , the author directs the readers’ attention to the fact that Rebecca used to appreciate beautiful things. However, the stylistically marked negation in the first sentence of the paragraph – w a s n o p r e t t y t o y – completely contradicts the impression that the first mistress of Manderly led a lazy and idle way of life. In addition, the author again refers to Rebecca's handwriting, this time defining it as s c r a w l i n g (from the verb to scrawl - to write in a careless and untidy way, so that your words are not easy to read [1**]) and p o i n t e d . These epithets contribute to the image of an efficient and busy housewife of a large mansion. The labels on the pigeon-holes confirm this conclusion, emphasizing that Rebecca devoted considerable attention to maintaining Manderly in good order.

3) Guestbook

Rebecca's desire to keep the house under her strict control is also emphasized in the below description of the guestbook she docketed during her lifetime:

I opened a drawer at hazard, and there was the writing once more, this time in an open leather book, whose heading 'Guests at Manderley' showed at once, divided into weeks and months, what visitors had come and gone, the rooms they had used, the food they had eaten. I turned over the pages and saw that the book was a complete record of a year, so that the hostess, glancing back, would know to the day, almost to the hour, what guest had passed what night under her roof, and where he had slept, and what she had given him to eat. There was notepaper also in the drawer, thick white sheets, for rough writing, and the notepaper of the house, with the crest, and the address, and visiting cards, ivory white, in little boxes. [1*, p.84]

The orderliness and structuredness of the guestbook is emphasized by the stylistic inversion in combination with the syntactic parallelism (t h e r o o m s t h e y h a d u s e d , t h e f o o d t h e y h a d e a t e n ), as well as by the polysyndetone in the second part of the paragraph (a n d w h e r e h e h a d s l e p t , a n d w h a t s h e h a d g i v e n h i m t o e a t ; a n d t h e n o t e - p a p e r o f t h e h o u s e , w i t h t h e c r e s t , a n d t h e a d d r e s s , a n d v i s i t i n g

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Rebecca’s self-discipline and thoroughness, as she carefully kept track of all these issues. Colour symbolism for the description of Rebecca's business cards (ivory white) is also worth notice. Traditionally, ivory represents pureness, softness, elegance and cleanliness [16, 17]. This is obviously the image of herself Rebecca tried to create in the eyes of others by choosing this colour for her business cards.

4) Handkerchief

My fingers were messy with the butter from the crumpet, and I felt in my pocket for a handkerchief. I drew it out, a tiny scrap of a thing, lace edged. I stared at it, frowning, for it was not mine. I remembered then that Frith had picked it up from the stone floor of the hall. It must have fallen out of the pocket in the mackintosh. I turned it over in my hand. It was grubby; little bits of fluff from the pocket clung to it. It must have been in the mackintosh pocket for a long time. There was a monogram in the corner. A tall sloping R, with the letters de W interlaced. The R dwarfed the other letters, the tail of it ran down into the cambric, away from the laced edge. It was only a small handkerchief, quite a scrap of a thing. It had been rolled in a ball and put away in the pocket and forgotten. …

There was a pink mark upon the handkerchief. The mark of lipstick. She had rubbed her lips with the handkerchief, and then rolled it in a ball, and left it in the pocket. I wiped my fingers with the handkerchief, and as I did so I noticed that a dull scent clung about it still. A scent I recognised, a scent I knew. I shut my eyes and tried to remember. It was something elusive, something faint and fragrant that I could not name. I had breathed it before, touched it surely, that very afternoon.

And then I knew that the vanished scent upon the handkerchief was the same as the crushed white petals of the azaleas in the Happy Valley. [1*, p.118]

The repetition (a t i n y s c r a p o f a t h i n g ; q u i t e a s c r a p o f a t h i n g ) focuses the readers’ attention on a small size of the handkerchief. However, the fact that the author devotes two large paragraphs to its description indicates that the narrator is painfully and deeply distressed because of Rebecca’s possessions kept in the house. They make her feel like she has met with their owner herself. The phrases l a c e e d g e d and l a c e d e d g e , forming a peculiar grammatical chiasmus, emphasize again the antagonist's obsession with beautiful things. While describing the monogram the author almost literally reproduces the book inscription analyzed above. This highlights that the tall, sloping R is a kind of a personal sign, an individual marker of Rebecca’s handwriting.

Another marker of the former owner is a mark of lipstick on the handkerchief, pointed by the author at the beginning of the second paragraph with the help of the attachment. Nevertheless, the component that truly personifies this thing image and makes it inseparable from the image of the former owner is a faint scent. It is emphasized due to stylistic inversion in combination with syntactic parallelism (A s c e n t I r e c o g n i z e d , a s c e n t I k n e w ). In addition, numerous epithets describing this smell (d u l l , e l u s i v e , f a i n t , f r a g r a n t , v a n i s h e d ), show that it hovers vaguely in the air, like the spirit of Rebecca. Thus, the mark of lipstick and the scent of the handkerchief are two extremely important components of this artistic detail, contributing to the «materialization» of the image of the antagonist. Involuntarily the reader begins to suspect that Rebecca might be alive.

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It is also interesting to refer to the flower symbolism and find out what the azaleas are traditionally associated with. Known since ancient times this flower of the rhododendron family is a symbol of elegance and wealth, femininity and feminine beauty. The azalea tends to represent quite opposing qualities: temperance and emotional balance, on the one hand, and developing passion, on the other. Despite being an overwhelmingly positive plant, azaleas still have a dark side due to the association with death threats [18]. By resorting to this symbol, Daphne Du Maurier hints at contradictory nature of the image of Rebecca. Thanks to this association, we understand that beauty and femininity, elegance and luxury in things are only the «outer shell» of this artistic image. The author deliberately makes the readers feel that Rebecca had a dark side, which she skillfully hid from others behind the external gloss and ostentatious well-being.

5) Mackintosh

I must have been the first person to put on that mackintosh since the handkerchief was used. She who had worn the coat then was tall, slim, broader than me about the shoulders, for I had found it big and overlong, and the sleeves had come below my wrist. Some of the buttons were missing. She had not bothered then to do it up. She had thrown it over her shoulders like a cape, or worn it loose, hanging open, her hands deep in the pockets. [1*, p.118]

In the first place we are interested in the mackintosh as an artistic detail of Rebecca’s image, as it gives us a clue to her appearance. It is noteworthy that Rebecca's bodily constitution is juxtaposed with the constitution of the main character and the adjectives t a l l , b r o a d e r , b i g , o v e r l o n g emphasize the antagonist’s superiority. The author depicts Rebecca’s possible

phrases demonstrate the imperious and decisive character of the antagonist while the verb bother (S h e h a d n o t b o t h e r e d t h e n t o d o i t u p ) emphasizes her busy and active lifestyle for one more time.

It is noteworthy that the image of Rebecca pursues the narrator until the end of the novel. The main heroine, not daring to directly ask about the former Mrs. De Winter, collects small bits of information about the opponent by looking at her belongings. As a result, the main character seems «to revive» the opponent:

I t h o u g h t of the docketed pigeon-hole in the desk in the morning-room, I p i c t u r e d the stack upon stack of invitation cards, the long list of names, the addresses, and I c o u l d s e e a woman s i t t i n g there at the desk and p u t t i n g a V beside the names she wanted, and r e a c h i n g for the invitation cards, dipping her pen in the ink, w r i t i n g upon them swift and sure in that long, slanting hand. [1*, p.123]

This example is primarily notable for its syntactic structure: the whole paragraph is presented in the form of one long composite sentence with numerous cases of complex object. This

«piled» construction of the paragraph contributes to the fact that from the world of things settled in the artistic space of the novel, we gradually immerse into the artistic world of the antagonist. It is noteworthy that the verbs t h o u g h t , p i c t u r e d , and c o u l d s e e which describe the

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