Saturday, March 27, 2010

Mr. Danvers


                 
Polly Danvers, on her wedding day

WE CALLED HER MRS. DANVERS.  And of course it was wondered in the village, where and who was Mr. Danvers?  There must have been one, right?  At Manderley, the truth was known. 

Not always the tight lipped and cold guardian of the shadows and secrets of Manderley, Polly Danvers arrived with a smile on her face, as a blushing bride, (see the wedding photo above) always full of life and looking for a good time, yet simply dressed in her stylish black gown.  Who could have known at the time that her story would take a negative turn?

Barney Danvers, devilishly handsome, regal in bearing, was brought to Manderley as head of security. He brought his bride with him, to fill the position of housekeeper.  They both immediately fell in love with Rebecca, but that's another story.  He proved to be a strict taskmaster indeed.  Not only with the staff, who trembled at his very footsteps.  Standing at attention, you can see them lined up behind Mrs. Danvers, awaiting inspection.  Mrs. Danvers herself, had been prepared at the estimable "Lady Hawthorn's Finishing School for Exceptional Housekeeping", who's motto was,

"You will find the dust". 

The transformation from that sweet young bride to a basic crazy bitch, had begun.  And the last straw was when Mr. Danvers insisted on piping Muzak into their bedroom.  Could madness be far behind?
Barney Danvers, stayed in the shadows when an inspector came to call.  It was said, mostly by us, downstairs, that he had something to hide.  It was  discovered too late that he was an American actor, just trying to acquire an English accent, which of course proved to be impossible.  It only works the other way around.

So, Mrs. Danvers slowly sank into maddness, having to portray, night after night, the major female roles of the English repertoire, so that Mr.Danvers could rehearse Hamlet, or Lear, or even Jeeves. Waiting for his big chance. 

Mad and embittered, Mrs. Danvers spent the rest of her miserable life driving poor what's her name, bananas. And yet, even after Barney fled back to the states (what ever became of him?) she longingly watched the horizon for his return and the good old days.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Lyn,

I wasn't familiar with this side of Mrs D. Now, I can sympathise a lot more!

Salon Delucca said...

the truth is always revealed eventually - who knew! xxo

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

I like this version best...depth, sadness and touches of insanity...bravo!

Lyn said...

Hi Jeane-
Leave it to me to clear things up! Thanks for being so receptive...

Lyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lyn said...

Hi Mary Ann-
But most of all... fun!! The touch of insanity is MOI!
Thank you...

Tess Kincaid said...

Oh, did I ever need a good laugh! Barney Danvers?! Who knew? I love your sense of humor, Lyn. Brilliant!!

Lyn said...

Hi Willow-
Thanks so much..I think that Mayberry will never be the same again!

Angie Muresan said...

I find those touched by insanity fascinating. Love your version of Mrs. Danvers.

Lyn said...

Hi Angie-
Thanks for your comment..Agreed..a little nuttiness goes a long way..I do take advantage of the idea that things are rarely as they seem!!

Rallentanda said...

Love your Matisse header.

In real life the actress playing Mrs Danvers came from Tasmania.
There was no acting required to play this role on her part. If you had ever been to Tasmania you would understood what I am talking about. Even to this day there are many Mrs Danver lookalikes there.
A lot of uncharitable jokes about inbreeding are made about Tasmania
down here.As no one from Tasmania reads your blog I can tell you this
with impunity.Mr Danvers has a Tasmanian look about him as well.

Lyn said...

Hi Rall-
Thanks ..can't go wrong with Matisse!
Glad to find out about the recessive gene that would produce a room full of Danvers..please cancel my reservation!
But I do think I have some Tasmanian fans..
Hope this posts..lots of problems today with Blog!!

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