One might ask the question, "What's in a name"" The answer to this question is usually that nothing is in a name, and the true person lies within. However, during a time when people were ranked in a class, much more so then they are today, literature had a way of bringing out new meaning to that question. The answer to this question during the 1930's and 1940's would have been that one's entire identity was, indeed, in their name. Cinderella, of course, is a classic example of the differences of class and the struggle that this young woman went through to obtain an identity. Throughout Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, a Cinderella type theme is prevalent which supports the struggle for identity, and an ironic twist of plot that brings out the workings of the British class system.

The heroine in the book Rebecca is not actually...