Interestingly, this was not a problem in the recent BBC adaptation of Jamaica Inn. There seemed to be no underlying consistency within the main protagonists – they made what appeared to be contradictory decisions, and I found it difficult to fathom the motivations behind some of their actions and speeches. However, while Du Maurier has successfully created a romantically gothic atmosphere, I found her characterisation less convincing. It could be argued that the confused impressions experienced by the reader reflect the bewilderment felt by Mary herself as she tries to tell right from wrong in, what is to her, an utterly alien world. There she finds herself tossed into a dramatic world of windswept Cornish moors, raging seas and shocking human brutality, as she is drawn inexorably in to the smuggling, theft and murder committed by Joss Merlyn and his associates. When her mother dies, Mary goes to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn. The whole novel feels rather like some sort of surreal dream, and indeed Daphne Du Maurier is at her best when recounting the vivid nightmares experienced by the heroine, Mary Yellan.
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