"The Rebecca Syndrome" Living in the shadow of an ex - on Radio 4 NOW

[Caligula]

They're just about to have a discussion about it and I thought I'd let you know, for them as is interested.

What's the Rebecca syndrome when it's at home?

I would imagine that it takes its name from the book Rebecca, where the heroine marries in a whirlwind romance but discovers that her new husband's home and social life is still dominated by the memory of his first wife (Rebecca). And that it's about living in the shadow of an ex (the clue's in the thread title...]

Hmm. Interesting. One of my ex bf's was always on about his ex-wife, Alison. 'Alison and I never argued like this.' 'Alison didn't seem to mind.'

Yeah. He lasted about 5 minutes.

Ohhhh. It's not midday yet. My brain doesn't even begin to think about functioning till then!!
Haven't read the book so that might be why I'm a bit dim on this!

It was a bit of a short one, not as meaty as I thought it would be. Quite interesting though. All about first wives being depraved, sexually not normal etc. Jane Eyre also discussed. Plus girl's relationships with their mothers. I got a bit involved with troubleshooting my printer so wasn't concentrating...

"All about first wives being depraved, sexually not normal etc. "

I'm a first wife (well, only,... so far) and I'm sure DH would like me to be depraved sexually. Sadly not.. Perhaps I would start to be sexually depraved when we get divorced ...that would seriously p*ss DH off....

I think that the theory was the second wives/partners perceive first wives as being sexually confident and sophisticated...amongst other things.

yes I might be being a bit free with my interpretation...