Skip to content

Daphne du Maurier

The official Daphne du Maurier website, approved by her Estate

Please see disclaimer

Screening of The Scapegoat, followed by a panel discussion

The Society for Analytical Psychology

1 Daleham Gardens, London NW3 5BY


02 February 2020: 10:00am – 1:30pm
Screening of the 1959 adaptation of the
Daphne du Maurier story:

The Scapegoat


This third Daphne du Maurier film showing by the SAP takes as its central theme that of mistaken identity.  Directed by Robert Hamer, du Maurier’s film adaptation of The Scapegoat first premiered in 1959.  Du Maurier insisted on casting Alec Guinness in the starring dual roles as he reminded her of her father.  She resisted MGM’s alternative choice of Cary Grant by forming a production company with Guinness to force though her preferences.

Du Maurier hints at the idea that the protagonists, John and Jean, play out two aspects of the same man.  As a child, she experienced her father Gerald du Maurier as a certain presence on stage but a complex one off it, by turns possessive and neglectful of his daughter.  This conception of split personalities, a good/bad man, is inextricably linked with her father.  The dynamic between these men vividly illustrates Jung’s idea of "The Shadow".  John and Jean represent the hidden and repressed potential of the other.  As their relationship evolves, these split off parts of the self come to light and we see the powerful healing effect that comes with their acceptance.

These aspects and more will be discussed in a panel following the film with Dr. Coline Covington (Jungian Analyst), Rupert Tower (Jungian Analyst and Grandson of the late Daphne du Maurier) and Christopher Perry (Chair/Jungian Analyst).


CPD event


Tea, coffee and pastries will be provided

Venue: Hampstead Everyman Cinema, Cinema 1, 5 Holly Bush Vale, NW3 6TX

(Tube: Hampstead Northern Line)

Tickets £25 per person.  Book www.thesap.org.uk/sap-events


Registered Charity No 238441, registered in England and Wales as a Company Limited by Guarantee. No. 402695

‹‹ Back to News Archive