Rebecca (novel)


Rebecca is a 1938 Gothic novel by the English author Daphne du Maurier. It depicts an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, the title character.
A bestseller which has never gone out of print, Rebecca sold 2.8 million copies between its publication in 1938 and 1965. It has been adapted numerous times for stage and screen, including a 1939 play by du Maurier herself, the film Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the 2020 remake directed by Ben Wheatley for Netflix. The story has been adapted as a musical.
The novel is remembered especially for the character of Mrs. Danvers, the West Country estate Manderley, which du Maurier's editor noted "is as much an atmosphere as a tangible erection of stones and mortar", and its opening line: "Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

Plot

In a scene-setting introduction, the unnamed narrator dreams of her husband's estate, Manderley, lamenting that she cannot return. Time has passed since its destruction, during which the couple have settled into "a quiet peace" in small Mediterranean hotels.
In her early twenties, while working as a companion to a rich American woman on holiday in Monte Carlo, the narrator meets the wealthy 42-year-old Maxim de Winter. He is a widower whose wife, Rebecca, drowned in a sailing accident a year earlier. After a fortnight of courtship, she becomes the second Mrs de Winter and accompanies him to Manderley, his estate in Cornwall, where she is introduced to Mrs Danvers, housekeeper and former lady's maid to Rebecca.
Mrs Danvers continually attempts to undermine the narrator psychologically, suggesting to her that she will never attain the beauty and elegance her predecessor possessed. She shows the narrator the west wing of the house, which overlooks the sea. The west wing was formerly Rebecca's bedroom, which she has preserved as a shrine to her late mistress. When the narrator makes small requests, Mrs Danvers and the other staff describe how Rebecca ran Manderley when she was alive. Cowed by Mrs Danvers' imposing manner and the other members of West Country society's unwavering reverence for Rebecca, the narrator becomes isolated.
The narrator is soon convinced that Maxim regrets his impetuous decision to marry her, and that he is still deeply in love with the seemingly perfect Rebecca. At the pressing of neighbours, Manderley hosts a costume ball, a custom Rebecca had instated. Mrs Danvers suggests the narrator wears a replica of the dress from a portrait of one of the house's former inhabitants. When the narrator enters the hall and Maxim sees the dress, he angrily orders her to change; Rebecca had worn the same costume to much acclaim shortly before her death.
When confronted by the narrator, Mrs Danvers encourages her to kill herself by jumping from Rebecca's bedroom window. However, she is interrupted by the disturbance caused by a nearby shipwreck. A diver investigating the wrecked ship's hull condition also discovers the remains of Rebecca's sailing boat, with her decomposed body still on board, despite Maxim having identified another body that had washed ashore two months after Rebecca's death.
This discovery causes Maxim to confess to the narrator that his marriage to Rebecca was a sham. Rebecca, Maxim reveals, was a cruel and selfish woman who took many lovers while manipulating everyone around her into believing her to be the perfect wife and a paragon of virtue. On the night of her death, she taunted Maxim with the prospect of having another man's child, which she would raise under the pretence that it was Maxim's, and he would be unable to prove otherwise. Enraged, Maxim shot and killed Rebecca. He then disposed of her body by placing it in her boat and sinking it at sea. The narrator is relieved to hear that Maxim has always loved her and never Rebecca.
Rebecca's boat is raised, and it is discovered to have been deliberately sunk. An inquest brings a verdict of suicide. However, Rebecca's first cousin and lover, Jack Favell, attempts to blackmail Maxim, claiming she could not have intended suicide based on a note she sent to him the night she died. It is revealed that Rebecca had had an appointment with a doctor in London shortly before her death, which the narrator suspects was to confirm a pregnancy. When the doctor is found, he reveals that Rebecca had cancer and would have died within a few months. Furthermore, due to the malformation of her uterus, she could never have been pregnant. Maxim assumes that Rebecca, knowing that she would die, manipulated him into killing her quickly. Mrs Danvers had said after the inquiry that Rebecca feared nothing except dying a lingering death.
On hearing that Mrs Danvers has abruptly disappeared from Manderley, Maxim feels a great sense of foreboding and insists on driving through the night to return home. Before they come in sight of the house, it is clear from a glow on the horizon and wind-borne ashes that it is ablaze.

Characters

Principal characters

  • The Narrator/the Second Mrs de Winter: A timid, naïve, middle-class woman in her early twenties, who enjoys sketching. Neither the narrator's first nor maiden name is revealed. She is referred to as "my wife", "Mrs de Winter", "my dear", and so on. The one time she is introduced with a name is during a fancy dress ball, in which she dresses as a de Winter ancestor and is introduced as "Caroline de Winter", although this is clearly not her own name. She signs her name as "Mrs M. de Winter", using Maxim's initial. Early in the novel she receives a letter and remarks that her name was correctly spelled, which is "an unusual thing," suggesting her name is uncommon, foreign or complex. While courting her, Maxim compliments her on her "lovely and unusual name". Despite her timidity, she matures throughout the events of the novel, refusing to be a victim of Rebecca's phantom-like influence any longer and becoming a strong, assertive woman in her own right.
  • Maximilian "Maxim" de Winter: The reserved, unemotional owner of Manderley. He marries his new wife after a brief courtship, yet displays little affection toward her after the marriage. Emotionally scarred by his traumatic marriage to Rebecca, his distance toward his new wife causes her to fear he regrets his marriage to her and is still haunted by Rebecca's death. Maxim killed Rebecca after she taunted him with the prospect of having a lover's child that he would have to raise as his own. He eventually reveals to his new wife that he never loved Rebecca, but not until several months of marriage have passed.
  • Mrs Danvers: The cold, overbearing housekeeper of Manderley. Danvers was Rebecca's family maid when she was a child and has lived with her for years. She is unhealthily obsessed with Rebecca and preserving Rebecca's memory. She resents the new Mrs de Winter, convinced she is trying to "take Rebecca's place". She tries to undermine the new Mrs de Winter, but her efforts fail. After her scheme is ruined, Mrs Danvers apparently burns Manderley to the ground, preferring to destroy it than allow Maxim to share his home with another lover and wife. She is nicknamed Danny which is derived from her last name; her first name being unknown or unimportant, but in Sally Beauman's sequel Rebecca's Tale it was said to be Edith.
  • Rebecca de Winter: The unseen, deceased title character, who has been dead for less than a year. A famous beauty, and on the surface a devoted wife and perfect hostess, Rebecca was actually unfaithful to her husband Maxim. Her lingering presence overwhelms Manderley, dominating the visitors, the staff and the new Mrs de Winter. Through dialogue, it is slowly revealed that Rebecca possessed the signs of a psychopath: habitual lying, superficial charm, expert manipulation, no conscience and no remorse. She was also revealed to be somewhat sadistic—Danvers tells a story of Rebecca, during her teenage years, cruelly whipping a horse until it bled.

    Minor characters

  • Frank Crawley: The hard-working, dutiful agent of Manderley and Maxim's trusted advisor and faithful confidant. He soon becomes a good friend to the second Mrs de Winter, and helps her in the self-doubt of her ability to rule Manderley as its mistress. Rebecca attempted to seduce him in the past.
  • Beatrice Lacy : Maxim's wilful and quick-witted sister, who develops an immediate fondness for the new Mrs de Winter. Prior to the novel, she had married Giles Lacy. She is one of the few people, along with her brother, who knew Rebecca's true, vile nature, and was one of her victims: Beatrice's husband was seduced by her. She and Giles have a son, Roger.
  • Giles Lacy: The slightly slow-witted husband of Beatrice, and Maxim's brother-in-law. He was one of the many men who fell for Rebecca's charms.
  • Frith: The middle-aged, kind and devoted butler at Manderley. He already worked for the de Winters when Maxim was a boy.
  • Robert: A footman.
  • Mrs Van Hopper: The narrator's employer at the beginning of the novel. An obnoxious, overbearing American woman who relentlessly pursues wealthy and famous guests at the various hotels she stays at in order to latch on to their fame and boost her own status through association.
  • Clarice: Mrs de Winter's young maid. She excitedly aids the narrator as she prepares for the fancy dress ball.
  • Jack Favell: Rebecca's disreputable first cousin and her most frequent lover. He and Rebecca grew up together and he shares many of her worst traits. He is strongly disliked by Maxim and several other characters. Since Rebecca's death, he remains in touch with Mrs Danvers, whom he calls "Danny", just as Rebecca had done.
  • Gran: Maxim and Beatrice's senile 86-year-old maternal grandmother, who was largely responsible for their upbringing but is now an invalid. Mrs de Winter accompanies Beatrice on a visit in order to meet Gran, who is unable to understand that Rebecca is dead and Maxim has remarried. She continually asks about Rebecca, which leads to Beatrice cutting their visit short.
  • Colonel Julyan: The investigator in the inquest into the cause of Rebecca's death, and Favell's subsequent accusation of Maxim. He ultimately aids Maxim in avoiding prosecution, despite suspecting the truth.
  • Dr Baker: A doctor, who specialises in gynaecology. A few hours before her death, Rebecca went to see him in secret, when he diagnosed her with an unspecified type of cancer.