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SCMP Reporter

There are 10 things you need to know about Rebecca.

1. She is dead

This is the most extraordinary fact about Rebecca. The book is named after her. She is the central character who dominates the book,  yet she is dead.  There are no flashbacks of her in action or speech.  Instead, we form an impression of her through the thoughts and speech of the other characters, and through her impact on the house called Manderley. The suspense that is created through having her character and history gradually revealed to us forms a major element  of the book.

2. Her character is shown through Manderley

Manderley is  where Maxim and Rebecca lived. Its grandeur  suited Rebecca's personality. She loved to entertain and to hold grand parties there. This is in marked contrast to the new Mrs de Winter, who never feels at home at Manderley. We see this vividly when she first uses the 'morning room', where Rebecca used to carry out her household business:

This was a woman's room, graceful, fragile, the room of someone who had chosen every particle of furniture with great care, so that each chair, each vase, each small infinitesimal thing should be in harmony with one another, and with her own personality. - Page 93

Rebecca  had  good taste. All her clothes and furnishings were beautiful, expensive and chosen to match everything else around

the house.

3. She ran Manderley

The morning room was where she carried out all the business relating to Manderley. She used the room to telephone her friends, plan  the meals, send out the correspondence and order her clothes from London.  She was clearly an extremely capable, effective and intelligent woman.

4. Mrs Danvers loved her

Mrs Danvers is the housekeeper at Manderley.  She carried out Rebecca's instructions and supervised the servants. Beatrice, the sister of Maxim, says of Mrs Danvers: 'She simply adored Rebecca.' (Page 113). She adored her because she could respect her efficiency, her beauty, her wit and her ability to control other people.

5. Rebecca is the opposite of Mrs de Winter

While Rebecca ran Manderley, Mrs de Winter does not know  how to arrange menus, order clothes or furnish a room tastefully. Whereas Rebecca was an extrovert, sociable and fashionable, Mrs de Winter is plain, shy,  and lacking self-confidence.  We feel we know Rebecca like a friend, whereas Mrs de Winter remains  distant from  the readers.

6. Rebecca deceived her husband

When Rebecca's body is discovered, Maxim tells his wife:

Our marriage was a farce from the very first. She was vicious, damnable, rotten through and through. We never loved each other, never had one moment of tenderness together. Rebecca was incapable of love, of tenderness, of decency. - Page 304

That is why Rebecca had the hut on the beach, where she would take her lovers. Everyone looked from the outside and assumed that this was a loving marriage and that Maxim was a lucky man. In fact, Rebecca had many affairs with other men, including the man Jack Favell who appears later in the book.

7. Maxim murders Rebecca

He confronts her in the hut on the beach and she tells him that she is to have a child whom she implies has been fathered by her cousin, Favell. This is too much for Maxim to bear. It means that this illegitimate child would inherit Manderley.  So, Maxim  shoots Rebecca, takes her body out to sea and sinks the boat to make it seem as though she had drowned.

8. The truth releases Mrs de Winter

I was free now to be with Maxim, to touch him, and hold him, and love him. - Page 320

Mrs de Winter feared that Maxim still loved Rebecca more than he loved her. Now that the truth is out - Maxim really hated Rebecca -  frees them to show their true feelings  for one another.

9. Manderley burns

Manderley and Rebecca are closely linked.  Maxim can never be happy there with his wife as the memory of Rebecca will always be too strong. Only when the house burns down and they move to Europe can they achieve any sort of peace together.

10. Who do you like: Rebecca or Mrs de Winter?

Rebecca is bold, beautiful, intelligent, amusing but cruel and immoral. Mrs de Winter is quiet, plain, not very intelligent, dull and yet loving and moral. Who do you prefer?

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (HKCEE)



Rebecca's lively presence lifts novel