Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

487 Words2 Pages
The book Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is a narrative that takes the form of a flashback. The main character, Mrs. Maxim de Winter, begins the story remembering her beautiful home Manderley. Her flashback begins with the memories of how she and Maxim de Winter first met, in Monte Carlo years before. They met while she was traveling with the wealthy Mrs. Van Hooper as a companion. Maxim was staying at the same hotel as they were when she catches his eye and they end up having lunch together. After knowing her for only a few weeks, Maxim proposes marriage. She accepts and he takes her back to his ancestral estate of Manderley. The new Mrs. de Winter begins hearing about Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, who drowned in a cove near Manderley the previous year. Soon thereafter she feels like she will never truly be accepted Rebecca's devoted housekeeper, the sinister Mrs. Danvers, is still in charge of Manderley, and she frightens and intimidates her new mistress. Mrs. de Winter struggles in her new life at Manderley. She feels like she could never compare to Rebecca, who was beautiful, talented and brilliant. Soon she feels that Maxim is still in love with his dead wife. Mrs. Danvers’s suggests to Mrs. de Winter that she wear a costume to their annual costume ball. It turns out, that it was the dress Rebecca wore to the ball last year, before she died. Maxim is horrified when he sees her. She becomes convinced that he will never love her and that he is still devoted to Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers almost convinces her to kill herself, and she only breaks away from the old woman's spell when rockets go off by the cove, signaling that a ship has run aground. Divers find wreckage of Rebecca's sailboat, with Rebecca's dead body in the hold. This discovery prompts Maxim to tell her the truth. He tells her that Rebecca was a malevolent, wicked woman, who only wanted to marry him to run
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