Summary
The narrative is set evocatively in the wilds of Cornwall, in a big country firm called Manderley. One of du Maurier ’ s intriguing devices is her refusal to name her heroine, the first-person narrator, known only as the moment Mrs. de Winter. The novel opens with her excellently saying, “ survive night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. ” Much of the report is then told in flashback. A shy, awkward young woman, she is in Monte-Carlo, working for an aged socialite, when she meets Maximilian ( Maxim ) de Winter. He is a affluent widower whose wife, Rebecca, drowned in a sailboat accident. After a whirlwind courtship, the young womanhood and Maxim marry and late settle at Manderley. The narrator begins to feel increasingly inferior to Rebecca, despite receiving compliments from versatile people. To the moment Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca personifies glamor and gaiety, and she does not think that she can compete with this absolutely paragon to win Maxim ’ s beloved. Mrs. Danvers, the sinister housekeeper, specially wounds the narrator by constantly mentioning how much Maxim had loved, and would always love, Rebecca .
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suspense builds as the narrator grows both increasingly obsessed with the beautiful first wife and insecure in her marriage. At the annual costume ball at Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter wears a costume at the boost of Mrs. Danvers, not realizing it was exchangeable to one wear by Rebecca shortly before her death. The equip upsets Maxim, who orders her to change. The narrator late confronts Mrs. Danvers, who says that Maxim does not want her and encourages her to jump out the second-floor window. however, just then rockets are set off as a ship strikes a reef in the nearby true laurel, and the two women function. Divers soon discover a sink sail boat that contains Rebecca ’ s consistency. Maxim then reveals the truth to his moment wife—he was not in love with Rebecca. She was barbarous and manipulative, and soon after their marry she began having numerous affairs. Fearful of scandal, Maxim agreed to her offer : she would outwardly appear as the perfect wife if he allowed her to live privately as she pleased. however, on the night of her death, she had informed her husband that she was pregnant and that the beget was one of her lovers. In a equip of anger, Maxim shot Rebecca and put her body in a sailboat that he then sank. ( A body had been found weeks after Rebecca ’ s disappearance, and Maxim had identified it as being hers. )
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The heroine subsequently discovers an inner military capability and confidence that leads to a transfer in power in her marriage. Maxim is apparently saved when the coroner declares Rebecca ’ s death a suicide. however, one of Rebecca ’ second lovers, her cousin Jack Favell, tells the magistrate that Maxim murdered Rebecca, and Mrs. Danvers apparently confirms that the two were having an matter. The magistrate tries to determine why Rebecca would have committed suicide, and it is discovered that she had gone to a London doctor on the day of her death. When the repair is former questioned, he states that Rebecca was actually sterile and dying of cancer. In the view of the magistrate, this discovery provides a motivative for Rebecca ’ s suicide, and Maxim is no longer a suspect. A final examination bend occurs when Mrs. Danvers disappears, and, upon the de Winters ’ retort from London, they find Manderley ablaze.