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Rebecca
Rebecca Summary and Complete Study Guide
by Daphne du Maurier
Published: 1938Mystery & ThrillerAcademy Award Best Picture 1941 (film)
Complete Study Resources:
✓ Full plot summary
A young woman marries a wealthy widower and moves to his estate, where the ghost of his first wife Rebecca haunts everything.
Complete Plot Summary
The narrator meets Maxim in Monte Carlo where he's recovering from his wife's death. They marry quickly and return to Manderley, his massive estate. The narrator feels overwhelmed—she's young, inexperienced, and everyone compares her to Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers sabotages her constantly and preserves Rebecca's room as a shrine. The narrator feels like she's competing with a ghost. She tries to please Maxim but he's distant and troubled. When she wears the same costume to a ball that Rebecca wore, Maxim explodes.
Main Characters in Rebecca
Rebecca features complex characters representing different aspects of society and the human condition.
The narrator (never named) is the young, insecure second wife. Maxim de Winter is the brooding aristocrat haunted by his first marriage. Rebecca is dead but dominates the story—beautiful, accomplished, perfect. Mrs. Danvers is the creepy housekeeper who was devoted to Rebecca and hates the new wife. Jack Favell was Rebecca's cousin and lover.
The Ending Explained
A ship discovers Rebecca's boat with her body inside. Everyone assumed she drowned in an accident, but Maxim finally tells the truth: Rebecca was cruel, unfaithful, and possibly psychopathic. She told Maxim she was pregnant with another man's child. In a rage, he killed her. Turns out she wasn't pregnant—she had cancer and manipulated Maxim into killing her because she wanted control even over her death. The inquiry rules her death accidental. But Mrs. Danvers, devastated by the truth about Rebecca, burns down Manderley. Maxim and the narrator survive but are exiled from England. The message? Perfect exteriors hide rot. Memory distorts reality—Rebecca wasn't the goddess everyone imagined. The narrator finally gains confidence by learning the truth. And sometimes the past must burn down before you can move forward. It's gothic psychological suspense that influenced every "new wife haunted by the previous one" story since.
Famous Quotes from Rebecca
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”
Why This Book Matters
Published 1938, became instant bestseller. Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 film won Best Picture Oscar. Du Maurier crafted one of literature's most effective psychological thrillers. The unnamed narrator technique builds reader identification. The book influenced countless gothic romances and psychological suspense novels. Modern readers debate whether it's feminist (narrator finds her voice) or anti-feminist (defined only through marriage). Either way, it perfected the gothic romance formula and remains compulsively readable.
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