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8->''"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."''
9-->-- '''The Second Mrs. de Winter's''' OpeningMonologue from both film and novel
10
11A 1938 novel by English author Creator/DaphneDuMaurier (who also wrote ''Literature/JamaicaInn'', ''Literature/MyCousinRachel'' and the short stories that became ''Film/TheBirds'' and ''Film/DontLookNow'').
12
13While working in Monte Carlo as the companion for the wealthy Mrs. Van Hopper, our young, unnamed heroine meets the much wealthier Maxim de Winter -- a moody, inscrutable widower presumed still to be in deep mourning for his late wife, the beautiful Rebecca, tragically drowned in a boating accident. Thus no one is more surprised than the shy little companion when Maxim not only seems attracted to her but impetuously proposes they wed there and then.
14
15The first signs of trouble in Paradise appear when they arrive at Maxim's elegant old Cornish estate, Manderley. The servants have grown too fond of its late mistress and receive their new one coolly. Mrs. Danvers, the current housekeeper and Rebecca's former handmaid, is especially less than thrilled with the prospect of anyone taking Rebecca's place, and has made something of a fetish of keeping her things exactly as she left them -- stationery in the desk, clothes in the cupboards -- all monogrammed with that bold, decisive initial ''R''.
16
17As the novel progresses the shadow of Rebecca hangs more and more heavily over the house, making it increasingly difficult for our heroine to face the challenges not only of running a great estate but within her marriage -- especially when it's increasingly clear that the two are related. Gradually, with a not-so-subtle assist from Mrs. Danvers, she begins to despair of ever living up to the perfect, proud, beloved Rebecca...
18
19...then they find the remains of a boat....
20
21In 1940, Creator/AlfredHitchcock directed [[Film/Rebecca1940 the film version]], his first American project, which starred Creator/JoanFontaine and Creator/LaurenceOlivier. It received 11 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}} nominations, winning for Best Picture and Best Cinematography (Black and White). It was the only Hitchcock film to win Best Picture, and Hitchcock didn't win Best Director--he never did, in fact, and had to settle for a lifetime achievement Oscar late in life.
22
23Other adaptations include a 1938 radio dramatization on Creator/OrsonWelles' ''Campbell Playhouse'', a 1939 stage play, a 1979 miniseries on Creator/TheBBC starring Creator/JeremyBrett, a 1983 opera, [[Series/Rebecca1997 a 1997 miniseries]] on Creator/{{ITV}} starring Creator/CharlesDance as Maxim de Winter and Creator/DianaRigg as Mrs. Danvers, a 2008 miniseries on [[Creator/{{RAI}} RAI1]] and a 2006 stage musical.
24
25[[Film/Rebecca2020 A new adaptation]] was filmed for Creator/{{Netflix}}, directed by Ben Wheatley (''Film/HighRise'', ''[[Film/FreeFire2017 Free Fire]]'', ''Film/KillList'') and starring Creator/LilyJames as the second Mrs. de Winter, Creator/ArmieHammer as Maxim de Winter and Creator/KristinScottThomas as Mrs. Danvers. It premiered on October 21st 2020, the day before what would have been Joan Fontaine's 103rd birthday.
26
27----
28!!This novel and its adaptations feature examples of:
29
30* TwentiesBobHaircut: Mrs Danvers relates how, against the advice of everyone who believed LongHairIsFeminine, Rebecca cut her hair into a modish short style that frames her face like 'a cloud of curls' a few years into her marriage. The second Mrs. de Winter also has a bob, but her hair is (at least, according to her) unflatteringly straight, childish and lank - yet another source of insecurity. This isn't the case in the film, which has her with longer hair.
31* AccidentalMurder: In the musical, [[spoiler: Maxim pushed Rebecca and she fell, though he says he's not entirely sure whether it was an accident or not.]]
32* TheAce: Rebecca is considered this posthumously, being unnaturally cultured, charming and gifted. [[spoiler: Turns out to become a BrokenPedestal, as she was actually cruel and manipulative.]]
33* AdaptationalHeroism: The musical, much like the 1941 movie, does this to Maxim by [[spoiler:eliminating his murder of Rebecca.]] By extension, this removes the potentially psychotic element from [[spoiler:his wife's decision to help him,]] helping to make her more sympathetic and heroic after TheReveal. It portrays her as becoming a confident woman that doesn't take Mrs. Danvers's bullying any longer so that the audience can root for her. She and Maxim [[spoiler: are seen as very happy together and kiss at the end]], which is much clearer than the ambiguous future of their relationship in the novel.
34* AnAesop: The novel has the message that abuse is abuse, and leaves the audience to think about how abuse can cause the victim to lash out in monstrous ways. Maxim is bad-tempered, dry, and a bit blunt, but wins over the narrator because she's polite to him and modest. He also scares her the night of the costume party and doesn't even seem to remember afterward. It's revealed that Maxim has a bad HairTriggerTemper because [[spoiler:he's carrying the guilt that he murdered Rebecca in a fit of righteous fury when she threatened to have Favell's baby. He expects the narrator to leave him, but instead she resolves to stay by his side, no matter what happens. Only then does Maxim mellow, able to live with the guilt]].
35* AffectionateNickname: Both Rebecca and Favell called Mrs. Danvers 'Danny' affectionately.
36* AgeGapRomance: Maxim is a widower in his forties or fifties when he marries the heroine, who is in her early twenties. As much as they love one another, and even without the spectre of Rebecca haunting them, there is a lot of insecurity on both sides due to the age gap. Maxim occasionally wonders whether he is too old to relate to her, and if she would have been better off with someone her age, while the heroine is resentful of being treated like a child, and feels inferior to Maxim due to her youth and naivete.
37** Invoked in the 1939 radio play version. Creator/OrsonWelles, who both adapted it and voiced Maxim, was [[UnderageCasting only 24 years old]], so he added a line where Maxim ruefully admits to being old enough to be his second wife's father to make sure the audience understood the age gap between the characters.
38* AlasPoorVillain: Despite her fear of and anger towards Mrs. Danvers, the narrator sympathises with her bitter recollection of the night Rebecca died: Danvers, who had been away for most of the day, feared something was deathly wrong, and after a sleepless night of paranoia and premonition, rushed alone through Manderley's woods in the dead of night to find and help her beloved mistress, but was far too late. As the truth begins to come out, Danvers grows more and more emotional, gradually viewed less as a tyrant and more as a grieving old woman, who will never forgive herself for what she sees as her own failure. [[spoiler:Nor, of course, does she forgive Maxim when she learns the truth....]]
39* TheAllConcealingI: Used in the novel to leave the narrator [[NoNameGiven nameless,]] known only as the second Mrs. de Winter.
40* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: Maxim put up with Rebecca for ten years before killing her, because she did wonders for Manderley, and divorcing her would have destroyed Manderley and him. A year after her passing, Manderley is burnt to the ground by Mrs. Danvers, making all of Maxim's hardships and humiliations meaningless.]]
41* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: The second Mrs. de Winter becomes even more passionately in love with Maxim once [[spoiler: he admits that he killed Rebecca. Justified because the second Mrs. de Winter's greatest fear was that Maxim still loved Rebecca. When he confesses to killing her,]] it proves that he doesn't and never did. However, the novel repeatedly hints that Maxim is actually rather weak-willed ([[spoiler:as demonstrated by Rebecca's successful SuicideByCop]] and not much of a bad boy in the archetypal sense at all).
42* AlphaBitch: [[spoiler: Rebecca to the people she was openly nasty to.]]
43* AmbiguouslyBi: The second Mrs. de Winter. Her narration tells us almost nothing about Maxim, the man she supposedly adores, except for a vague description early in the novel that likens him to a Medieval painting. By contrast, she is obsessed with Rebecca's appearance and physicality in general - her height, her hair, even her smell. At one point she holds Rebecca's nightgown (explicitly stated to have been left unwashed since the last time it was worn) to her face and inhales the scent of her perfume. Du Maurier, herself bisexual, queer-coded many of her characters, which brings us to...
44* AmbiguouslyGay:
45** Mrs. Danvers, who is depicted as a lesbian as blatantly as the censors would allow, what with her caressing Rebecca's minks and lingerie, and talking about how Rebecca would undress in front of her and take a bath.
46** Also, Mr. Frith the butler and Robert the footman seem pretty close to each other, and at one point Favell mocks Robert about his love life in front of the narrator.
47* AnimalMotifs: Rebecca, the wild and untamed one, is likened to the horses she trained, whereas our young, submissive heroine is likened to the loyal de Winter dog, Jasper.
48* AntagonistTitle: Arguably, since the heroine's main conflict (at first anyway) is that she can't live up to Rebecca's legacy.
49* ArchEnemy: Mrs. Danvers to Maxim de Winter and the second Mrs. de Winter.
50* AuthorAvatar: The second Mrs. de Winter's original name being "Daphne" implies that she was supposed to be one, though there are articles suggesting that the real author insert is Rebecca (a lot of descriptors she uses for herself in these letters are similar to the descriptions of Rebecca in the novel). Of course, it could be both of them.
51* TheBadGuyWins: Discussed throughout the novel, with the narrator always thinking that Rebecca is conquering from beyond the grave. In the end, [[spoiler: Rebecca loses her power to hurt the new couple, but Mrs. Danvers destroys Manderley and causes the bleak ending described in the prologue right when the couple were happy for the first time.]]
52* BeautyIsBad: Rebecca was considered beautiful, fashionable and elegant, [[spoiler: and turns out to be an utterly rotten human]]. This contrasts to the heroine's look, who is considered plain, but she is a much nicer person.
53* BewareTheNiceOnes: Subverted. The second wife eventually gains the courage to give reasonable orders to her new serving staff - as soon as she becomes [[spoiler: an accessory to murder.]] When Mrs. Danvers complains that it's now how "Mrs. de Winter" did things, the narrator reminds her that ''she'' is Mrs. de Winter and this is how she likes to order her meals.
54* BigBad: [[spoiler: Rebecca, in the eyes of the unreliable narrator at least.]]
55* BigFancyHouse: Manderley. The prologue to the novel includes PurpleProse describing it and its grounds. It may be based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Milton_Hall_Cambs.jpg Milton Hall]], which du Maurier visited as a child, or else [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menabilly Menabilly]], Du Maurier's home of twenty-six years.
56* BirdsOfAFeather: The heroine and Maxim are this.
57** Conversely, Rebecca and Favell get along too well for Maxim’s comfort.
58* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: The widely adored Rebecca was an utterly selfish, narcissistic bitch who was nice to people to their faces but laughed and jeered at them behind their backs.]]
59* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Manderley is burnt to the ground by Mrs. Danvers, in a sense ensuring Rebecca has one last laugh over Maxim from beyond the grave. But having come clean with each other regarding Rebecca, the framing device suggests that Maxim and the heroine are, if not happy together, then at least content, having overcome Rebecca's shadow and earned something of a happy ending.]]
60* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler: Favell attempts to blackmail Maxim with his note from Rebecca, which suggests that Rebecca did not actually commit suicide, implicating Maxim himself.]]
61* BoyishShortHair: Rebecca, by the end of her life, apparently.
62* BrickJoke: During one of their early dates, the heroine confesses that she wishes she were thirty-six years old, wearing black satin and white pearls. Maxim makes her promise never to wear pearls or black satin. Later she attempts BeautifulAllAlong — in a black dress with white pearls. Maxim is understandably put-off.
63* BrutalHonesty: Beatrice is famous for never sugarcoating her opinions and to tell people face-on she doesn't like them. Fortunately, she takes an immediate liking to the second Mrs. de Winter.
64* BuryYourGays: Averted in the book with Mrs. Danvers, and played straight if one subscribes to the film's heavy suggestion she's a lesbian (or at the very least had SingleTargetSexuality toward Rebecca).
65* ByronicHero: Maxim de Winter. A reclusive, introverted aristocrat and handsome widower, prone to broodiness and mood swings, and still seeming in the thrall of his late wife. [[spoiler: And is tormented by the knowledge that he is her murderer, living in fear of being exposed each day, isolated from his friends and family by being one of the only few individuals to have seen past his monstrous wife's facade.]] Also Rebecca herself.
66* CanNotSpitItOut: [[spoiler:The heroine is convinced that she's a complete failure compared to Rebecca, her husband's first (dead) wife, until she finds out that Rebecca was evil, and the husband never loved her and murdered her. Which cheers her up immensely.]]
67* CaretakerReversal: In a psychological sense between Maxim and the narrator. [[spoiler:After everything's out in the open between them, Maxim becomes tired and passive in many of their interactions, while his wife becomes quick-thinking and in some ways very manipulative on his behalf.]]
68* TheChainOfHarm: Maxim is [[spoiler:initially]] very gruff and patronizing toward his second wife, regularly calling her a fool with various degrees of debatable affection. Then we learn [[spoiler:Rebecca was similarly patronizing and demeaning toward ''him''- raising the possibility that Maxim accidentally internalized some of her worst traits. Notably, he stops doing it once he no longer has to carry Rebecca's death inside him like a secret.]]
69* TheCharmer: Rebecca managed to charm whoever she met.
70* CheshireCatGrin: After what happened at the ball, the narrator gets freaked out by Mrs. Danvers, who sports a rather creepy smile.
71* ChillyReception: While most people at Manderley are fairly indifferent to the heroine, and some grow to like her very much (especially Maxim's sister Beatrice), Mrs. Danvers is the ''epitome'' of HaughtyHelp. She's cold, [[PassiveAggressiveKombat passive-aggressive]], condescending, and often downright ''mean'' to the new Mrs. de Winter, who has done nothing to her and generally tries to stay out of her way. Maxim actually warns the heroine of this before they get to Manderley, saying Mrs. Danvers is prickly towards new people in general and it's truly NothingPersonal. Once Mrs. Danvers gets used to her, she'll lay off. [[spoiler:Except no. While Mrs. Danvers ''is'' a cold and unfriendly person in general, her specific hatred of the heroine is very, ''very'' personal, since she's a replacement for Rebecca, whom Mrs. Danvers loves.]]
72* CobwebOfDisuse: When the narrator finds the abandoned beach house, it's full of cobwebs.
73* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Happens to the narrator when she sees Maxim for what she thinks is the last time at Monte Carlo. He asks her if she wants to go to New York with Mrs. Van Hopper or to Manderley with him. After [[MyGodYouAreSerious realizing that he's serious]] this exchange follows:
74--> "You mean you want a secretary?"
75--> [[SincerityMode Maxim]]: "No, you little fool. I'm asking you to marry me."
76* CreepyHousekeeper: Mrs. Danvers. She is creepy in herself, with a deathlike appearance, and in her devotion to the memory of Rebecca such that she doesn't wash the clothes of Rebecca's scent and goes to her room every day.
77* DaddysGirl: According to Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca could wrap her father around her little finger.
78* DancesAndBalls: Rebecca and Maxim regularly entertained at Manderley, and another costume ball is held in the second Mrs. de Winter's honour, at the begging of the neighbours who loved the previous ones. It doesn't go well.
79* DarkSecret: [[spoiler: Rebecca's murder.]] In theory, only Maxim and the new Mrs. de Winter know the whole story, but Favell guesses it, and one of the servants and the magistrate also figure out an unspecified amount, leading to a lot of worry about who knows what.
80* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Mrs. Danvers in the musical. In the novel she escaped the burning house, but in the musical she commits suicide.]]
81* DeathByFallingOver:[[spoiler: Rebecca, in the film version and TheMusical; she stumbled and hit her head. This would be because of the [[MoralGuardians Hays Code]]. In the book, she goads Maxim into shooting her.]]
82* DeathGlare: Mrs. Danvers has a frightening one that she likes to shoot at the second Mrs. de Winter.
83* {{Main/Deconstruction}}: Of ''Literature/JaneEyre''. [[spoiler: Namely, Maxim isn't a bad boy like Mr. Rochester at all. He's an exhausted survivor of spousal abuse, and all of his RomanticizedAbuse drops away once everything is in the open between him and his second wife.]]
84* DefrostingIceQueen: [[spoiler:Maxim turns into a male example after he confesses to murdering Rebecca, though it's less of a defrost and more of a rapid dissolve into a puddle.]]
85* DepravedBisexual: In the novel Rebecca is hinted to have had male and female lovers while married to Maxim. Mrs. Danvers contends that she loved no man at all.
86* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Rebecca was revealed to be dying of [[spoiler:a tumor in her ovaries]], which mean that she [[spoiler:couldn't have children]].
87* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: [[spoiler:Rebecca {{exploited}} this, having emotionally abused Maxim and sexually harassed Frank, knowing that due to societal conventions, neither would want to talk about it publicly. The fact that she played the perfect ProperLady in public only added to this; the idea that a woman, much less perfect, kind, elegant Rebecca, could torment a ''man'' would be seen as absurd, and Frank especially would, at best, be assumed to be lying if he said he didn't want any part of whatever went on between him and Rebecca, and at worst, be assumed to have been the aggressor. The narrative itself makes it clear that Rebecca's actions were awful regardless of gender.]]
88* DragonTheirFeet: Mrs. Danvers was once Rebecca's closest ally and confidant, and [[spoiler:posthumously claims her vengeance by burning down Manderley.]]
89* DramaticSitdown: When Maxim asks the narrator to marry him, she has to sit down.
90* DrivenToSuicide: Mrs. Danvers tries to do this to our heroine after the fiasco at the costume party, telling her how worthless and unlike Rebecca she is. This is foiled when they find the boat where Rebecca's SuicideByCop happened.
91* DrivingADesk: As unconvincing as usual when Olivier is driving Fontaine around.
92* DumbassHasAPoint: The narrator's defining trait is that she is naive and totally lacking in worldly experience, and Maxim frequently refers to her as a fool. But in the interrogation scene she is far more aware of the dynamics of the situation than Maxim himself, and her narration makes several good points he has failed to notice - most importantly, that Julyan is starting to suspect him.
93* EarnYourHappyEnding: The narrator tries but does maybe not quite manage it; at the very least she and Maxim live in relative peace. It is hinted that ''she'' is satisfied, and her husband is with the woman he loves, despite feeling really bad about the earlier events of the book.
94* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Mrs. Danvers is described as being very pale with a deathlike appearance and usually has dark hair (sometimes with grey streaks).
95* EnemyEatsYourLunch: During his {{blackmail}} attempt in the car, Jack Favell helps himself to a chicken leg from the de Winters picnic basket.
96* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In the book, Mrs. Danvers' assembly of the house staff to greet the arriving narrator. Maxim is very annoyed by it, saying he explicitly asked her not to do this and wanted a quiet arrival as if it were any other day. That Danvers does so anyway immediately places her as having an insubordinate streak to Maxim and the narrator and shows that she wants to intimidate the narrator and resents her taking Rebecca's place. In the film, it's downplayed and Maxim is more apologetic than angry and it's not as clearly insubordinate.
97* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Mrs. Danvers adored Rebecca, whom she is implied to have raised since childhood, and is [[UndyingLoyalty zealously loyal]] to her late mistress' memory. [[spoiler:Rebecca herself is said to have felt the same way about Danvers, but also kept some very important secrets from her.]]
98* EvenEvilHasStandards: Danvers is quite disgusted by Favell's claim that [[spoiler:Rebecca loved him and would have made him her husband,]] and considers the very suggestion an affront to [[spoiler:Rebecca's honour -- she claims Rebecca loved ''no'' man whatsoever.]]
99* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: [[spoiler:The title character is described by everyone as being incredibly beautiful, intelligent, cultured, loving, and basically the perfect wife. The end has Maxim reveal that she was actually a BitchInSheepsClothing, who was excellent at getting people to adore her, and delighted in emotionally tormenting him]].
100* {{Fainting}}: Deliberately or not, the heroine faints at the court room at the very moment her husband was about to [[AccuseTheWitness break under pressure]].
101* FatalFlaw: For Rebecca, it's [[spoiler: her pride and overconfidence. Mrs. Danvers noted that she despised doctors and refused to see one unless absolutely necessary. This ends up costing her dearly, as her ovarian cancer goes unnoticed until it's too late.]]
102* FlowerMotifs:
103** Roses for the new Mrs. de Winter.
104** Rhododendrons and azaleas for Rebecca. The rhododendrons are particularly interesting: they are notoriously invasive, with a tendency to crowd out any native plants by depriving them of food and sunlight, ensuring their takeover of large areas. Moreover, they have a reputation (of uncertain validity) for "poisoning the soil," meaning that even once the rhododendron has gone, no other plant can thrive where it used to be. Sound familiar?
105* FishOutOfWater: The marked class differences between Maxim and the narrator are a significant source of insecurity for the latter. Unlike Rebecca, who was born in that world and was considered a shining example of an upper class woman, the narrator is looked down upon, sneered at and perceived as inadequate by the staff and feels overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge she lacks. She does not know anything about running an estate, dealing with servants and even the simple act of making tea for her guests is stressful to her.
106* {{Foil}}: Rebecca, who was a [[spoiler:self-centered and ruthless ManipulativeBastard]] BrainyBrunette, and the heroine, a kind and innocent girl almost always portrayed with HairOfGoldHeartOfGold (even though she personally describes her own hair as "mousy" in the book).
107* ForegoneConclusion: The novel begins some time ''after'' everything has happened, with the de Winters living a grim, inconsequential existence overseas. Or, at least, they have a mundane existence but at least they have each other's company.
108* {{Foreshadowing}}: When the narrator is exploring the cove she discovers a buoy with the name of Rebecca's sunken boat painted on the side - 'Je Reviens', which means 'I come back'. She reflects on the cruel irony of the name, since Rebecca took it out sailing and never came back. [[spoiler: Little does she know that the boat, with Rebecca's murdered body on board, is due to make a reappearance VERY shortly.]]
109** When the narrator first confesses to Frank that she feels inadequate compared to Rebecca, Frank reassures her that she has other qualities that are just as important. Those qualities? [[spoiler: Kindliness and sincerity. Which begs the question why he doesn't think the perfect Rebecca had those qualities...]]
110*** Even more eloquent, in a subtle AbsenceOfEvidence way, is his answer to the narrator's question what Rebecca was like: [[spoiler: "I suppose she was the most beautiful creature I ever saw." ''Period.'' For Frank, there was nothing to say for Rebecca apart from her extraordinary beauty.]]
111* FourthDateMarriage: Maxim gets to know the female protagonist during his holidays in Monte Carlo. They get married then and there.
112* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Debatably in the case of Rebecca herself, since her character derived from hearsay, but otherwise the main characters fit quit nicely:
113** The narrator (Phlegmatic), Maxim (Melancholic), Mrs. Danvers (Choleric), Rebecca (Sanguine).
114*** Alternatively, Favell also counts as sanguine.
115* GenreBlind: Mrs. Danvers is suddenly being nice to the second Mrs. de Winter? Nope, don't find anything suspicious about her behaviour, and do as she asks.
116* GentlemanSnarker: Maxim gets decidedly snarky at the inquest. Not the cleverest tack to take when the police are suggesting you killed your wife....
117* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: [[spoiler:The titular Rebecca was, rather than the lovely and kind-hearted perfect wife her successor assumed her to be, a lying, manipulative, cruel sociopath who cheated on her husband Maxim with a series of lovers — and was not even really in love with them either. Maxim, meanwhile, is shown putting up with this until Rebecca actually ''intentionally provokes him into shooting her'' (because she has cancer and no way of treating it, and is apparently too afraid of committing actual suicide; as well as the fact that this makes him a murderer: her ultimate attack on him). She is, in fact, so awful that the heroine, Maxim's second wife, is ''glad'' he shot Rebecca]]. We also find out that [[spoiler:Rebecca seduced Giles, Maxim's brother-in-law. Giles' wife (Maxim's sister) Beatrice either knows or strongly suspects this and avoids further visits with her brother for that reason. She and Giles still seem to get along well though, and the second wife at one point feels inferior because the two have a "good marriage".]]
118* GrandeDame:
119** Mrs. Van Hopper, who passes over into RichBitch territory.
120** Beatrice, who is on the more intelligent and sympathetic end of the scale.
121** Lady Crowen, who is rather ridiculous.
122** Maxim's grandmother was one before becoming senile.
123* HandsomeLech: Favell.
124* HappyMarriageCharade:
125** Maxim and Rebecca; they are thought to be a glorious couple even by the house servants, and neighbours for miles around speak of them, but their marriage is anything but.
126* HaughtyHelp: Mrs. Danvers the housekeeper is contemptuous of her employer's new wife, trying to bully and belittle her. Mrs. Danvers had a very close attachment to the previous lady of the house, the titular Rebecca, and does not believe that the replacement is worthy of Rebecca's place.
127* IAmNotPretty: The second Mrs. de Winter thinks she is bland and childish, but others find her reasonably attractive.
128* ImagineSpot: In the novel, the heroine has a ''lot'' of them. Some of them are sweet, romantic flights of fancy; what life as the elegant, beloved Mrs. de Winter will be like, a domestic scene of her and Maxim and their future children, all right out of a fairytale. Others are her essentially having a panic attack and imagining the worst-case scenario of what might happen, or what people around her might be thinking. They're often extremely vivid and just as eloquently written as the rest of the story, emphasizing how they seem almost real to her in the moment.
129* InnocentInaccurate: Mrs. de Winter thinks that her husband, Max, is cold with her because he is still in love with his late wife, Rebecca. She feels that she cannot measure up to Rebecca in Max's eyes. The truth turns out to be quite different.
130* InnocenceLost: [[spoiler: TheReveal of Maxim's murder of Rebecca, the trial and Danvers' psychological torture took a toll on the protagonist, who can't revert to be TheIngenue she was at the beginning, as shown by her more mature outfits. Maxim notices the change and feels guilty of making her age so fast.]]
131* InterruptedSuicide: The opening scene in which the female protagonist yells at Maxim who takes a step towards the edge of a cliff. It's [[AmbiguousSituation never revealed]] if this was an actual suicide attempt.
132* IntimateHairBrushing: Mrs. Danvers talks lovingly of brushing Rebecca's hair every night before bed. She even has her hairbrush left exactly as it was when she was alive.
133* ItsACostumePartyISwear: The fancy dress ball held in the second Mrs. de Winter's honour. It ''was'' in fact a costume party, but Mrs. Danvers suggested M. de W. II dress up as a certain painting in the house, something Rebecca had done in the past, in order to humiliate her.
134* JerkassHasAPoint: Deconstructed. Favell is casually rude, blunt, and lecherous. He's perfectly willing to [[spoiler: sleep with Rebecca, despite her being married]] and his behaviour toward the narrator is downright predatory. He even attempts to capitalise on his [[spoiler:cousin's murder]] with {{Blackmail}}. Nevertheless his accusations against Maxim are completely correct. Shame he's so obnoxious that when he presents his case to the magistrate, nobody believes him...
135* KarmaHoudini: In the novel, [[spoiler:Maxim gets away with murder, albeit at the cost of Manderley. Danvers abandons the house and very likely sets it ablaze; she is never called to account for it. And despite being murdered, Rebecca got everything she wanted, including the sudden quick death by SuicideByCop, over the painful end promised by terminal cancer.]]
136* KissingCousins: Jack Favell and Rebecca, first cousins and lovers alike.
137* LetThePastBurn: Mrs. Danvers goes over the edge and sets Manderley on fire. All that symbolically remains of Rebecca is burned down along with the house. In some adaptations Mrs. Danvers also burns.
138* LikeBrotherAndSister: The second Mrs. de Winter develops this dynamic with Maxim's attorney and close friend Frank. He's immediately welcoming to her and she quickly grows very comfortable around him, and while he's a reserved fellow, it's clear he returns the affection. She trusts Frank enough to confide in him about her insecurities regarding her marriage and ask him about matters she doesn't want to go to Maxim with. Favell, seeing how close they are, tastelessly accuses them of having an affair, but it's clear to the reader that Mrs. de Winter doesn't feel that way about Frank at all.
139* LittleBlackDress: The second Mrs de Winter tries to impress Maxim by dressing up in a black dress she found in a fashion magazine, but he's put off because he can tell it's not her style.
140* TheLostLenore: Played with. Rebecca ''seems'' to be this to her widowed husband Maxim, [[spoiler: but it turns out that she was an utterly despicable woman whom he later murdered, and his haunted behavior regarding her death was caused by the strain of having to maintain a facade of devoted mourning and the knowledge that he was unable to be good enough for his innocent young second wife because of this.]] On the other hand, Rebecca ''is'' this trope in lesbian fashion to her one time nanny and later housekeeper Mrs. Danvers.
141* LoveForgivesAllButLust: An interesting variation: The female lead spends the first half of the book moping because she thinks her husband is still in love with his (dead) first wife instead of her. Cue {{wangst}}. [[spoiler: But then it's revealed that he hated his first wife, and he actually murdered her. Murder? No problem! He doesn't love that minx; he loves me! (To be fair, it's presented like his first wife was TheVamp with absolutely no moral code and masterfully provoked him to do it... but still.)]]
142* MeaningfulName:
143** Rebecca means "a snare" or "captivating".
144** Given their tendencies to be a bit cold, and their stormy, volatile relationship, having Maxim and Rebecca share the surname "de Winter" flirts with being a bit too on the nose.
145* MementoMacGuffin: Manderley.
146* {{Motif}}: The big flourished R of Rebecca's name, as written by the woman herself, appears and is described several times and used to bring out her character. In the musical, this is translated to the main poster, which is a flaming R and the shadow of a face.
147* TheMourningAfter: The female protagonist believes that her husband Maxim is still carrying a torch for the titular Rebecca, his exalted dead first wife whom he lost in a tragic accident at sea. [[spoiler:Subverted when she learns that the beloved Rebecca was actually a ManipulativeBitch whom Maxim ''hated''.]]
148* MyGreatestFailure: Mrs. Danvers blames -- and will never forgive -- herself for not being there to save Rebecca on the night of her death.
149* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Deconstructed. Due to societal conventions and [[spoiler:no one wanting to admit that Rebecca was a horrible person]], the second Mrs. de Winter is led to believe that she can never [[spoiler:measure up to Rebecca]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Beatrice knew but kept quiet for her brother's sake, while Maxim doesn't want to admit that he murdered her in a fit of passion and Ben was intimidated into telling no one or Rebecca would commit him]]. Ironically, Jack Favell is the first person to openly state that [[spoiler:Rebecca had affairs, including one with him]].
150* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
151** Jack probably would have had better luck with his accusations if he hadn't been belligerently drunk and otherwise acting ridiculous while making them. The narrator even points out that his manner completely undermines his claims and probably saves Maxim.
152** Mrs. Danvers also gets a dose of this in the same scene. She doesn't initially realize ''why'' Jack is asking her to testify to [[spoiler: him and Rebecca being in love]]--namely, that he's trying to incriminate Maxim--so she disdainfully mocks the very idea, further weakening Jack's case.
153* NiceToTheWaiter: The protagonist is very polite to waiters and assorted serving staff, but they are not nice to her. The personnel in the hotel at Monte Carlo were rude and unhelpful and from the Manderley staff only Clarice makes her feel welcome and comfortable.
154* TheNicknamer: Rebecca seemed to have been one. She called Manderley "Manders", Mrs. Danvers "Danny", and Maxim "Max". Maxim does not seem to care much for the nickname, at least after her death when it reminds him of her. The narrator thinks this means she was close with Mrs. Danvers and Maxim, and wishes that she could use Max herself.
155* NoEnding: Played with. The novel ends very abruptly with "And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea," and gives no description of what happens next or even details of the fire. However, the ending has already been written [[ForegoneConclusion in the form of the prologue]], which takes place some time later.
156* NoNameGiven: The second Mrs. de Winter. She mentions that her name is unusual, and people rarely spell it correctly, but doesn't tell what it is.
157* OddFriendship:
158** Aloof, judgmental Danvers and outgoing, sleazy Favell form a strange alliance in the story.
159** The blunt, no-filter Beatrice takes a fancy to the shy, demure heroine.
160* OminousFog: Manderley is often shrouded in it, making the place all the more creepy.
161* OnlySaneWoman: The second Mrs. de Winter becomes this, as everyone around her slowly starts to lose it.
162* OrangeBlueContrast: A very blatant example in the form of the musical's poster, which is a massive flaming R with a big flourish on a strong blue background.
163* ThePerfectCrime: Subverted at the inquest, when the boat's builder explodes the theory that the boat went down accidentally.
164* PoorCommunicationKills: Invoked. Near the end of the book, the narrator berates herself for building up images in her head of how people dislike her and then stewing about it, rather than ''talking'' to anybody about her feelings.
165** [[spoiler:And it turns out Maxim was doing the same thing, and was deeply afraid that his young wife had lost interest in him.]]
166* PosthumousCharacter: Rebecca. When the story opens, she has been dead for a year already — but even in her absence, her presence is inescapable, as her memory casts its shadow over the entire story.
167* PresentAbsence: Rebecca is dead, yet she influences everything and everyone around her.
168* PrettyInMink: Mrs. Danvers proudly showing the furs Maxim brought Rebecca.
169* PsychoLesbian: Mrs. Danvers, though in the film version, this was put only in subtext. In the musical, she [[spoiler:dies ''wearing Rebecca's nightgown'', which she has never washed since Rebecca wore it last]].
170%%* PsychoSupporter: Mrs. Danvers.
171* RavenHairIvorySkin: Rebecca is described as having had a cloud of dark hair and very white skin. Frank also describes her as the most beautiful creature he had seen.
172* ReallyGetsAround: Danvers describes [[spoiler: Rebecca]] like this. She doesn't mean it as a criticism -- she sees it as another example of [[spoiler: Rebecca's]] unique strength and independence. [[spoiler: Rebecca]] would go to London, sleep with a bunch of men, then come back to Manderley and laugh at all of them.
173* ReplacementGoldfish: The main source of tension. The second Mrs. de Winter spends most of the book failing to live up to the memory of Rebecca, her husband's first wife, who had drowned accidentally. She is explicitly told, often, that she doesn't measure up, by Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca's personal maid. The second Mrs. de Winter becomes more and more desperate in her attempts to live up to Rebecca's memory, because Mrs. Danvers has her convinced that that is what Maxim, her husband, wants. Just when the second Mrs. De Winter (she is never given a first name, and the book is a first person narrative) is near a breakdown, and Mrs. Danvers suggests that she throw herself out of a window, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Maxim never really loved Rebecca, and in fact, came to hate her, because she was cruel, cold, manipulative, and unfaithful. Not only that, she had taunted him one night until he murdered her, by telling him she was pregnant with another man's child, which she intended that he would support.]] It doesn't end there, and [[spoiler: Maxim is vindicated,]] so they can go on with their lives together.
174* RevengeBeforeReason: In the book at least, the police chief recommended to the de Winter couple that they should [[spoiler:head to Switzerland and lay low for a few months, so that gossip will die down about the investigation into Rebecca's death. Maxim and the second Mrs. de Winter had already committed to leaving their life behind, with Maxim having relief at the thought of no longer having to play the "perfect" gentleman. Thus, it makes Mrs. Danvers burning down Manderley a bit excessive considering they were going to give her what she wanted: the mansion, with no new management to boss her around]].
175* RewatchBonus: A literary example. [[spoiler:Rereading the book while knowing ahead of time that Rebecca was a monstrously cruel and manipulative person surfaces plenty of proof from others, and not just Maxim (who killed her), that that was the case. Bea's comments that the second Mrs de Winter is nothing like her seem far more firmly approving, Ben's terror that Rebecca was going to have him institutionalized stands out from the very beginning, Mrs. Danvers [[NightmareFetishist proudly recounts]] Rebecca [[CruellaToAnimals whipping a horse bloody]]... Despite the book's reputation in pop culture as romanticizing a wife-murderer on his words alone, it's clear that plenty of other characters had nothing good to say about her either, or approved of her bad behavior, and the heroine's insecurity obscured it to both her and the audience.]]
176* RichBitch:
177** Mrs. Van Hopper is relentlessly unpleasant.
178** [[spoiler: Rebecca, as it turns out.]]
179* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The protagonist is the second Mrs. de Winter (whose first name is never given). Rebecca herself is a PosthumousCharacter.
180* SecondLove: The heroine for Maxim, although he grew to hate Rebecca and she never loved him; their marriage was a [[HappyMarriageCharade charade]].
181* SheCleansUpNicely: The second Mrs. de Winter attempts this twice. The first time she dresses up to look like a woman on a magazine hoping to impress her husband, at which he's a little alarmed. The second time backfires horribly when she is tricked into dressing up for the costume ball in the same costume Rebecca wore at the last Manderley Masquerade. [[spoiler: She fails to realise that Maxim likes her modesty and unpretentiousness - the opposite of his much hated first wife.]]
182* ShrineToTheFallen: Mrs. Danvers left Rebecca's room the way she left it.
183* ShrinkingViolet: The second Mrs. de Winter is meek and shy, which allows Mrs. Danvers and Maxim to intimidate her.
184* ShutUpHannibal: Mrs. Danvers spends the whole novel talking about how "Mrs. de Winter" did things. After her attempting to goad the second wife into a suicide and humiliating her, she gets a smackdown when complaining about how the second wife ordered lunch over the phone: "''I'' am Mrs. de Winter now." Even better, the second wife doesn't even have to raise her tone.
185* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Maxim admits [[spoiler:he ought to have divorced Rebecca a long time ago, rather than give into her DealWithTheDevil because he gave into social obligations]]. In fact, [[spoiler:he threatened to divorce her when realizing she had broken their deal. The reason why he didn't is she claimed that no court would believe him, even if he brought Beatrice in as a witness, and she goaded him into shooting her]].
186* SugaryMalice: Seems to be Jack Favell's main business after blackmail. The second Mrs. Dr Winter soon dislikes him due to his constant insinuations.
187* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler: Rebecca manipulated Maxim into shooting her after learning she had cancer by pretending to be pregnant with another man's child. Because of the production code, this is amended in the film and musical versions to Rebecca dying in a convenient fall just as Maxim was ready and willing to pull the trigger]].
188* SuicideDare: The CreepyHousekeeper Mrs. Danvers very seriously encourages the second Mrs. de Winter to commit suicide. That was because she was passionately devoted to the ''first'' Mrs. de Winter and felt the successor was taking her place. She is not impolite or emotional when she does it, which makes it all the scarier.
189* SympatheticMurderBackstory: [[spoiler: Maxim murdered Rebecca. But she was a horrible person, and she manipulated him into doing it.]]
190* TakingYouWithMe: In a final act of vindictiveness and emotional abuse, [[spoiler:Rebecca goads Max into killing her, hoping to ruin his life and reputation even in death.]]
191* TallDarkAndHandsome: Described to the first Mrs. de Winter:
192-->''"Tall, slim, dark, very handsome?" said Colonel Julyan quietly.''
193* UglyAmericanStereotype: Mrs. Van Hopper, the protagonist's initial employer, is an American woman on holiday in Monte Carlo. She's obnoxious and latches onto famous and wealthy guests to bolster herself, and has absolutely no shame.
194* UndyingLoyalty: Frank to the de Winters.
195* TheUnfairSex: [[spoiler:Massive subversion; Rebecca was a sociopathic bitch who cheated on Maxim with a series of lovers, and wasn't even loyal to them either. Our young heroine, who had earlier aspired to be just like her predecessor, is glad that she's dead.]]
196* UnknownCharacter:
197** The main character is the second wife of the eponymous Rebecca's husband. She's compared unfavorably to Rebecca without ever being told anything about her by his staff. Nothing is revealed about her as they figure she doesn't need to know, except that she died. In the end the protagonist learns more about Rebecca and [[spoiler:gains the respect of the inhabitants by saving them from a fire]].
198** In the film adaptation, [[spoiler:the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, refuses to accept her and stays behind to die in the fire.]]
199* UnreliableNarrator: The second Mrs. de Winter describes herself as plain, a bit foolish, and makes out she's not very emotionally strong. Other characters regularly comment on her prettiness, and she is clearly both intelligent and emotionally strong underneath her shyness.
200** Also Maxim. His version of events regarding Rebecca's death is the only one we hear, and there are plenty of things about it that don't make sense. For instance, [[spoiler: why does Rebecca (universally considered beautiful, charming, intelligent and vivacious) settle for a loveless marriage of convenience with Maxim when she could have had her pick of men? What 'things about herself' does she tell him that are so awful he can 'never repeat them to a living soul'?]] Rebecca's motivations are central to our understanding of her... but we never get to hear her side. [[spoiler:That said, see RewatchBonus on this page for what ''others'' say about her even before TheReveal.]]
201* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Jack Favell. [[spoiler:By informing Mrs. Danvers that Rebecca had deceived them and that Maxim had been cleared of any murder charges, he unknowingly caused Manderley's destruction]].
202** Before that, Frank Crawley. [[spoiler: When Maxim berates Mrs. Danvers for letting Jack Favell in the house, she assumes that the narrator informed him and decides to get even with her. This is the cause of the cruel trick at the fancy dress ball. It was actually ''Frank'' who told Maxim, after he saw Jack's car turn off to Manderley. Mrs. Danvers had no idea that he was even around.]]
203* UpperClassTwit: The second Mrs. de Winter finds herself surrounded by these.
204* VillainousBreakdown: Mrs. Danvers has a mild one in all versions, but the musical takes the cake when she [[spoiler:puts on Rebecca's nightgown and walks through Manderley in a daze, lighting the place on fire as she goes.]]
205* VillainousIncest: Rebecca and Jack.
206* VillainSong: "Rebecca" and its two reprises, sung by Mrs. Danvers when showing the second Mrs. de Winter Rebecca's room, when trying to make her commit suicide and when she learns [[spoiler: Rebecca had cancer, where this becomes a SanitySlippageSong.]] Also "Eine hand wäscht die and're Hand" ("One hand washes the other") for Jack Favell, crossing over to SidekickSong territory as he explains his extortionist philosophy.
207* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Rebecca.
208* WhamLine: In the novel.
209-->[[spoiler:'''Maxim''': I hated her!]]
210* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Maxim has this in every version. He confronts [[spoiler:Rebecca in the privacy of her shoreside cottage, about having Favell over against his wishes. She then laughed and said if she had a child, he wouldn't be able to prove it was Favell's, and asked how he would like to raise it as the perfect heir. In the novel proper, he shot her, while in the miniseries, he strangled her with his bare hands. The Hitchcock film he has a different reaction: Maxim approaches her, angry...and smacks her in the face. That's it; obviously bad, but understated compared to the other versions. A smirking Rebecca then tripped and hit her head on some tackle, killing her instantly. While the new wife points out that it was an accident and not murder, Maxim points out that he knows that, even if the court wouldn't believe him so at least his conscience is clear on that front]].
211* WrongGenreSavvy: The second Mrs. de Winter keeps imagining herself as the heroine of a conventional romance novel, instead of a gothic romance. JustifiedTrope since the first act of the novel plays out like a straightforward romance novel, except what should be the happily ever after ending is actually the beginning of the story at Manderley.

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