History Literature / Rebecca

* 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.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The musical 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.

* 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.

* 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 The Vamp with absolutely no moral code and masterfully provoked him to do it... but still.)]]

* 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.

Other 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, 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.

* 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.]] In the 1997 miniseries, [[spoiler:he strangled her to death after she provoked him.]]

* DiedLaughing: [[spoiler:Rebecca, in the 1997 miniseries. ''As Maxim choked her to death.'']]

* RedemptionEqualsAffliction: Downplayed in the 1997 version; Maxim saves the life of Mrs. Danvers at the cost of slight scarring and a limp.

* SaveTheVillain: In the 1997 TV series, Maxim runs upstairs to save Mrs. Danvers from the fire.

* SexualKarma: Played with in the 1997 miniseries. Maxim and the narrator are shown the morning after ''finally'' consummating their marriage, several months into it, blissfully reclining in one another's arms and treating one another with a newfound earthy affection. [[spoiler:This is also the morning after the narrator learned that Maxim killed Rebecca- and in this version, it was by ''strangling her to death in a fit of anger''.]]

A new adaptation was filmed for 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.

* 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.]] In the 2020 film, [[spoiler: Rebecca loaded the gun, put it in Maxim's hand, pushed the gun against her body and ''then'' taunted him into pulling the trigger.]] In the 1997 miniseries, [[spoiler:he strangled her to death after she provoked him.]]

** Favell gets this in the 2020 film. In every other version he tries to cash in on his suspicions of Maxim by blackmailing him. In the 2020 film, he takes Maxim's check to the police as proof that Maxim murdered Rebecca.
* AdaptationalKarma: In the book, Mrs. Danvers escapes Manderly after she burns it to the ground. In the 2020 film, after burning Manderly and the boathouse, she jumps from the cliff to drown in the same waters where Rebecca's body was found.
* AdaptationalWimp: In every other version, Maxim responds to Favell's blackmail by calling the police. In the 2020 film, he caves and gives Favell the money. Unfortunately, this is the only version where Favell doesn't actually care about the money and Maxim ends up incriminating himself.

* AmbiguouslyGay: ... 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.

** The 2020 film has Mrs Danvers call Rebecca "The only person I loved".

In 1940, Creator/AlfredHitchcock directed [[TheFilmOfTheBook 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.

* AccidentalMurder: In the Hitchcock film, [[spoiler:Maxim accidentally killed Rebecca; he got angry and pushed her, and she fell and struck her head.]] In the original novel, [[spoiler:he shot her, very much on purpose. She rather had it coming, to the point of taunting him into doing it.]] In the musical, [[spoiler: it's the same as the Hitchcock version, he pushed her and she fell, though he says he's not entirely sure whether it was an accident or not.]] In the 2020 film, [[spoiler: Rebecca loaded the gun, put it in Maxim's hand, pushed the gun against her body and ''then'' taunted him into pulling the trigger.]] In the 1997 miniseries, [[spoiler:he strangled her to death after she provoked him.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Both the Hitchcock film and the musical do this to Maxim by [[spoiler:eliminating his murder of Rebecca, the former by necessity of the Hays Code.]] 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. The musical in particular 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.

* AdaptationalKarma: In the book, Mrs. Danvers escapes Manderly after she burns it to the ground. The film — by order of the Hays Code — shows her dying in the fire. In the 2020 film, after burning Manderly and the boathouse, she jumps from the cliff to drown in the same waters where Rebecca's body was found.
* AdaptationalVillainy: A consequence of the elimination of [[spoiler:Maxim's murder of Rebecca]] in the Hitchcock film is that Jack Favell's persecution of Maxim is now based completely on a falsehood. To his credit though, he seems to be as shocked as anyone when the truth is revealed - it seems that he genuinely thought that Maxim had killed Rebecca.

* BitchAlert: The famous EstablishingCharacterMoment for Mrs. Danvers in the 1940 film, as she enters the room, sweeps out in front of the rest of the servants and walks toward the camera, with a fearsome, sour expression of disapproval on her face. Before Danvers even says one word you know the second Mrs. de Winter is going to have a major ordeal on her hands. Rather fittingly, the [[{{Film/Heartbreakers}} the trope namer]] was dressed to resemble Mrs Danvers.

* CreatorCameo: In the 1940 film, Creator/AlfredHitchcock makes one of his signature cameos when he walks past Favell and the constable while they talk. There's about three minutes left in the film at that point, making it the latest Hitchcock cameo in any of his films.[[note]]After a while, he started to place his cameos very early in films, so the audience wouldn't spend all their time looking for him instead of paying attention to the story.[[/note]]

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Mrs. Danvers in the film. In the novel she escaped the burning house, but the Hays Code [[LaserGuidedKarma wouldn't allow her to survive]]. The musical takes this further and shows that this is a suicide]].

* EvilSoundsDeep: Creator/GeorgeSanders playing the role in the 1940 film adds this element to Jack Favell.

* HonestJohnsDealership: In the 1940 film, it's revealed that Favell is a "motor car salesman", which suits his sleazy personality (presumably he tries to hustle wealthy customers to buy luxury cars, which again is perfectly in character for him).

* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Played with in the film. The heroine, having just married [[TroubledButCute former widower]] [[IdleRich Maxim]], is desperate to prove herself a ProperLady (and not an InadequateInheritor to the titular [[PosthumousCharacter Rebecca]]). Hoping to [[ErmineCapeEffect appear elegant and tasteful]], she buys a [[PimpedOutDress fancy party dress]] from a fashion magazine... but quickly learns that it's completely out of place for a quiet evening at home, BigFancyHouse and FictionFiveHundred-status be damned.
* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: A particularly pompous example at the start of the 1940 film.
-->SELZNICK INTERNATIONAL presents its picturization of [[Creator/DaphneDuMaurier DAPHNE DU MAURIER'S]] celebrated novel ''REBECCA''
* INeedAFreakingDrink: In the 1940 film, Jack Favell, who was visibly crushed and devastated when he learned from Dr. Baker that [[spoiler:Rebecca had terminal cancer, which also let Maxim off the hook for her death]], says "I wish I had a drink."

* PrimAndProperBun: Mrs. Danvers in the 1940 film always wears her hair in a tight bun, befitting her stern persona. It's not the usual type however, as she wears it in a plaited bun.

* SingingInTheShower: Maxim is heard singing in his shower at the Monte Carlo hotel in the 1940 film. It prevents him from hearing an important phone call.
* SmugSnake: Slimy, conceited, amoral, constantly-smirking Jack Favell, especially as played by Creator/GeorgeSanders, is one of the smuggest snakes in media history. His getting sucker punched by Maxim at the climax is probably the most satisfying moment in the Hitchcock version.

* TableSpace: In the film, the table isn't quite as oversized as some examples, but they do sit on opposite ends.

* WhamLine:
** In the novel.
--->[[spoiler:'''Maxim''': I hated her!]]
** It's included in the 1940 film, but it's preceded by an equally potent example.
--->[[spoiler:'''Maxim''': I knew where Rebecca's body was. Lying on that cabin floor on the bottom of the sea.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Mrs. de Winter''': How did you know?]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Maxim''': Because I put it there.]]

* AgeGapRomance: Downplayed. 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 relative youth and naivete.

* 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 to death]]... 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.]]

* 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.

* BitchAlert: The famous EstablishingCharacterMoment for Mrs. Danvers in the 1940 film, as she enters the room, sweeps out in front of the rest of the servants and walks toward the camera, with a fearsome, sour expression of disapproval on her face. Before Danvers even says one word you know the second Mrs. de Winter is going to have a major ordeal on her hands.

* OddFriendship: Aloof, judgmental Danvers and outgoing, sleazy Favell form a strange alliance in the story.

%%* PrimAndProperBun: Mrs. Danvers in the film.

** 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 aobut 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]].

*** Even more eloquent, in a subtle AbsenceOfEvidence way, is his answer to the narrator's question what Rebecca was like: [["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.]]