Summer Reading : Rebecca

[Scheherazade]

We are reading Rebecca (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380778556/qid=1118767831/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-4896038-2180142?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Daphne Du Maurier. Please post your thoughts and questions about the book here.

Happy reading! :)

[papayahed]

Whew!!

s10cr

[papayahed]

Read the first chapter. Quite depressing, but I'm thinking it sets the tone for the rest of the book?

[papayahed]

And why does that chick feel it necessary to remind us every couple of lines that she's young and inexperienced.

[Snukes]

wow! I keep getting lucky with these things. Just happened to find Rebecca in a used book store, bought it, read it, liked it, but have so many questions about certain bits... I'm too tired to think straight about them now. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit Sparknotes and then put up some thoughts. :)

[Scheherazade]

Started reading Rebecca during the weekend and am enjoying it (read about 80 pages). I agree with Papaya that that first couple of chapters were quite depressing but the way the author draws the reader into the story is very clever I think. We are given a glimpse into the present before being taken back in time to the point when everything started. I am a little annoyed with the author's technique of being economical with the information shared. Like I still don't know the name of the heroine (do we ever find out?) and just found out that Mr de Winter's first name is Maxim. Of course all these little things make me want to read more; I feel more drawn into the story.

The heroine: I am really thinking that she should have read more Brontes than Austen! All that daydreaming and fairy tales regarding their future!

Maxim: Is he a controlling, calculating man? Why does he want to marry an inexperienced girl after being married someone like Rebecca? His speach regarding which flowers should be picked and which shouldn't gave me the creeps! Also, when they were talking about their wedding, he says: 'You forget I had [church] wedding before.' Uhm, he is forgetting that she hasn't had any weddings before... In short, unless something drastic happens, I won't be liking Maxim! Has he got something to do with Rebecca's death? As I was reading, I couldn't help remembering 'My Last Duchess' (http://mason.gmu.edu/~lsmithg/275duchess.htm) by Robert Browning.

[Jay]

*blinks* Rebecca's dead?

Eagle's still en route, come on, I'm already behind, oy, all those prods I can already feel nudging :p

[Scheherazade]

*blinks* Rebecca's dead?Yep, very much so!

Re. Maxim (again): His surname (de Winters) has reminded me that of Winterbourne (very symbolic) from Daisy Miller by Henry James, whose coldness and indifference caused Daisy's death in a way. Is de Winters' surname significant in a similar way?

[Snukes]

Without saying too much (since most of you still seem to be reading), I must say I think the symbolism in the book is really lovely - including the fact that we don't ever get to know the narrator's name. I definitely think there's a reason for it, annoying as it is.

**SPOILER**

The costume party has to be the best symbolic bit of all. Maybe that's all I'll say for now. You can debate with me later. :)

**unspoiler :)**

And I still have lots of questions, mostly regarding the way the book begins and ends. Keep that beginning in mind as you read, so maybe you'll catch something I missed...

[Scheherazade]

I can't help wondering whether the 'he' mentioned in the first chapter of the book is Max or someone else... Has something else happened during the time elapsed? Like she has fallen in love with something else? Also, she says something like 'Manderley no more'... Is the house going to get destroyed or something?

*hangs head* I don't like Max... Have a bad feeling about him. Maybe I am wishing she falls in love with someone else.

I have put this one aside for the timebeing as I have to read Master and Margarita quickly.

[papayahed]

I have put this one aside for the timebeing as I have to read Master and Margarita quickly.

oh, good book, I read it because someone on this site recommended it. I didn't fully understand why it was good until I read a little background and it made sense for the time period.

[Scheherazade]

Has anyone finished reading this book? Or still reading?

I am resuming reading it as of today and hoping to finish it this week sometime. I have read about 1/4 of the book and I am almost sure Max had something to do with Rebecca's death!

I can understand why a plain Jane like the heroine would fall in love with someone like Max but why do you think he wanted to marry her?

[papayahed]

Has anyone finished reading this book? Or still reading?

I am resuming reading it as of today and hoping to finish it this week sometime. I have read about 1/4 of the book and I am almost sure Max had something to do with Rebecca's death!

I can understand why a plain Jane like the heroine would fall in love with someone like Max but why do you think he wanted to marry her?


I'm thinking because "the heroine" (and I use that term loosely) is unlike Rebecca ().

The more I read the more I dislike the narrarator.

Edited to take out adult content

[Scheherazade]

~~~ I have finished it! ~~~

From where to begin???

Maxim ------> I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!!! :flare:

I still don't like this chap! Seems like he simply likes using women; he used Rebecca as long as it suited him and then got rid of her very conveniently. And now he is doing the same with the narrator! I am glad at least he didn't get away without any punishment...


Rebecca----> It is amazing that, I think, at the end, she is still the winner!

She reigned while she was alive and she was still in control at the moment of her death and even afterwards. Maybe she did deserve what happened to her but still... She seems to be the triumphant one. Even the novel is named after her. We don't even know the narrator's name. And at the end of the novel she said: 'If I can't have it, you won't have it either!'


Jane Doe (a.k.a. the narrator) -----------> :as-sleep:

Throughout the book, I hoped that she would somehow see the light, gain some wisdom and become mature and it didn't happen. This female Walter Mitty impersonator (her constant daydreaming really annoyed me - talk about living in a dream world!) annoyed me more and more by each chapter. It is very ironic that she ended up doing exactly what she had been doing in the beginning. She was a travel companion for the American lady initially and at the end of the novel she became a travel companion for Maxim.

How could she not realise that Mrs D would be tricking her with the dress suggestion. I thought it was Rebecca who was in the painting actually. Also, Ben's words were pretty suggestive; amazing that Jane did not pay him any attention.

And what was going on between Mrs D and Rebecca actually? It was more than simple adoring on Mrs D's side surely?

[Scheherazade]

New quizes on Daphne Du Maurier and Rebecca have been added to the Forum: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/quiz.php?

[NNoah3]

I have already finished the book yesterday. It was a little boring at the beginning, but since they returned to Manderley the writer caught me and I couldn't stop reading. Like Scheherezade I didn't like Mr. de Winter he remembers me a lot that guy whose name is Soames Forsyte in the TV serie based in the book The Forsyte Saga; http://www.online-literature.com/john-galsworthy/forsyte-saga/.
Nevertheless it really worth to read it. :banana:

[Scheherazade]

Just realised that there has been no movie adaptations of the book since 1940. I thought Anjelica Houston would make a wonderful Mrs Danvers.

http://www.ganz-muenchen.de/kino/filme/index/2005/buena_vista/tiefseetaucher/premiere/images/05tiefseetaucher_premi0003.jpg

[Amra]

I read the book twice; the first time a couple of years ago, and then I reread it just a couple of months ago. I enjoyed the book very much, especially the way the story is built up, and symbolism and the erie feeling one gets by reading it. However, when I read it again, some other issues about the book started to bother me. First of all, I disliked Max for being selfish and using everybody around him. The narrator is portrayed as a very weak woman, someone who in real life would not make a good companion to a person like Max, which made the whole story a little fairy tale-y. However, what struck me the most is the fact that a killing of one's spouse is treated to lightly in the book. It seems that everyone somehow conspires to it, and finds justification in it. It is even implied that the investigator thinks Max did it, but justies his behaviour and lets him go freely. I can't help but think that this portrays the true social norms during that time, where spousal homicide is kind of justifed, if the victim is a woman. Imagine that Rebecca killed Max because of infidelity...the whole book would have been written from a prison cell, or purgatory... :smash:

[NNoah3]

The narrator is portrayed as a very weak woman, someone who in real life would not make a good companion to a person like Max,

I think that the narrator makes a good companion to Max, because her weak character. Being a selfish man, I think that Max notice her because of that. He wanted a woman who accepted everything without discussing. Proof of that is when the narrator started to question him; he has an angered reaction and she end forgetting it and asking him forgiveness.

[Amra]

I know that in the book it they are portrayed as the perfect couple because of that, but I don't think any woman in real life would find happieness next to a man like Max, who treats her like a little child. He loves her because she poses no threat to him; she does what he wants, doesn't confront him and doesn't ask for anything. Their relationship is that of a step father and step daughter...full of kindness, politeness and distance. Two strangers in a take-give up relationship. But, i guess, in that time, that may have been considered a perfect marriage. :nod: ;)

[NNoah3]

I see, I got your point now. :nod:

[Lady19thC]

Actually, a Masterpiece Theatre version was done, a few years back. I heard is was not so great, but I have not seen it, yet. I am trying to think who played Mrs. Danvers-Diana Rigg, maybe? Great picture of Anjel, by the way, but she is too sweet to play the part! And I always picture someone more wirey and grey, for some reason!

[NNoah3]

I agree with Sheherazade that Anjelica Houston would play a marvelous Mrs. Danvers.

[Scheherazade]

I agree with Noah that the Narrator and Max are make a good coupe. I think it was Papaya, who suggested that Max likes her because she is very unlike Rebecca, and I agree with her too. The narrator is looking for some kind of father figure, someone who will take care of her, and Max is looking for someone who is not strong and independent. It is all very ironic that at the end of their 'ordeal', the narrator is again kind of a travel companion; this time for Max and, instead of being paid a salary, she is a wife.
Imagine that Rebecca killed Max because of infidelity...the whole book would have been written from a prison cell, or purgatory...To be honest, I hadn't thought this aspect until you brought it up. You might be right if it were Rebecca who killed Max, she could not have got away as easily as he did.

Just one point, Max did not kill Rebecca because she was unfaithful. Rebecca had been unfaithful all along and as long as she kept them in London Max fine with it. Only when she started seeing her boyfriend in Manderley, Max got truly angry.

I agree with you all that he should have got punished for his actions. Even though one might suggest that Rebecca aggravated him, he still killed her; what is more, he killed her when he thought she was pregnant. Someone killing a pregnant woman should not get away without any punishment.

Of course, it can be argued that the fact that Manderley has been destroyed is kind of punishment for him. It was one thing he really cared - so much so that he put up with Rebecca's infidelity simply because she made a good hostess for his house. Also, now living abroad, like some kind of exile is also a punishment in some terms.

[NNoah3]

What about the quotes in the book....

I decided to read the book because I loved the first line.

"LAST NIGHT I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."

[PistisSophia]

I read Rebecca and Jamaica Inn quite a few years ago and I have it here at home.

I find Daphne DuMaurier's style of writing absolutely fascinating and, for me, that is saying a lot because I don't read a lot of fiction to begin with.

I've also seen the movie Rebecca....forget the major actors, off hand, but the movie was very good and kept to the book very well.

She is one my all time favorites. I love reading "costume drama" type things and Forsyte Saga was a great read.

I have finished the Nazi Officer's wife and I couldn't put it down......by Edith Hahn Beers.

[NNoah3]

Yesterday, I was looking for a book and I came across with these:
"Rebecca's Tale" by Sally Beauman, Daphne Du Maurier and "Mrs. De Winter" by Susan Hill Long.
The first took place twenty years after that Manderley was destroyed. The narrator is now Colonel Julyan who is tormented by the memories about the secret of Rebecca's death.
The second took place twelve years after, these shows us the life of Maxim de Winter and Mrs. de Winter since Manderley was destroyed.

I think that will be interesting to read them too.

[Scheherazade]

Thank you for mentioning those titles, Noah. :) Agree with you that they would make interesting reads; will see if I can find them at the library.
What about the quotes in the book....

I decided to read the book because I loved the first line.

"LAST NIGHT I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."I agree with you that the opening sentence of the book is quite memorable. I think it is one of those sentences that many readers recognise without much difficulty.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the book with me anymore; however, the section Mrs D finds the Narrator in Rebecca's room is one of my favorite passages in the book.

[Scheherazade]

Rebecca live chat will take place this weekend; if you would like to take part, please PM me your MSN addresses.

[rachel]

I cannot even remember how many times I have read Rebecca, I have my own copy and treasure it.I confess I rather like My Cousin Rachel a bit better but I still like this.
The wierdest sensation I have had each and every time I read that book is that the world is always in shades of grey.
I think the new mrs.'s understanding of people with genetic defects or mental challenges is enough to make me want to grab her by her plain hairdo and take her to the nearest library to get some understanding. This sort of thing is given an 'evil, dark and sinister treatment and well yes it greatly ads to the flavour it still is upsetting to me.
And as for Max, every women's group and transition house has written pamphlets on how to spot such men and avoid them like the plague.
Still it is his history and his wealth and his dark quiet demeanor that pulls a girl like that in. It is always the quiet silent type that intrigue unless of course you are a firm fan of the Meatloaf's and Jack Black's of this world.
Well I'd say a ton more but then it would just spoil things.
But I do hope, I wish at least we could read my cousin rachel and Jamaica inn by
daphne.
did you know that when she was a kid the author of peter pan J.M Barrie used to come over to her house all the time?
how cool is that.

"There never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliette and her Romeo." Shakespeare.

[Scheherazade]

did you know that when daphne was a little girl she used to go to this mansion where even children were waited on by footmen and the place had a rather scary and overbearing housekeeper. then later on she used to sneak to an abandoned mansion called menabilly and it became her home and was with the other what manderly became.

I knew she lived at menabilly but I didnt know that she used to visit it as a child
She must have liked the place a lot
menabilly is Manderley I read somewhere...

she was in love with it and it exactly fitted the description that the book starts with including the view of the sea and the gardens. and it is where she was most creative. another thing she admits to being the new mrs. her handsome husband tommy was in love with a gorgeous woman before her and she was nothing like her. she said she was jealous felt inferior.

really?
That is really interesting
She sort of felt like our jane Doe, then?
trying to live up to some image she cannot replace?

absolutely and in fact when tommy was stationed in egypt with the grenadiers she left flavia and tessa in cornwall to be cared for and went with him, scared he would be with someone else. and she never truly believed he loved her the way he loved his former. i wonder too if it is open

Very interesting
to find about her insecurities... So much resembles the narrator

What i don't get is that max tells jane that he never loved rebecca and just stayed with her and she with him for appearances sake and for manderly. but who made the guy marry her, was he also so weak willed and whimpy in most areas of his life he just married her without love?

I think Max did like R at least initially... I mean let's be honest... from her description, it seems like it is impossible not to like her... at least for men... However, later on, Max realised that R was not all she seemed

Maybe after their wedding?
But still, I don't see why he had to stay married to her

I don't like Max and I think the fact that he carried on with marriage makes a bad case for him
And all his defence is 'Manderley'...
Sacrificed himself for 'Manderley'...
Not buying it

saving face is everything.

i also cannot take max. he was a murderer and took a young girl to live the residue of his lie. what a jerk.

Well put!

He didnt mind using women in his life
first Rebecca and then our Jane Doe
as long as it suited him
and he decided to do something about Rebecca only because he thought her affairs were going to cause him trouble

absolutely. and truthfully if one really studies jane she is selfish in a way also. when rebeccas body comes forth all she worries is that max won't love or want her anymore. and she's okay with his murdering the woman. yikes. i would be on the first bike out of manderly!

I agree
throughout the novel, she did nothing but thought herself
even her love and dedication to max
I was puzzled over this
All that humbleness and humility about herself but she did not hesitate, for example, to go to max's room to inform him that she was leaving the next day

that was my first clue to her little grey cells. she obviously had no fam that really cared, that american was snooty employer. she had about three things to wear and she saw her chance and leapt at it not thinking about consequences.

Also, the fact that she had seen a postcard of Maderley and loved it as a child make me wonder
Like she was determined to get it or something
or maybe I am reading too much into things

i completely forgot about that. well if she were a poor child and admired wealth and was a dreamer and if she had perhaps been ignored and looked down upon by peers she would of course go for this unforseen gold mine to be elevated in all their eyes. only she didn't have the class to pull it off. and

did it never strike you as strange that she never thought about her family, missed them , wondered what they would think, never thought of or missed prior friends. it is as if she never existed before she worked for the american lady.

I was wondering about that actually
that what happened to her family
No mention, no invitations

Feels like she wanted it all and with Max she got the chance... and once she got it, she didnt want to let it go, at whatever cost
I mean... she is willing to live with a killer
abroad as an exile

and I found it very ironic at the end that she was doing the same things she used to for the american lady
she was still a travel companion
but this time for max

i never thought of that

what do you think about sex between Max and jane?
it seems like it is non-existant
it feels like they mostly sleep in seperate rooms
and there is only one reference that they woke up together
of course i dont expect daphne to write explicit things but i got the impression that during the honeymoon they marriage was not consumated

I am wondering if that arrangement suited both of them
jane looking for some stable father figure
Max some kind of dominion
if dominion is the right word there
it doenst matter really but I think it is just another thing to show that their marriage is not the healthiest one or not what it should be

i always thought that maybe they did have sex once but he did it only out of duty and then being trapped in his nightmare and always seeing r's face and remembering her scorn and then knowing she cut him off and he was humilated. he just left jane to be a little school girl trying to run a home. i think she wanted to be a sex siren but knew the reality that she could never be like rebecca so she settled for child. and he maybe had some nice feelings toward her because of her practically worshipping him but i think there was a great age difference not only in years but in mind. he did kill someone, you must age after that

Yes, I agree with you there... He did not want a wife in the traditional sense of the word
of course some might claim that because of R, he didnt want to settle with another mature woman but he didnt have to go from one extreme to the other
surely?

He brought in someone inexperienced but he refused to offer her any support and help

I just cant imagine why he would let Mrs D keep R's room as it is for example
why did he want another part of the house to be arranged for J?
If I hated someone enough to kill them, I wouldnt like to keep any of their belongings
And J didnt have enough guts to question all these things...

i think he let danny do that because he had a secret fear that somehow she knew the truth and just to be on the safe side he let her do as she wished although i am sure he would have loved to destroy all of it. the other part of the house was over the garden where all was pretty and pristine and still not like the sea where rebecca lay at the bottom of it.

You think he wanted to keep playing the role of devoted husband who wants to keep the memory of his dead wife alive?
More cunning!
So not liking Max!

it makes me incredibly sad how much we women and some men will sacrifice ourselves our hopes and dreams and integrity for the mere physical presence of someone who if we had more self esteem wouldn't give the time of day to

what are your thoughts on frank?

I am puzzled over Frank
I am wondering if he was in love with R
but I still like the fact that he did not let this interfere with his integrity
however, I am not so keen on the fact that even though he knew that Max killed R, he kept quiet
but then again, he couldnt prove much I guess

i quite like frank he would have been a better husband, simple honest loyal. i don't know why he kept quiet either unless it was that he didn't want anyone to know rebecca's secret, perhaps somehow he knew and loved her enough to respect her wish for secrecy. it certainly couldn't have been for max's sake. i really don't know.

did you like beatrice?

I quite liked her
She seemed much nicer than max
but wished she had more tact


she was rather a combination of princess anne and camilla i think and tact is not in the aristocracy in everyday life. they say what they mean and that's that but mainly they don't wish to offend. they are just used to being up there and are tactless in certain ways. but i liked her and felt had jane tried harder she could have had a true and honest friend there. her husband i don't know about.

Yes, I also felt that J did not do enought to befriend B... but then again, she was happy with Max and did not care about the rest
I think in couple of places in the novel J mentions how nice it was being alone with him
he stroking her like he does it with the dog

and that they didnt like their 'peace' being interrupted by others
which included B and her husband

yes in that room she somehow knew she was mistress if only for as long as they stayed by the fire.

but don't you think that behaviour of not wanting to be bugged was just like a very young girl who wants to be alone and secluded with her hearthrob even if to others he is an icky creep?

When they were alone, she could pretend that she was the superior woman she wanted to be but when others were there she had to come down and face the facts

It is true if you are having occasional meetings with your boyfriend maybe but I thought after getting married, it would be just natural to spend time with others as well

But as I said she had to come down to earth whenever they were with others
face the fact that she is lacking in so many ways

[PistisSophia]

Dang!!! The paperback I read is from 1971........so actually the retention of what I remembered is somewhat good at 9 out of 15. I've really read lots of things over the years and sometimes I forget how long it has been.

The narrator (Mrs. DeWinter, present wife) was okay, Mrs. Danvers was a pain, Max was cursed and Rebecca was quite crafty......mysterious and I'm not sure if she was a coward or very brave, or even in her right mind.

[~Maude~]

I loved this book, it is probably up there in my top 10. I really liked that all of the characters were so dislikable, the contrast of the beautiful setting and people to the flawed personalities was what really set off the story for me. The narrator seemed to think that by marrying Max and going to Manderly that life would be perfect and she'd live happily ever after and yet when she got there it was not what it seemed. I also liked the way you saw what was coming before the narratordid, like with the costume party, that had me so worked up and agitated I think I was talking to the book, saying "no, don't do it" :D

[Janine]

Started reading Rebecca during the weekend and am enjoying it (read about 80 pages). I agree with Papaya that that first couple of chapters were quite depressing but the way the author draws the reader into the story is very clever I think. We are given a glimpse into the present before being taken back in time to the point when everything started. I am a little annoyed with the author's technique of being economical with the information shared. Like I still don't know the name of the heroine (do we ever find out?) and just found out that Mr de Winter's first name is Maxim. Of course all these little things make me want to read more; I feel more drawn into the story.

The heroine: I am really thinking that she should have read more Brontes than Austen! All that daydreaming and fairy tales regarding their future!

Maxim: Is he a controlling, calculating man? Why does he want to marry an inexperienced girl after being married someone like Rebecca? His speach regarding which flowers should be picked and which shouldn't gave me the creeps! Also, when they were talking about their wedding, he says: 'You forget I had [church] wedding before.' Uhm, he is forgetting that she hasn't had any weddings before... In short, unless something drastic happens, I won't be liking Maxim! Has he got something to do with Rebecca's death? As I was reading, I couldn't help remembering 'My Last Duchess' (http://mason.gmu.edu/~lsmithg/275duchess.htm) by Robert Browning.

You have to read the entire book to answer many of the questions you have presented. First off, be prepared - the new Mrs. De Winter never reveals her name. That makes the book even more interesting in my opinion. It is clever of the author. She refers to herself as shy and plain; in today's standards she would have been a young girl who did not have very high self esteem or a good image of herself. The reasons Maxim is the way he is will be revealed later in the book. He likes the fact that she is plain and quiet - you will find out why. The book is a mystery. But you do bring up good points, Scher, and the right questions. Read on and you will discover all. I recently read R after many many years. It still was a great read and I still wondered what would happen at the end.

[dramasnot6]

I am a huge Daphne De Maurier fan! This is one of my favorite books of hers

[Scheherazade]

You have to read the entire book to answer many of the questions you have presented. First off, be prepared - the new Mrs. De Winter never reveals her name. That makes the book even more interesting in my opinion. It is clever of the author. She refers to herself as shy and plain; in today's standards she would have been a young girl who did not have very high self esteem or a good image of herself. The reasons Maxim is the way he is will be revealed later in the book. He likes the fact that she is plain and quiet - you will find out why. The book is a mystery. But you do bring up good points, Scher, and the right questions. Read on and you will discover all. I recently read R after many many years. It still was a great read and I still wondered what would happen at the end.Hi Janine,

The BC read Rebecca in the summer of 2005 so my posts in this thread are more than a year old :) I already finished reading the book; although I loved the book, I could not care for the leading characters (I think there is more discussion on this in the later posts in the thread).