How would you describe the change in the second Mrs. DeWinter (we never hear her name) over the course of Rebecca? What’s she like at Monte Carlo and at Manderley before and after she learns Maxim’s secret? Do you think there’s any single shot in the film that emblematizes her as a character at a particular point in time? You don’t have to answer all of these questions, but do consider the second Mrs DeWinter’s evolution.
16 thoughts on “Rebecca”
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At the start of the movie, Mrs. DeWinter is shown as quiet and shy, especially in her interactions with Mrs. Van Hopper, where she rarely speaks up for herself and tends to follow others’ wishes. After marrying Mr. Winter and moving to Manchester, her character shifts dramatically. She becomes more authoritative and starts asserting her will. One example is when she instructs Danvers to dispose of Rebecca’s letters. This change in her character seems to stem from the constant comparisons to Rebecca and her strong desire to earn Mr. DeWinter’s approval.
Second Mr. De Winters initial time at Manderley amplifies her insecurities. The oppressive mansion with its grandeur and the spectral presence of Rebecca becomes a labyrinth of psychological trials for her. Mrs. De Winter is haunted not just by the physical remnants of Rebecca, but by her own perceptions of inadequacy in comparison to this “perfect” woman. Under the influence of Mrs. Danvers, who reveres Rebecca, secon Ms. De Winters is even more overshadowed. The turning point is learning Rebeca’s death. Armed with the truth, her perspective shifts dramatically. She moves from being a passive presence in her own life to taking an active role in defending and managing the crises that unfold. This agency marks a shift in her character from shadow to substance.
If we only wallow in purity and the light, we become dopes or dupes — we think we’re doing good and we’re being used.
Her innocence is lost in her newly acquired truths. She is safe because she is invisible, because she is unaware to the deeper underlying challenges relationships may offer. She is held by this because of her innocence and moreover her isolation from meaningful interpersonal relationships. Instead of being surrounded by friends or family (as she has lost hers) she spends the first part of the movie as a paid for companion, while aware of the power dynamics involved she still holds herself to a sort of naivety in her relationship with Mrs Van Hopper. But, keeping to traditional roles, she still can be naive and ‘happy go lucky’ even with the loss of her parents. So, when she achieves clarity and later maturation in her relationship with Maxim, it is derived from the pain he unveils onto her. She doesn’t allow herself to really feel/experience things directly (or so it appears) until after meeting Maxim and so through him she ages, she feels the pain he feels and acts almost like some sort of mirror. She can only seem older when he becomes honest with himself and her. But the mirror she tries to be is tainted, because even in her clarity and aging she still remains in the dark.
The evolution of the second Mrs. DeWinter throughout the movie is primarily characterized by her growing awareness of the first Mrs. DeWinter throughout the lenght of the movie. At first, when she meets Maxim in Monte Carlo, she appears clumsy and unaware of anything related to him and his late wife, inadvertently upsetting Max by mentioning her and the circumstances of her death. For the rest of the film, once she is at Manderley, she becomes self-aware of her lack of social skills (specially in the context of high society) and feels insecurity about her role as Maxim’s wife, constantly comparing herself to the previous Mrs. DeWinter . This is visually emphasized by many low camera shots of her in the manor, making the rooms in the house appear much larger than she is. Her attitude changes once she learns the truth; empowered by the realization that she is not stepping into someone else’s shoes, she no longer feels the need to meet Maxim’s expectations. Instead, she becomes protective and vigilant of him, establoishing her own identity in their relationship, making her look “older”. This transformation highlights her journey from insecurity to confidence and agency.
The second Mrs. Dewinter is portrayed almost as a child in the beginning of the film. She is a paid companion but her employer almost treats her as her kid, for example scolding her and giving permission to do activities. When she meets Mr. DeWinter she is also very sweet, innocent, and naive, he calls her little nicknames that are supposed to be very cute. When she enters Manderley she is haunted by the shadow of Rebecca. When many refer to Rebecca they still call her Mrs. DeWinter even though they are speaking to the current one. We also never hear the second Mrs. DeWinter’s name as if the title only belongs to Rebecca and the second Mrs. DeWinter can never replace her. This eventually starts to somber the second Mrs. DeWinter’s childlike personality. She does her best to grow up and take on the duties of a wife and even try to dress the part. She is intimidated by all the things that are made to be Rebecca’s; everything that she is given is embroidered with the initial R. Besides the part where Maxim tells her his dark secret the most earliest pivotal point for her change is when she calls up Ms. Danvers and tells her she wants all of Rebecca’s things out of the study and makes it very clear that she is the one and only Mrs. DeWinters. The camera and lighting changed drastically in this moment highlighting that she was fed up and growing up now, no longer wanting to be controlled by the expectations people have of her to be almost like a placeholder for the first Mrs. DeWinter, even though she was dead.
At the beginning of the film, the second Mrs. DeWinter is portrayed as a shy and obedient character. Her obedient character is clearly shown in her interactions with Mrs. Van Hopper, where she does not seem to openly express herself but rather complies with others. However, after she marries a rich man named Mr. DeWinter and moves to Manderley, her character undergoes a significant transformation. At Manderley, she becomes a character that exerts dominance and authority. For example, there is a scene where she demands Danvers to get rid of Rebecca’s letters. I think the character transformation of the second Mrs. DeWinter is due to the constant comparisons with Rebecca and her strong desire to be accepted by Mr. DeWinter.
In Rebecca, the second Mrs. DeWinter evolves from a shy, awkward, and somewhat sheepish young woman into someone more confident and experienced. When we first meet her in Monte Carlo, she’s innocent and unsure of herself, and this is amplified next to the boisterous and domineering Mrs. Van Hopper. Her childlike demeanor is particularly clear throughout the film when she asks Maxim to speak to others, like Van Hopper and Mrs. Danvers, on her behalf because she’s worried they’ll be upset.
When she moves to Manderley, it’s clear she’s overwhelmed by her new responsibilities and the lingering presence of Rebecca. To me, though, she feels less childlike in this setting, as many of her naïve moments are understandable, given the situation. Early on, we see signs that she isn’t completely clueless. For instance, her decision not to tell Maxim about Favell’s visit shows she’s starting to think for herself. Her request for Mrs. Danvers to destroy Rebecca’s belongings is another major step in claiming her role, even though she hasn’t yet learned the full truth about Rebecca and Maxim. Additionally, when she admits that she always knew Rebecca stood between her and Maxim, it’s clear she sensed the tension, even if she didn’t understand why.
Her biggest shift comes after learning Maxim’s secret. With the full story, she becomes more agentive, making decisions with the knowledge she previously lacked. This is when her innocence really fades, and she becomes much more assertive. By the end of the film, she’s no longer the timid girl we first met in Monte Carlo.
The second Mrs. de Winter spends much of the film in a state of relative naïveté, which comes to an abrupt end when Mr. de Winter tells her the truth about Rebecca. He himself comments upon this, remarking that there was an innocent look in her eye that disappeared when he told her. However, while this may have marked the most drastic shift in her demeanor, I did perceive some change in her overall character even before this happened. Throughout her time in Monte Carlo and early in her time at Manderley, she is naive and completely new to her new life: not just married life, but life in such lavish settings. She is quite evidently overwhelmed by this sudden change. However, as time progresses, she begins to settle more into this new life. One of the most notable examples of this for me was when she ordered Ms. Danvers to destroy Rebecca’s belongings, and asserted that “I am Mrs. de Winter.” This moment in particular marks a turning point in her character as she gains a new sense of confidence not just in her status as Mrs. de Winter but also in the splendor of life to which she had previously been so accustomed.
The Second Mrs. DeWinter at the beginning of the film is rather childlike, innocent, and clumsy. She seems to value the opinion that others have of her and wants nothing more than to please her husband Mr. DeWinter. In the beginning when she arrives at his estate she is anxious about the expectations set on her as the new wife and a sudden shift in her title and obligations. She is quiet scared of Mrs. Danvers offers her services but her seriousness unsettles Mrs. Dewinters (2nd). There was a scene when she broke a very expensive decoration and she felt scared and hid it as a child would in order to avoid scolding. In another scene whenMrs. Dewinters was providing the second Mrs. Danvers an insightful glance into the first Mrs. DeWinter’s attitude and life Mrs. Dewinters (2nd) begins backing herself into the door and shrinking herself as Mrs. Danvers comes closer. As the film progresses she is slowly getting accustomed to her surroundings and she reaches out in order to learn how to handle the household and all of its affairs. Towards the end of the film when Mrs. DeWinters learns that her husband Mr. Dewinters murdered his first wife; she processes it and has transformed herself into an accomplice for her husband’s murder. She is willing to help him lie in order to stay with his devoted and loving wife.
For the first part of Rebecca, Mrs. DeWinter is totally infantalized, referenced as a child and acting pretty consistently child-like. It’s very clear that Mr. DeWinter really likes this. I think a really effective child-like moment is when she shoves the broken figure into the back of the drawer, and covers it with paper. I think that her infantalization is accentuated, at least in the eyes of the other characters by her unfamiliarity with living in that sort of high-society setting. The way she acts in scenes of her getting followed around by various staff evoke a really unsettling feeling. Also, of course this ideal of Rebecca is always being brought up.
There is definitely a shift – referenced explicitly by Mr. DeWinter and also Rebecca’s cousin/lover? – after she she hears about the suicide/murder backstory, she becomes generally much more composed, and called grown up by a number of the men in the movie. I think more than learning about the shadyness of Rebecca’s death, Mrs. DeWinter changed because she learned Maxim didn’t love Rebecca.
I think it’s kind of cool that we don’t know for sure whether Maxim actually killed Rebecca. I don’t think that most of his story was a lie since the sham marriage part was corroborated, but I also don’t feel like that means he’s necessarily a reliable narrator. When he’s actually talking about what happened he described it very fuzzily, and his temper is often talked about. Also, it’s very clear that the police were looking for a reason to find him innocent. On the other hand, the account from the doctor corroborates parts of his account of that night very specifically-the parts where it seems she wanted him to kill her feel less like a blatant lie.
I watched this film for another class last semester, and going in I was looking forward to seeing if anything changed for me in my perception of the second Mrs. DeWinter going in, but to be honest it was quite similar. However, I do think that she definitely changes over the course of the film. At Monte Carlo, Mrs. DeWinter seems to be more naive, innocent, and unsure of herself yet eager to fall in love hard and fast. Once she arrives at Manderley, it is obvious that she is uncomfortable and feels that she does not fit in, but I feel that over the course of the film she grows more confident in herself, until Mrs. Danvers takes her back down. One scene that I feel like highlights this is when Mrs. DeWinter stands up to Mrs. Danvers, saying that she is the new “Mrs. Dewinter”. However, I feel that in her newfound confidence, the second Mrs. DeWinter loses herself a bit, as she tries so hard to fill Rebecca’s shoes. The two women begin to merge, and it becomes clear that this confidence is borne out of her insecurity – the second Mrs. DeWinter is playing the part of a stronger, older woman, and she does it so well that it begins to trick us, the audience – that is, until the cracks begin to show.
In the beginning, we see Ms. DeWinter as a sweet innocent young woman who is excited to start her life. As the story progresses, she becomes a bit more hardened as she uncovers the reality of her situation. At the Monte Carlo, she is none the wiser and is completely taken with Mr. DeWinter. She is cheerful and joyous and even the hostility of Mrs.Danvers barely shakes her confidence in herself. At Manderley, she is just as bright eyed as before and fairly optimistic in her ability to be a good host at Manderley. At Manderley we see a change first in how she is trying to present herself differently and another change as she uncovers Maxim’s secret. It is noted that her youthful appearance has left and Maxim remarks that he will never see it again. In my opinion, I think her outlook on life and her outlook on her own life has probably changed as she now longer sees the world through her optimistic mindset that only a naive youth can have.
Once Mrs. DeWinter finds out about Maxim’s secret, she only needs a moment before professing her love for him and offering him her unwavering support. Her immediate love for him sprouts out of their power imbalance upon meeting – he is a rich, single, older man, and she is a younger, poorer, woman who is working as a paid companion. She is timid and will do anything to make him happy, eager to please him and those around him. This undying adoration for Mr. DeWinter is what causes her to have this switch. She is still eager to please him, but in order not to lose him and their marriage, she must help him cover up the murder of the first Mrs. DeWinter. Althought it is unknown at this scene in the boathouse where Mrs. DeWinter finds out the truth, she becomes the ideal wife that Mr. DeWinter never had but tried to convince the public that he did. She is willing to go down with him and helps him get away with the murder. She survives the fire set by Danvers and the movie ends with Mrs. DeWinter still by Maxim’s side.
The second Mrs. DeWinter starts off as sweet and docile with stereotypical ladylike characteristics. She doesn’t come off as so dependent on Maxim at first. However, as the movie progresses, the movie portrays her quickly falling deeply in love with Maxim. There are various scenes where she seems incredibly happy now that she’s with him, such as when she’s humming in the living room and dancing with Maxim in a romantic scene. But this innocent lust soon turns into a strange obsession with not only Maxim but with his prior wife, the first Mrs. DeWinter. When she arrives at Manderley, Maxim’s wife’s indirect presence haunts her as everyone seems to be talking about how beautiful and personable she was. Feeling like a replacement or rebound that can’t live up to the first Mrs. DeWinter’s shoes, she goes down a spiral where she’s constantly comparing herself to his first wife. I think one scene that captures this obsession is when after hearing that the first wife was the “most beautiful creature he’s ever seen,” it transitions to a magazine about beauty and a figure wearing a black dress. Then, the camera flips to the second Mrs. DeWinter wearing a slightly scandalous bodycon dress, similar to the black dress in the “beauty magazine.” It seems like her whole life now revolves around whether or not Maxim loves her as much as he loved the first wife, so she’s constantly seeking his validation.
When Maxim tells her his secret, she doesn’t even seem to process that he was involved in her death and rather she’s so fixated on him saying that he never loved his first wife and in fact, he hated her. She is so relieved when she hears this. The second Mrs. DeWinter even goes to tell Maxim that the first wife’s shadow is no longer there to haunt them. While she was saying that to reassure Maxim, it was also like she was talking to herself now that she knows she no longer has to compete with the first wife.
I think that the second Mrs. de Winter begins as a very timid and shy character, especially compared to Mrs. van Hooper. She is obviously very unsure of herself and seems to be of a much lower class than Mr. de Winter and Mrs. van Hooper. She even says herself that she would have no idea what to do in ‘that life’ out in Manderley, because it is so out of the realm of what she is used to. Even so, she starts to come out of her shell after spending more time with Max in Monte Carlo. She sketches and seems to speak her mind which seems to be leaps and bounds from how she seemed when the two first met. The decision to marry is made very hastily but it seems to be her only option besides simply being a paid companion for the rest of her life, so she takes that leap. Throughout the beginning of her time at Manderley she still seems to be holding onto much of her youthful innocence, and she really feels unprepared for the duties that come with being the wife to a man such as Mr. de Winter. The scene with Mrs. Danvers seems to be a bit of a turning point for her finally proclaiming “I am Mrs. de Winter now.” There is still a bit of unease in this moment because she still is not quite sure how to handle Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. de Winter is left in the dark about the happenings with Rebecca and Manderley for a large majority of the movie. She is left with this ease for such an extended period of time that by the time she is finally told the truth by Maxim she seems to not react too extensively. That relief of finally understanding what’s at play seems to be the last thing she needed to be more confident in her position as Maxim’s wife and in their love for each other. She doesn’t evolve into the picture perfect wife that Rebecca seemed to be, but she evolved into the perfect wife that Maxim could actually love.
Throughout the first three quarters of the movie, Mrs. DeWinter is hesitant, giggly and almost comically awkward. She wears frumpy clothes in lighter colors and seems, in both manner and appearance, significantly younger than Maxim. Mrs. DeWinter is fretful and unsure of herself and never gives orders. Her eyebrows are frequently raised or creased and her hair is worn down around her face. When Mrs. DeWinter learns Maxim’s secret, her demeanor changes almost immediately– she is bold, reassuring, and consistent. Her appearance changes after the scene in the cabin, as well: a shot that I believe emblematizes her is the one shortly after Rebecca’s body has been discovered when Mrs. DeWinter descends the stairs at Manderley to speak with the butler wearing a bold dark dress, her hair drawn back from her ears in almost precisely the way that Beatrice told her to. In this scene, Mrs. DeWinter has traded in her patched-together schoolgirl clothes for a dark dress with sharp angles. When she speaks to the butler, she is knowledgeable about her husband, the house and the people within it– she declares upon hearing that Mrs. Danvers is in distress that she “thought she might be.” Mrs. DeWinter has clearly lost what Maxim calls her “funny young lost look” and appears a lady in all the stone-faced, secretive ways that Rebecca was. In this scene and those following Mrs. DeWinter truly becomes Mrs. DeWinter, and Maxim’s first and second wives nearly merge.