“Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again,” sings this novel’s lyrical first line. It sets the tone for an extraordinary tale, overlaid with sinister GothicCharacterised by gloom, mystery and horror. elements. Rebecca, published in 1938, narrates the story of a young narrator who impetuouslySuddenly or impulsively, without considering the consequences. marries a widower two decades her senior. Whisked off to the beautiful but disquietingCausing feelings of worry. estate Manderly, she becomes aware that she is living in the shadow of the former lady of the house, who passed away hardly a year before she arrived. Facing off against the lurking Mrs Danvers, who is passionately committed to preserving Rebecca’s memory and sees the unnamed narrator as an interloperSomeone who becomes involved in something without being wanted or asked to. , and against a society still in mourning for her seemingly perfect forerunner, the new Mrs de Winter finds herself embroiledInvolved in a difficult or complicated situation. in an intricate web of lies, betrayals and deceits.
Rebecca
"Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again," sings this novel's lyrical first line. It sets the tone for an extraordinary tale, overlaid with sinister GothicCharacterised by gloom, mystery and horror. elements. Rebecca, published in 1938, narrates the story of a young narrator who impetuouslySuddenly or impulsively, without considering the consequences. marries a widower two decades her senior. Whisked off to the beautiful but disquietingCausing feelings of worry. estate Manderly, she becomes aware that she is living in the shadow of the former lady of the house, who passed away hardly a year before she arrived. Facing off against the lurking Mrs Danvers, who is passionately committed to preserving Rebecca's memory and sees the unnamed narrator as an interloperSomeone who becomes involved in something without being wanted or asked to. , and against a society still in mourning for her seemingly perfect forerunner, the new Mrs de Winter finds herself embroiledInvolved in a difficult or complicated situation. in an intricate web of lies, betrayals and deceits.
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The narrator is an intruder into the land of memory, stepping into the beautiful Manderley estate having just taken on the name of her recently dead but still very much remembered predecessor, Mrs de Winter (Rebecca). Rebecca's memory is preserved, not only by the unwaveringly dedicated Mrs Danvers, but also by other members of the nearby society - so much so that the narrator feels she is "like a guest, biding my time, waiting for the return of the hostess". Maxim is also tortured by the memory of his dead former wife, so that his relationship with his new one becomes increasingly fraught. But the collective memory of Rebecca as a virtuous, inscrutable woman and wife proves itself faulty when Maxim confesses to having murdered Rebecca for her vices, and again when he discovers that she manipulated him into doing so due to her terminal illness. Behind that romantic memory of Rebecca shared by so many is a web of lies and misunderstanding impossible to unravel.
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Would "type two" make us happier? It can feel terrible while you're doing it but, when it is over, your memory erases the miserable parts and you would do it again and again.
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Rebecca has been described as a ghost story without a ghost. The titular character is both everywhere and nowhere, irrecoverable yet unavoidable. And in some ways, the novelist manipulates us into expecting the arrival of a ghost - the story is couched in many of the same tropes as a classic Gothic ghost novel, including the large but lonely mansion, an ominous woman in mourning attire, and a mysteriously dead woman whom everyone appears to be haunted by. It would not be unexpected for Rebecca's reifiedMake something more concrete or real. ghost to wander through one of the doorways and claim responsibility for the creepy happenings. However, many think the plot is made far stronger by Daphne du Maurier's refusal to indulge our desire for some classic supernatural antics, as Rebecca's omnipresenceBeing found everywhere. is rendered even more sinister and unexplained by her absence.
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Far from a venerableHighly respected due to age, importance or character. institution designed to preserve the sanctity of love and respect, marriage in Rebecca is depicted as a trap, or "personal hell". Maxim's previous marriage to Rebecca was a facadeA deceptive outward appearance., in which his personal hatred for his wife was obscured by how adored she was by all around her. Meanwhile, when the narrator marries Maxim only around a year after Rebecca's death, she too starts to feel trapped by their marriage, marginalised by the dead woman's ongoing, shadowy presence and unconvinced that Maxim truly loves her.
Is marriage dying? A court decision might grant similar status for different types of relationships. But many argue that marriage remains at the heart of human culture and experience.
Do we need new rules for dating? The feminist revolutions of the 1900s ended centuries of strict rituals for young couples. In the #MeToo era, should we look to the past for guidance?
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Death in Rebecca, as in most Gothic novels, is a central theme. Rebecca's death has shaken Manderley into a permanently funereal state, as the whole society mourns her to the extent that they are unable to accept the presence of the new Mrs de Winter. But death is also a weapon: Rebecca, trying to exert one last action of control against the husband who she knows will outlive her, manipulates him into murdering her so that he cannot see himself as faultless or escape guilt after her death. Mrs Danvers tries to use death as a weapon against the narrator to honour her beloved Rebecca too, attempting to convince the former to jump from a window.
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Rebecca's life was a web of lies which made those around her complicitTo be involved with others in an unlawful or morally wrong activity. . Her husband was the only one who knew her true character, but he has been forced into lying to those around him to conceal it, even to his new wife. Some have read Rebecca's deceit as proof of her fundamentally evil character, while a feminist reading posits that her double life was a means of wrestling agency from the hands of those around her in a society in which her options were limited by her gender. The novel is littered with untruths, brought out by the novel's unreliable first-person narration.
Is the truth overrated? In a new breakthrough, scientists have created software that will soon be able to detect nearly all lies. Could humanity survive if lying were impossible?
Is honesty overrated? An author has written about growing up in a family where nobody told a lie - and the difficulties it caused him in dealing with the rest of the world.
Is truth making a comeback? It is now 20 years since social media platforms first started warping our reality. But some experts see light at the end of the tunnel in 2023.
Gothic - Characterised by gloom, mystery and horror.
Impetuously - Suddenly or impulsively, without considering the consequences.
Disquieting - Causing feelings of worry.
Interloper - Someone who becomes involved in something without being wanted or asked to.
Embroiled - Involved in a difficult or complicated situation.
Reified - Make something more concrete or real.
Omnipresence - Being found everywhere.
Venerable - Highly respected due to age, importance or character.
Facade - A deceptive outward appearance.
Complicit - To be involved with others in an unlawful or morally wrong activity.
Rebecca

Glossary
Gothic - Characterised by gloom, mystery and horror.
Impetuously - Suddenly or impulsively, without considering the consequences.
Disquieting - Causing feelings of worry.
Interloper - Someone who becomes involved in something without being wanted or asked to.
Embroiled - Involved in a difficult or complicated situation.
Reified - Make something more concrete or real.
Omnipresence - Being found everywhere.
Venerable - Highly respected due to age, importance or character.
Facade - A deceptive outward appearance.
Complicit - To be involved with others in an unlawful or morally wrong activity.