Lit Commentary: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Chapter 2
Lit Commentary: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Chapter 2
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"I can tell by the way he will look lost and puzzled suddenly, all expression dying away from his dear face as though swept clean by an unseen hand, and in its place a mask will form, a sculptured thing, formal and cold, beautiful still but lifeless. He will fall to smoking cigarette after cigarette, not bothering to extinguish them, and the glowing stubs will lie around on the ground like petals. He will talk quickly and eagerly about nothing at all, snatching at any subject as a panacea to pain. I believe there is a theory that men and women emerge finer and stronger after suffering, and that to advance in this or any world we must endure ordeal by fire. This we have done in full measure, ironic though it seems."
The protagonist makes an interesting statement with this quote, because I wonder if they aren't more fragile as well. When Maxim remembers, he falls into a pattern of "smoking cigarette after cigarette" and clutches "at any subject as a panacea to pain." Perhaps this is normal; that the guilt and anxiety of the past would haunt him so seems only natural after what he has done. Maybe his strength comes from finally coming to terms with his past and confronting what he has done, accepting it, in order to move on from it - though accepting what one has done does not in any way mean that they will no longer haunted by it. But it seems to me that this is a very fragile peace that the two of them have cultivated, and I wonder if maybe it is mainly the protagonist who has grown stronger, and Maxim who has grown kinder - though, what is kindness, if not a strength in and of itself?
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"We have no secrets now from one another. All things are shared."
This statement has always been a marker to me, effectively telling the reader that whatever it was the two of them had gone through before, both of them were keeping secrets from one another. (Although, I would argue, Maxim was keeping one heck of a secret; the protagonist's secrets don't even compare!) This could also mean that at some point in their shared history, they were unable to be completely honest with one another, perhaps because they were afraid or didn't yet feel comfortable enough with one another to do so.
Spoiler Here
I would argue that this is because they hadn't known each other long before marrying, and therefore didn't experience a maturity in their relationship that allowed them to be truly honest and open with one another.
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"But I never dared ask Mrs Danvers what she did about it. She would have looked at me in scorn, smiling that freezing, superior smile of hers, and I can imagine her saying: 'There were never any complaints when Mrs de Winter was alive.' Mrs Danvers. I wonder what she is doing now. She and Favell. I think it was the expression on her face that gave me my first feeling of unrest. Instinctively I thought, 'She is comparing me to Rebecca'; and sharp as a sword the shadow came between us..."
The first introduction the reader has to the character of Mrs. Danvers, and what an introduction! From the very get-go we can tell that this was a character who worked at Manderley - since she was apparently the one to do something "about it" (it being all the leftover food) - and that she isn't an entirely nice person to be around. Which, putting two and two together, is a dead giveaway that there's something very off about this character, because who is she to be rude to the mistress of Manderley (the protagonist, as we can now guess because of her reminiscence up to this point)? How can she get away with that? And, of course, the imagined statement, scornfully said: 'There were never any complaints when Mrs de Winter was alive.' Oh, yes. Something is definitely off about this character.
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"That corner in the drive, too, where the trees encroach upon the gravel, is not a place in which to pause, not after the sun has set. When the leaves rustle, they sound very much like the stealthy movement of a woman in evening dress, and when they shiver suddenly, and fall, and scatter away along the ground, they might be the patter, patter, of a woman's hurrying footstep, and the mark in the gravel the imprint of a high-heeled satin shoe."
We can already tell that most of the central characters in this story are women - Rebecca, the protagonist, Mrs. Danvers. So when this particular part mentions the 'movement of a woman in evening dress' and the sound of 'a woman's hurrying step' and the imprint of 'a high-heeled satin shoe' - well, not only are these very specific images brought to mind, images of a wealthy woman, they are also introduced to the reader almost as though they were a haunting of Manderley.
Spoiler Here
Already this is setting us up for the way the protagonist is going to feel the presence of Rebecca everywhere she goes in Manderley, how she is entirely haunted by her when she never even knew the woman or met her - when she doesn't even know what she looks like! A very powerful statement so early on in the book, perhaps not quite appreciated until one finishes the book.
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"It was my lack of poise of course that made such a bad impression on people like Mrs Danvers. What must I have seemed like after Rebecca?"
The second time this chapter, we have the protagonist discussing how she compares to Rebecca - or, rather, how Mrs. Danvers compares her to Rebecca. I think this is rather important, because there's definitely something happening here with regards to self-esteem and confidence, and gives us some insight into the judgment and doubts the protagonist will go through in the story.
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"Odd, that resentment of servants, and their obvious impatience."
So, this is something the protagonist notes when she's telling us about how, even though she used to travel with a wealthy Mrs. Van Hopper (she worked as a "companion" to the older woman), she was always mistreated by servants because they could tell that she was in the employ of the woman and therefore obviously not worth serving in the same way. It probably didn't help that she was so timid and shy at the time, and couldn't assert herself towards them, and that her employer wasn't the best in terms of helping her out in that department.
Spoiler Here
However, I also link this to Mrs. Danvers and the way she served the protagonist. In a way, there's a comparison to be made about how the protagonist feels as a companion to Mrs. Van Hopper and how she feels in comparison to Rebecca, and the judgment that she receives from others as a result. To be clear, this judgment doesn't only come from the servant-class, though in this case that's what I want to highlight. Her lack of self-confidence and inability to assert herself makes it easier for servants to disrespect her, knowing that there will be no consequence. As for Mrs. Danvers... perhaps she thinks the same when she mistreats our protagonist and speaks way out of turn. Or maybe she just doesn't care.👠
" 'It's Max de Winter,' she said, 'the man who owns Manderley. You've heard of it, of course. He looks ill, doesn't he? They say he can't get over his wife's death...' "
Here we have the first introduction of Maxim de Winter, the master of Manderley. Apparently, the most important two things about this character, as given to us by Mrs. Van Hopper the incorrigible gossip, are that he owns Manderley, and that he apparently can't get over his wife's death. So, the picture might be coming together now for some readers - Mrs. Danvers's comment about how 'There were never any complaints when Mrs de Winter was alive' and the protagonist's wonder at how different she was from the poised, sophisticated, beautiful, elegant Rebecca.
Spoiler Here
Fitting that we learn about him from the perspective of Mrs. Van Hopper, though, isn't it? Maxim later reveals that he doesn't like her kind of people, and that he's quite wary of gossip and what people say about him, especially with relation to his late wife. It does seem quite ironic that it is through these two undesirable elements that we are introduced to Maxim, but that does say something about rumour and gossip, and how one cannot always control how one is perceived - and perhaps, it also says something about how dangerous rumour can be.
End of Chapter 2 Lit Commentary!
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