
2020 Question Bank
This question asks that the candidate place themselves in the position of the unnamed narrator of Rebecca, the second Mrs de Winter. Candidates are expected to demonstrate a good knowledge of relevant events in the novel, and be able to present them in a way that reveals a solid, critical understanding of the way the novel has developed up to (roughly) Chapter 12. In part this will depend on where the candidate places the diary entry they are writing in the novel's chronology, but the wording of the question indicates that answers should be placed somewhere between the start of Chapter 8 (the morning of Mrs de Winter's arrival at Manderley in May) and the end of Chapter 12 (events related to the china cupid episode which take place before the end of June).
Candidates may fix their diary entry to a single major event - writing, for example, the morning after Mrs de Winter's first meeting(s) with Mrs Danvers (Chapters 7 and 8), or after her walk with her husband in Happy Valley and argument while visiting the beach (Chapter 10)-or they may write more generally about their experiences from a less fixed chronological position: both approaches can produce successful answers.
It is important that candidates should not summarise plot points and offer descriptions, but instead give informed ideas about how Mrs de Winter feels about her new life and explain why this is so.
A key point to consider is that effective answers should deal directly with the 'mixed feelings' aspect of the question, and not simply present a totally negative or positive view of the narrator's situation. As the lists below suggest, most answers will contain more material that is generally negative about the narrator's feelings about her new life - after all, she is genuinely unhappy for most of this period. But it is important that candidates achieve some balance here by indicating some positive aspects of her life, either in its own right, or in contrast to her previous precarious and unpleasant situation.
Strong answers will give a sense of the narrator's character -her lack of confidence, her self-doubt, her nervousness, her inexperience, and so on. They may include comments or self-reflections about the narrator's personality, that she is too timid to complain about her life in Manderley outright, and that she is too desperate to fit in, and too desperate to think and do the right things. As a result, she is almost trying to convince herself that not everything is bad.
Possible issues/events that may be mentioned include the following:
Positive
➤ The comfort she gets from the dogs, especially Jasper (Chapter 7).
➤ Her pride as mistress of a famous house (Chapter 7) and her awed delight in its magnificence and abundance (Chapter 8).
➤ Her love of the gardens, especially Happy Valley (Chapter 10).
➤ Her appreciation of Frank Crawley (Chapter 11) and his advice to 'forget the past' (Chapter 12).
Negative
➤ Her nervousness about arriving at Manderley and taking up her position as mistress there (Chapter 7).
➤ Her feelings of inferiority to, and near-fear of, Mrs Danvers (Chapter 7).
➤ Her confusion with the complicated and unfamiliar routines of the house - fires being lit, etc. (Chapter 8).
Her feelings of uselessness at having nothing productive to do (Chapter 8).
➤ Her developing sense of failure/inferiority in contrast to Max's previous wife, Rebecca (Chapter 9,10, and 11).
➤ Her resentment or sadness at Max's unexplained anger at her in Chapter 10, and her sense that, even early on in their marriage, she may not be making him happy (Chapter 11) due to her shyness and inexperience.
➤ His feelings about breaking the china cupid in Chapter 12, and her shame when Mrs Danvers and Max discover her concealment of the breakage. Strong candidates may note the relevance of the statue being of Cupid in particular.
Mixed
➤ Memories of her previous life as Mrs Van Hopper's paid companion at Monte Carlo and elsewhere -these memories might be used in contrast with her current life at Manderley (see Chapters 1-4) and could include reference to Mrs Van Hopper's vulgarity, her unkindness, or the narrator's lack of social status.
➤ Reference to her feelings about her husband, Max, who she loves very much but who remains rather distant, and who does not communicate with her much about his feelings (Chapter 6).
➤ Her reflections on meeting Beatrice and Giles and in Chapter 9 - a mixture of nervousness and appreciation of their kindness (especially Beatrice's).
The fact that this novel is narrated exclusively from the perspective of one of its participants has a major impact on the reader's perception and experience of the story and its events. A successful answer to this question should make a convincing argument about how the limited first-person narrative impacts on or affects our understanding of plot, character, atmosphere, etc.
An important general observation is that the limited narrative perspective leads to a one-sided, limited presentation of the story; as readers, we have an inherent sympathy with the first-person narrator, and are thus tempted to believe everything they relate: Thoughtful answers might challenge this approach.
Candidates may include some of the following points:
1. The narrator's descriptions of other characters colour the reader's interpretation of them:
➤ Max is portrayed through her rose-tinted glasses, but he is really a wife killer.
➤ Her characterisation of Rebecca as an evil, degenerate woman is very one-sided.
➤ In the opening chapters of the novel the narrator describes Mrs Van Hopper as having 'small pig's eyes', a characterisation, which combined with other comparisons, makes it likely the reader will accept the narrator's negative evaluation of this character. Ironically, of course, Mrs Van Hopper's analysis of the upcoming marriage in Chapter 6 is quite astute.
➤ The narrator's description of Mrs Danvers 'skull's face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton's frame' (Chapter 7) or Mr Favell's 'too soft, too pink' mouth (Chapter 13) are likely to influence a reader's perception of these characters negatively.
2. In broad terms, the reader is presented a version of a life story that emphasises the narrator's powerlessness and vulnerability:
➤ She is first under the power of Mrs Van Hopper, then under the power of Max de Winter, then under the power of Mrs Danvers, and then under the power of the (dead) Rebecca - but this is always her own interpretation and presentation of events.
➤ Another version of this story could emphasise how successful the poor narrator is in climbing the socio-economic ladder through her marriage, and then how successful she is in influencing her husband through her weakness.
3. In terms of mood or atmosphere, the reader is entirely dependent on the narrator's presentation of the events and the setting:
➤ The effect of haunting that develops from Chapter 14 onwards is largely attributable to the narrator's perspective. If, for example, Frank Crawley were telling the story, he would give much less credit to Mrs Danvers, who first proposes the idea.
➤ The sense of anxiety surrounding the narration - the nervousness and fear - is not necessarily grounded in fact: is there really any reason for the narrator to be so uncomfortable in her new life at Manderley?
4. A number of more specific plot events might be referred to by candidates:
➤ When Max confesses to having murdered Rebecca in Chapter 20, the narrator presents her willingness to conceal the truth as an example of fidelity and love: but readers could also interpret this as helping to conceal a terrible crime.
➤ The incident of the broken china cupid in Chapter 12 is presented as an example of the pressures of life at Manderley, and Max and Mrs Danvers' reactions to the concealment of the breakage as unfair. But the narrator behaves strangely, and causes real trouble in the house.
➤ When the narrator appears dressed like Rebecca at the party, she presents this as a result of Mrs Danvers' manipulation and cruelty (Chapter 16). However, it is possible that she dressed like this on purpose (as her husband suspects). She has heard about Rebecca's clothes, and even inspected them in her closet.
Subscribe to BrainStorm newsletter
I'm a title. Click here to edit me.
© 2035 by BrainStorm. Powered and secured by Wix