Not the First Mrs. de Winter

Not the First Mrs. de Winter

Blog Post #1

Topic C

April 17, 2015

By: Isabella Hajnos

         In the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, the main character and Maxim de Winter's relationship grows rather quickly and is significant in foreshadowing the rest of the novel because of how she is treated by everyone else since she is seen as not important by most. They first meet in the hotel they are all staying at. She is downgraded by Mrs. Van Hopper, her employer, and expects to also be looked down upon by Maxim; however, the unexpected happens- he apologizes for the rude attitude he had when they talked. He invites her to lunch with him, and she takes it as only an act of charity, showing her reluctance to relationships because she is so young and immature, as well as inexperienced. As they get to know each other a little more, and they take drives around Monte Carlo every day, she still finds it as only an act of kindness and pity. Still, Maxim continues to be blunt and even says to her that he wants her company, and “if [she doesn’t] believe [him] [she] can leave the car now and find [her] own way home” because she does not understand that what he does is not out of pity (du Maurier 40).

         After they go for a drive and Maxim clearly sees that the main character is upset, he indirectly tells her that he loves her by telling her to “never wear black satin”, as this was something the main character wants to do in her adulthood because to her, that’s how adults are- mature and sophisticated (du Maurier 42). It seems so far that Maxim does not want another Rebecca, who is his late wife. Later, when the main character tells Maxim that she and Mrs. Van Hopper are going to New York City, he proposes. They do not fully know each other yet, and when Maxim tells the main character to call him Maxim while Rebecca called him Max, this upsets her and she later burns Rebecca’s signed page in Maxim’s poetry book. She does not want to live up to Rebecca; she wants a new beginning for herself and Maxim. This foreshadows the rest of the novel because the main character spends most of her time trying to live up to Rebecca and constantly being compared to her. The second Mrs. Maxim de Winter is only trying to build a new life for herself and her new husband, but the constant lingering of the late Rebecca haunts her in her attempts.