Rebecca Death Quotes
How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The house was a sepulchre, our fear and suffering lay buried in the ruins. There would be no resurrection. (1.12)
A sepulchre (or sepulcher) is a tomb or a grave. In this early passage, Manderley, which we later learn has burned down, is envisioned by the narrator as a grave for Mrs. de Winter's fear and suffering, which (she hopes!) won't come back to life.
Quote #2
"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..." (2.22)
That's true, Mrs. Van Hopper – he can't. But it's not for the reasons Mrs. Van Hopper or the soon to be Mrs. de Winter can imagine.
Quote #3
"Haven't you any family?"
"No – they're dead." (4.31-32)
Maxim quickly establishes that the soon to be Mrs. de Winter is an orphan. This will make marrying her nice and convenient. He also sees this as a point in common with her, considering that his own parents (and his wife) are all dead, too.
Quote #4
"I'm afraid you have made a mistake," I said; "Mrs. de Winter has been dead for over a year." (8.34)
It's morbidly hilarious to see the new Mrs. de Winter forget that she's Mrs. de Winter the first time Mrs. Danvers calls her on the house phone in the morning-room. Death, on the other hand, is never quite forgotten in Rebecca.
Quote #5
She was dead. She had been dead now for a year. She lay buried in the crypt of the church with all the other dead de Winters. (14.3)
Of course, the "she" in question is Rebecca. Here we have Mrs. de Winter trying to convince herself that Rebecca is really dead and not somehow a living force exerting power over those who she left behind. Keep telling yourself that, Mrs. de W.
Quote #6
"Do you think she can see us, talking to one another now?" she said slowly. "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" (14.45)
No, Mrs. Danvers, but we do believe she inhabits your body and uses it to help get her afterworldly vengeance! But, really, what do you think? Do you think Rebecca can see what's happening in her precious Manderley?
Quote #7
"Why, the dress, you poor dear, the picture you copied of the girl in the gallery. It was what Rebecca did at the last fancy dress ball at Manderley. Identical. The same picture, the same dress. You stood there on the stairs, and for one ghastly moment I thought..." (17.24)
The closest thing we have to an actual ghost is Mrs. de Winter, dressed (accidentally) as the late Rebecca. No wonder Maxim looks like a ghost when he sees her coming down the stairs.
Quote #8
The fall would break my neck. It would not be slow, like drowning. It would soon be over. And Maxim did not love me. Maxim wanted to be alone again, with Rebecca. (18.145)
We find this to be a particularly chilling moment, when Mrs. de Winter almost follows Mrs. Danvers advice (again!) and jumps from Rebecca's bedroom window. It gives us a good idea of how wrecked herself esteem is by this point in the tale.
Quote #9
"The woman buried in the crypt is not Rebecca," [Maxim] said. "It's the body of some unknown woman, unclaimed, belonging nowhere. There never was an accident. Rebecca was not drowned at all. I killed her. I shot Rebecca in the cottage in the cove." (19.224)
Finally, the lies have stopped. Maxim's confession is just what Mrs. de Winter needs to restore her fragile self-esteem. Now she can stop thinking that Maxim is brooding over Rebecca because he loves her. Instead, it's because he hates her and fears he'll be exposed as her murderer.
Quote #10
"I nearly killed her then […] It would have been so easy. One false step, one slip. You remember the precipice." (20.38)
This line suggests that Maxim actually wanted to kill Rebecca for the majority of their marriage, however long that was. We find it extra-creepy than Maxim also took the soon to be Mrs. de Winter to the same precipice during their courtship. Did he consider killing her, too?
Quote #11
I too had killed Rebecca, I too had sunk the boat there in the bay. I had listened beside him to the wind and water. I had waited for Mrs. Danvers' knocking on the door. All this I had suffered with him, all this and more beside. (21.2)
Mrs. de Winter so identifies with Maxim that she not only imagines herself as an accomplice, but sees the murderer (Maxim) as the suffering or victimized party. Could this be because of her own desperate need for Rebecca to have been despised in life?
Quote #12
And the ordinary people […] said, why should the fellow get off, he murdered his wife, didn't he? […] This sentimental business about abolishing the death penalty simply encourages crime. […] He will have to hang for it, like any other murderer. […] Let it be a warning to others. (23.44)
Mrs. de Winter is imagining what the "ordinary people" would say if they read in the papers of Maxim murdering his wife. The passage presents an opportunity for us to talk about the death penalty. Does Maxim deserve it? What do you think? Why?