Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca: The Road to Manderley (Lecture on Ch. XX-XXVII)
Added 2025-10-26 21:44:13 +0000 UTC'The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.’
Welcome back to the nightmare world of Manderley. Today, as we continue to be haunted, we're talking about the breathtaking climax of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
We're discussing theories about the secret of Manderley, remorse, physical vs spiritual death, the changing face of the femme fatale, the history of English marital and divorce law, scandal, living authentically, what makes a villain, the impact of the ending, and much more.
Timestamps:
0:00 ‘the road to Manderley lay ahead’
2:00 Maxim admits to murdering Rebecca
4:00 narrator as accomplice vs companion
6:00 who is the real villain of this story?
8:00 changing face of the femme fatale
10:00 perspective makes a hero or villain
12:00 continued erasure of narrator’s self
14:00 ‘you thought I killed her loving her?’
16:00 Rebecca as female ‘masculine’ force
18:00 transitional era of interwar Britain
20:00 ‘breeding, brains, and beauty…’
22:00 the bargain of Maxim & Rebecca
24:00 what do men fear about women?
26:00 why does scandal sell so much?
28:00 gutter press as moral courtroom
30:00 changing divorce & matrimonial law
32:00 proving adultery in divorce court
34:00 ‘Maxim did not love Rebecca’
36:00 Daphne du Maurier’s psyche
38:00 why Hitchcock changed the ending
40:00 Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophy
42:00 the challenge/blessing of great art
44:00 how can we live authentically?
46:00 irony on true living leading to death
48:00 the split between good and evil
50:00 can we really trust Maxim’s story?
52:00 how did the murder happen?
54:00 Rebecca’s threat of a false heir
56:00 ‘when I killed her she was smiling’
58:00 Maxim tries to scrub out the stain
1:00:00 ‘she would never haunt me again’
1:02:00 marriage as one person in law
1:04:00 evaluating the narrator’s morality
1:05:00 how hatred is a form of self-harm
1:07:00 when the public disgrace begins
1:09:00 Maxim’s absolute lack of remorse
1:10:00 the spiritual death of the narrator
1:12:00 growing older in twenty-four hours
1:13:00 inquests and gothic inner quests
1:15:00 Manderley hits the front pages
1:17:00 the public lies of Maxim de Winter
1:18:00 who is ultimately on trial here?
1:20:00 Jack Favell accuses Maxim
1:22:00 playing the tragic role of Othello
1:24:00 how Rebecca reaps what she sowed
1:26:00 it isn’t just about what you know
1:27:00 the reason why Ben doesn’t testify
1:28:00 narrator becomes Mrs de Winter
1:30:00 a maxim for how best to live
1:32:00 the idea of lovemaking as game
1:34:00 the revelation of Mrs Danvers
1:36:00 another dark secret of Rebecca
1:38:00 whose side are we really on?
1:39:00 is Daphne really a romance writer?
1:40:00 Maxim is still possessed by Rebecca
1:42:00 Rebecca did not deserve to die
1:44:00 Danvers disappears from Manderley
1:46:00 Manderley is burnt to the ground
1:48:00 appreciating the ending of Rebecca
1:50:00 the sublimity of the novel’s ending
1:52:00 what did you make of this story?
1:54:00 Stevenson, Austen & Dickens
Resources to Explore:
Film Adaptations: If you have held off on watching film adaptations of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, now is the time to treat yourself. I love celebrating the end of a great story by giving myself a little screening. Thinking about the directorial choices involved in adaptation is a great way to discover what you value the most about a work. The two major film adaptations that I recommend are the classic black-and-white 1940 Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier, and the more recent, visually stunning 2020 film on Netflix. You may even like to watch both, if the story has resonated with you, and see what you make of the vision of these film teams. There are adaptations for television too, like the excellent BBC miniseries from 1979 and the 1997 series. Let us know what you make of your chosen adaptation. What would you have done differently? How would you transfer Daphne du Maurier's dark work to the screen?
Daphne du Maurier: Having just read through her most iconic work, you may find it rewarding to watch Daphne in interview. She talks charmingly about her composition of Rebecca, the critical reception of her works, and how she feels about her works many decades on from writing them. She also appeared on Desert Island Discs, which is a delight to listen to, talking about her favourite musical pieces and records. If you're keen to dig into another one of her works, I would recommend Jamaica Inn as a good next bookish port of call. Or you might fancy checking out her short stories in collections like The Birds and Don't Look Now. If you're interested in how Rebecca has captured the imagination of writers after Daphne du Maurier, you may enjoy Sally Beauman's Rebecca's Tale, which continues the story twenty years after the events of this novel.
Film Appreciation: As 'tis the season to have the bejesus scared out of us, you might like to check out some of the movies I'm watching myself this year. The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, a Hammer Horror film from the sixties, is an incredibly fun watch. The Innocents, another classic from the sixties, is a superb adaptation of The Turn of the Screw. If you want a Hitchcock option after The Birds and Rebecca, it's hard to beat Psycho. Did you know they remade it in colour with Vince Vaughn? A really fun viewing exercise I did last year was to watch the F. W. Murnau's 1922 Nosferatu, then watch Werner Herzog's sublime 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre, and then top it off with Robert Egger's 2024 film. Another fun one is An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe starring the immortal Vincent Price. For something contemporary, I love Eli Roth's History of Horror series. The 'Mad Scientist' episode is a good one to start with to complement our reading of Jekyll and Hyde. For a trio of classic horror film history, try this procession from the vintage year of 1931: Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Daphne du Maurier almost certainly would have watched these films in the cinema before writing Rebecca. Let us know which horror films had the greatest impact on you.
Our Next Great Story: Congratulations on bringing yourself so powerfully to Daphne du Maurier's gothic bestseller. I hope it's gotten you in the mood for our next autumnal read and a fiendishly dark, iconic short work. Because this weekend coming, we will have our special standalone lecture for Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As always, feel free to enjoy the discussion either before or after reading. My personal recommendation is to try to inhale this short work over the course of a week and then enjoy our talk on it. I'm working from the paperback edition from Penguin Classics, but Everyman's Library has a great option for hardback fans too. Use the edition you like and that comes most easily to hand. Then, the weekend after that, we will kick off our reading of Jane Austen's Emma with our introductory video, discussing everything from our practical approach to how Austen revolutionised the novel form and we'll be digging into the socio-historical context behind the novel and appreciating the life of the author. Also, I am incredibly excited to say that this week, we will be revealing the choice for our Secret Dickens Read over the festive period with a special video. Thank you so much for continuing to make all of our reading experiences so intensely rewarding and enjoyable.
Questions to Consider:
1) What did you make of the novel's ending?
2) What is your greatest takeaway from this dream of Manderley?
3) What area connected with Daphne du Maurier, or the gothic, are you most interested in exploring further?
4) How would you persuade another to read Rebecca? And what advice would you give to facilitate a meaningful reading experience?
And please do share with us your impressions, favourite passages, and personal insights from the end of Rebecca.
Congratulations on reading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, everybody!
Comments
i actually found the ending a bit abrupt...! I would have liked to see how they went from Manderley to the hotel they were exiled in
Kelly
2026-02-06 08:52:42 +0000 UTCI have just finished my first read of Rebecca and my second by Daphne du Maurier. I just love her novels. The way she plays with your mind through the words she uses. I just can't get one sentence out of my head. The night that Maxim is telling the narrator about how he shot Rebecca. The narrator thinks: "And the rain on the roof, I thought, he does not remember the rain on the roof. It pattered thin and light and very fast." Why would she think that? She wasn't even there. How would she know this? What if the narrator turns Rebecca into a villain? What if Maxim shot Rebecca in a moment of rage, and nothing more — but the narrator later changes the details in her dreams, which then become memories? The narrator has a very vivid imagination, and throughout the novel dreams and remembering seem to merge. Something that is imagined can later feel as real as something that actually happened. Maybe she fills in the story herself, unconsciously, because she needs it to be true. She wants Maxim to love her, and not Rebecca. For that to be possible, Rebecca has to become cruel, immoral, almost monstrous. If Rebecca was truly loved, or even innocent, then the narrator would always come second.
Paulajb
2025-12-13 16:27:55 +0000 UTCI think she burned it down for two reasons. To avenge Rebecca against them. To avenge herself against Rebecca
Serena J Cavanaugh
2025-12-12 16:54:35 +0000 UTCI loved this book! It was my first read of de Maurier and I’m so happy to have read it along with Ben’s insightful commentary and lecture. Wow! I’m blown away by the plot twists and surprises. I didn’t think the characters were flat at all. Truly a gothic romance. Eerie, spooky, and no wonder Hitchcock immediately made a movie of it.
Leigh Coop
2025-11-13 03:30:41 +0000 UTCI so enjoyed this read. I experienced such a range of emotions towards the characters: empathy, disdain, skepticism. I was on a roller coaster. Someone could write such an engaging novel from the perspective of either Mrs. Danvers or Rebecca and I would be in for the ride. Maxim—hmmm— did he love the narrator?? Perhaps not but he did need her to renew his faith and rebuild his ego. Will they have a healthy relationship? Never because this relationship has been built on a foundation of secrets and that doesn’t seem likely to change.
Teresa
2025-11-10 18:58:56 +0000 UTCI'm not convinced Maxim ever really loved the narrator. He stole her wide-eyed innocence in more ways than one. He pours his sins onto her and he changes her (and not for the better). He admits he thinks she was going to have an affair with Frank because the man actually spoke to her like an equal and didn't treat her like an ornament made to sit in a beautiful room. Maxim wanted to pick her like the beautiful rose that sits arranged and cultivated because Rebecca was wild like the sea. Did Mrs Danvers burn the only thing Maxim ever actually loved because he left the thing she loved in a cold and the dark abyss?
Dorothy Watson
2025-11-10 17:45:55 +0000 UTCYes I got that Jekyll and Hyde vibe too. Rebecca is what Dr Jekyll warned us of - the Hyde that never receded, that enjoyed her darkness and debasement too much. Rebecca is the end of innocence.
Dorothy Watson
2025-11-10 17:34:36 +0000 UTCTrue! I agree that they are tremendously flat but their motives are extremely complex and secret and hide the roundness that we know is there.
Serena J Cavanaugh
2025-11-09 15:32:12 +0000 UTCThrough most of the novel I was irritated by most of the characters, particularly the narrator's passivity and Mrs. Danvers's sinister presence. Finally, at the point where Maxim describes Rebecca's cruelty, I realized something that made du Maurier's strategy click into place. Each one of the important characters is exaggerated. The narrator is excessively passive and naive. Maxim is too withdrawn. Frank is too pleasant and trustworthy. The cousin is too slimy. And Rebecca, we find out, first seems too good and now seems impossibly evil (in Maxim's description). If we divide the characters into E. M. Forster's categories of flat and round, they are all quite flat. The one exception, perhaps, is Mrs. Danvers, who somehow seems more rounded by being overtly helpful but feeling as if she is a menace. If I am reading her right, she is a prime suspect for committing arson, yet enough doubt remains that we can't be sure. Add that to the question of whether Maxim is or is not a murderer, and we have a deliciously ambiguous finish to the novel.
Charles S.
2025-11-08 17:50:39 +0000 UTCI love how these deep reads can shine a light on our inner beings. For me this read through read like a thesis on self doubt. du Maurier so perfectly captures anxiety and the internal voices of insecurity. I now realise just how much time I spend imagining situations that aren't real and visualising people succeeding in ways that leave me feeling deflated upon comparison. I'm so grateful for this awareness. Thanks Ben and DdM!
NicoleA
2025-11-08 01:31:26 +0000 UTCLoved Rebecca, yet again! Reading C. Bronte’s Jane Erye immediately after is new for me and I am enjoying the parallels very much. I love taking the rabbit trails in the back catalog when time permits, Ben’s lectures deepen my reading experience exponentially! 💓Super excited for Emma and Dickens to finish up the year!
Nikki H
2025-11-05 05:34:53 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed this book. There is something about Du Maurier's voice that speaks to me. I can't wait to read more of her work. I can't help but thinking, perhaps it was due to this reading being so close to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Hyde, that Rebecca and the narrator were two sides of the same coin. Maybe the entire story was all a dream. Rebecca's nightmare or perhaps the narrator's nightmare. Also, the music that you chose to open and close these lectures gave me goosebumps! Great choice.
Victor Bieniek
2025-11-05 01:05:56 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed Rebecca. I had no knowledge of the story going into it, so for me it was an exciting page-turner. I did not see Maxim’s revelation coming and was completely surprised. I often felt a kinship with the insecure narrator…I can remember being young and naive and often feeling so out of my depth in certain situations. Luckily with age and experience, comes the banishment of most of those old feelings. I completely missed a lot of the subtext that was mentioned in this lecture, so I’m grateful to Ben for always bringing new and fascinating insights to my mind. Excited to start reading Emma this week!
Whitney
2025-11-04 19:39:57 +0000 UTC
