Rebecca Death Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

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.