How Does Mrs Danvers Affect Rebecca's Death

Every day, families are faced with the inevitable, unfortunate truth that nobody lives forever. However nobody ever thinks about the long term impact that this death has on people who were close to the victim or people who are close to those affected after the death. In the novel Rebecca, many people are greatly affected by her death. Her husband Maxim was deeply mortified by her death because he had killed her and he had to live with that knowledge every day. Another character who was affected by Rebecca's death was the narrator, although she never met Rebecca, she falls in love with Maxim and now lives around many people who were affected by Rebecca's death. Lastly the estate that Rebecca lived on, Manderley, had many servants …show more content…
Danvers was greatly impacted by Rebecca and her death. Mrs. Danvers was the head maid of the estate, Manderley, where Rebecca and Maxim lived. Mrs. Danvers seemed to worship Rebecca and made sure to do everything she asked and liked. When Rebecca passed away, Mrs. Danvers continued to do things the way Rebecca did and pressured other people, such as the narrator, to do the same. Mrs. Danvers also chooses to immediately dislike the second Mrs. De Winter because she felt that no one could replace Rebecca and that the narrator was trying to do that. Mrs. Danvers tells the narrator "You'll never get the better of her. She's still mistress here, even if she is dead" (Du Maurier 275). Mrs. Danvers never even gave the narrator a chance, she immediately assumes that the narrator isn’t as good as Rebecca. The narrator became the new mistress when Maxim married her but in Mrs. Danver’s opinion she never will. She judges the narrator immediately and decides to dislike her. Mrs. Danvers dislikes the narrator so much that she tries to hurt the narrator so she will leave. In the book Mrs. Danvers tricks her into wearing the same dress that Rebecca wore a previous year to the costume ball, "It was Mrs. Danvers. I shall never forget the expression on her face, loathsome, triumphant. The face of an exulting devil."(Du Maurier 240). Mrs. Danvers tricked her on purpose into wearing this dress for a deceitful reason. She wanted the narrator to upset Maxim so that he would ask the narrator to leave and Mrs. Danvers could continue to do as Rebecca pleased. Rebecca’s death had a large effect on Mrs. Danvers and also caused Mrs. Danvers to treat others poorly.

In conclusion, Rebecca's death had a huge influence on many characters in this novel. Her memory continued to live on, creating tension between characters. Rebecca’s death influenced the plot of the novel and changed the lives and behaviours of specific characters. The impact was greatest