Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Chapter 5


The Narrator is falling in love for the first time and expressing the plights of being 21 years of age, a time when one is insecure, fearful and easily bruised by the first barbed word. With these thoughts in mind, Mrs. Van Hopper asks the Narrator what she has been doing this morning, to which she responds that she was playing tennis with the professional. Unbeknownst to Mrs. VH, the Narrator has been spending more than two weeks driving with Mr. de Winter each morning while Mrs. VH has been recuperating. The Narrator is plagued by her lies and reads into each comment or action Mrs. VH makes, such as when Mrs. VH inquires if the Narrator still serves “underhand” and when Mrs. VH flips the Queen of Spades during their card game.

During that morning’s ride, the Narrator‘s heart flutters when Mr. de W offers her his coat for warmth. She yearns to bottle the memory of their time together and even tells him about her wish. She proceeds to explain that she would like to be a woman of about 36 and wear black silk and a string pearls, to which he promptly replies that she would not be in his car if that were the case. He then reprimands her for biting her nails perhaps as a way to deflect the current discussion. The Narrator takes offense not understanding Mr. de W’s past experiences with elegant women, one in particular. The Narrator is angered now and wants to know “why do you choose me for your charity?” He tells her it is exactly because she is not wearing black silk and pearls. He wants someone who leads a simple life.

She makes a point of telling him that he knows everything about her short and uneventful life, whereas she knows very little about him, except that he lived at Manderley and his wife had died. The word “wife” lingers in the air as a forbidden, unnatural word. This confrontation leads Mr. de W to open up about his bitter past, which he had hoped to forget about in Monte Carlo. If it has not been for the Narrator’s presence, he would have been long gone traveling about Europe. He admits that on their first drive he took her to the precipice he had taken his wife many years ago to see if it still held some significance to him. Happily it was “oddly impersonal.” He enjoys the Narrator’s company, yet he goads her and tells her that if she doesn't belive him then she can get out of his car and find her own way home. "Well, he said, what are you going to do about it?" Having suffered enough, she wants to go home and he obliges. The Narrator begins to cry, unleashing sympathy from Mr. de W who tries to make amends for his behavior -- “Suddenly he put out his hand and took mine, and kissed it, still saying nothing, and then he threw his handkerchief on my lap, which I was too ashamed to touch.”

The narrator reflects on the heroines of fiction who look pretty when in distress and how she contrasts from them. She flashes ahead to the ordeal of tending to Mrs. VH and her sordid looking bed sheets, mashed stubs of cigarettes and mixing drinks for her and her friends. During the course of these thoughts, Mr. de W has had enough and pulls the Narrator beside him and acknowledges that she is old enough to be his daughter and doesn’t know how to deal with her. He tells her to forget his outburst and to call him by his first name – “My family always call me Maxim, I’d like you to do the same. You have been formal with me long enough.” Next he removes the Narrator’s hat and throws it to the back seat of the car and kisses the top of her head. Is this gesture a symbol of his freeing her from her confines?

The narrator almost has the courage to “claim equality” with Mrs. VH by noting that she has had lunch with Maxim. She has been promoted to a new level of friendship with him and would love to tell VH about it. The Narrator loses her nerve and doesn’t reveal anything. Instead, Mrs. VH proceeds to describe how beautiful Mr. de W’s wife had been, even though she had never seen her. It is clear that she was quite an attractive and engaging person who addressed Mr. deW as Max, not Maxim. Mrs. De W had chosen to call her husband “Max” as if the word was her possession. Knowing about the signature in de W’s book of poems, the Narrator envisions his wife’s voice echoing through the house and down the garden. “And I had to call him Maxim.”


We are starting to understand why the narrator appeals so much to Mr. de W. Do you think his comments to her in the car are sincere? Why does Mrs. VH inquire about his whereabouts? Does she know that he has been entertaining her companion, which is why she takes the opportunity to describe Mrs. deW? Why do you suppose Mr. DeW asks the Narrator to call him Maxim rather than Max? Should the narrator be offended by this request?

I am annoyed at both of them! Maxim is using her and he should know better. He seems completely out of touch with her feelings. She has a crush. I think he should not be taking advantage of her. She on the other hand seems like a complete wimp. I do not think he is acting honorably and she is either to weak or too stupid to tell him to get a GRIP.

I can't help seeing these two as complete opposites. She is such a romantic and he's a cold fish. He has to know that she is enthralled being in his company and then he starts shouting at her to get out of the car when he gets mad at her. It's all about him it seems to me. Janet23's description of her as a wimp is pretty accurate but more than that, she seems to be overlooking all of these warning signs. She's like this little puppy following him around looking for any approval he can send her way.

On the other hand, he also comes across as someone who is trying to start over again after a tragic loss. Floundering around Europe, self-involved, brooding. Even asking her to call him Maxim rather than the familiar Max sounds like someone trying to start over. Maybe this new life he envisions for himself includes friends and acquaintances that don't wear black dresses and pearls. But then it begs the question, is he really attracted to her or just attracted to starting a new way of life?

They definitely seem like opposites. And, at this point in the story, it's not clear why Mr. dW would be attracted to someone so different except that he seems to be trying to start over. And, I agree that the Narrator is a wimp, but that's not surprising given the age difference and the difference in station in life. I think she feels inferior to him - and to his former wife - and beholden to him for getting her away from Mrs. VH, so I don't think she feels she has the right to object to his behavior.

I assumed he wanted to be called Maxim because his first wife called him Max and he doesn't want to be reminded of her every time the Narrator calls him that. And, he says his family calls him Maxim, so that's hardly impersonal. I don't think she should be offended by that, but I understand her concern that she's not getting to be as "intimate" as the first wife and what that might mean about his feelings (or lack thereof) for herself.

I agree the narrator is a classic wimp, Janet23; and these two characters are polar opposites, Pauline.

The narrator is clearly unexperienced where relationships are concerned and flattered by all the attention Maxim shows her. She is accustomed to being ignored and mistreated so she gravitates toward him and may also see him as a father figure.

Maxim is clearly unrecovered from whatever ordeal he has experienced and wants to forget about his past. I gather he is eager to begin a new life and is attracted to the narrator's simplicity and unselfishness. He doesn't know what to make of her and seeks her out as if she is breath of fresh air. She has no agenda where he is concerned so he can let down his guard around here, becoming rude and cross at a moment's notice. He has issues.

Thanks LadyJayne - another great chapter summary.....

I think that the narrator in the throes of first love is rather guilty of seeing the world with Maxim through rose coloured spectacles - his sophistication confuses her, and yet she can't stop the yearning she has for something different - she just doesn't know herself well enough to cope with her developing feelings...

And in her innocence,she acts like the child she still is - after all Maxim is old enough to be her father. To be asked to call de Winter by his name -Maxim - is significant - the upper classes were very proper about the use of Christian names - so the fact that he asked the narrator to call him Maxim takes their relationship to a whole new level...

In his defence, Maxim, has his own demons to exorcise and whilst he is invariably attracted to the narrator - her very naivety and innocence appeals -he is also still trying to come to terms with something that has happened in his not so distant past. I think he feels guilty about his growing attraction to her - his anger is aimed at himself ,rather than directed at the narrator...I get the sense that he is almost at his wit's end and lashes out without thinking...

And yet, the ghost of this mysterious first wife, Rebecca is beginning to creep into the narrative, as the narrator begins to wonder about the intimacy of the life Rebecca shared with Maxim...and it's perfectly normal to wonder what the "other woman"in a relationship was once like ...

" Little notes, scrawled on half sheets of paper,and letters when he was away,intimate, their news"


The stagnant relationship she has with Mrs VH only serves to emphasise the difference Maxim is making to her world...he is hard to resist...

Thanks for the summary Lady Jayne.

I do agree that at times i do find the narrator annoying - especailly with her daydreaming. However I do remind myself, that is she young - very young. Most likely very sheltered and insecure without much real exposure to confrontation.

Max, i believe he is a sincere character but he is not charming. I am not sure if this is becuase is he is unsure about his feelings for the narrator. Which is turns adds to the narrators insecurity.

i am glad to see they enjoy each others company and are spending quite a bit of time together. I do think that Mrs. VH is oblivious about this and is only concerned with what the narrator is doing when see actually sees her around. Other than that I doubt she thinks much of the girl.

When Mr.dW asked the narrator to call him Maxim as opposed to Max, I really didn't notice that the girl might take offense. They relationship whatever it might be is still new, so to call him by what his family does it still meant to be an intimate gesture - that is at least how i saw it.

Opps seem to have a stutter!

Okay, Maxim seems pretty strange. If he wants a fresh start why is he all about what he wants to forget?


Reminds me of my daughter. Pout, sulk, slam door, sigh, pout, this goes on for a while and I ask "whats wrong? Nothing....I do not want to think about it"...pout, sigh....Shari? "nothings wrong" pout... I get on with it and ask her a question and she says "I can't do it, Can't you see I am upset?" Stomp,stomp, stomp.....Gotta love those teen years.

Seems if he really wanted to get over what ever happened he would not be carring around the mystery of it. I would have thought he being who he is might have a stiffer upper lip.

I didn't feel like the narrator is a wimp, but she seems very naive and in her innocence, I think she is hoping for more than he is willing (or able) to give. I think he's attracted to her (maybe because she does not remind him of his wife?) but he doesn't think he should be. Maybe it's the age difference or the difference in social class, but I'm guessing it has more to do with his dead wife and his sense of self-worth. I'm worried that he's going to use the narrator to overcome his past, and it's going to be bad for both of them.