Maxim De Winter In Daphne Du Maurier's 'Rebecca'

Maxim de Winter

‘Maxim de Winter is both attractive and forbidding, and open book and a mystery’

In Daphne Du Maurier’s book, ‘Rebecca’, She uses contrasting features in her characters to emphasise their characteristics.An example of this is one of the main characters, Maxim de Winter. Maxim is portrayed as both attractive and forbidding, but also a mystery and an open book.In this essay I would like to explore how true this is throughout the chapters two to six, and come to a conclusion on if he is either attractive or forbidding, and wither he is a mystery or an open book.

Maxim is first introduced by Mrs. Von Hopper in chapter two, “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…”.This opening line about Maxim tells us two of the most important facts about him.The fact he owns Manderley and that his wife, Rebecca, died.These two facts dictate his life, as his home Manderley is his pride and joy and he dedicates most of his life to running and maintaining the household.The death of his wife also plays a big part in his life, as it seems that thoughts of his late wife haunt him in a way and stops him from moving on. Not much is said about his appearance when first introduced by Mrs. Von Hopper, except for the comment that he looks ill, which Mrs. Von Hopper pins as to being because of his wife’s death.This opening statement already gives us an idea of Maxim de Winter, as it makes him seem an open book.Two personal facts are known to Mrs. Von Hopper, although she doesn't personally know him, giving us the impression that his life is that of an open book. Not much about him at this point is a mystery. The next time he is introduced was by the narrator.

As the story progresses, Daphne du Maurier begins to portray Maxim as an ‘open book’ and a ‘mystery’.
An example of Maxim appearing as an open book was when the narrator stated “i can tell by the way he will look…”.

This gives us the impression that his emotions can be read from his face, and that because of this no secret can be left untold. The narrator knows him so well that she can tell just by his facial expressions what he is thinking or feeling, showing that Maxim is an open book, as his face can be read just as well as a book could. This also means that perhaps even strangers who do not know him as well, can read his face for emotions.

Another example of this is when the narrator said, “we have no secrets from one another”. This again gives us the impression that to the narrator knows everything that there is to know about Maxim, and that there is almost no stone left unturned in his life. This could also mean that he is very lenient with sharing his secrets, as at this point in the novel we do not know the relationship between the narrator and Maxim. This could indicate that he is an open book, as he will share his secrets with anyone who is willing to

listen.
After his formal introduction by Mrs.

Von Hopper, the first time the narrator and him properly talk is the next day in the restaurant.This was after the narrator spilt water on her table cloth and he invited her to dine with him.After a while of her sharing her past with him, he opens up about some of his family.He said “oh. I've got a sister, though we don't see much of each other, and an ancient grandmother whom i pay duty visits to three times a year, but neither of them make for companionship”. Although he has only know the narrator for one day and this is the only time they have properly spoken, he believes to know her enough to share information about himself with her. This shows us that he shares information with people whom he doesn't know very well and that he is an open book of sorts.

On the same day he takes her for a drive, where he opens up about himself again. ”suddenly he began to talk about Manderley”, the word “suddenly’ in this quotation gives us the impression that the narrator didn't have to prompt this information out of him,and he chose freely to tell her about where he lives.How he suddenly began telling her, again gives us the feeling that he is an open book, even to acquaintances of only a few

days.
Maxim opens up about manderley and his past again, not long after his first outburst about Manderley. After a while about just talking about his house, he begins to talk about specifics. “His sister, who was a hard, rather practical woman, used to complain there was too many scents at manderley, they made her drunk”, here he opens up about a memory he has of his sister.He goes on further to say “he did not care.It was the only form of intoxication that appealed to him”.This is a rather personal bit of information which he had just shared, although he doesn't know the narrator all that well. He talks to her about a form of intoxication he enjoys, which is something you wouldn't just talk about in conversation.This suggests to us that he is an open book to things, which are personal to others, but may be something he shares with everyone to him.