Rebecca characters

Appears from the start

The unnamed narrator of the novel, a shy, inexperienced young woman of modest means. When the story opens she is working as a paid companion to a wealthy older woman on the French Riviera. Self-conscious, easily intimidated, and prone to anxious imaginings, she falls quickly in love with a reserved older widower and marries him, only to feel painfully out of place as the mistress of his grand estate. Her insecurity and her sense of being measured against her husband's late first wife shape the whole story, which she tells looking back from a later, quieter life.

Also known as Maximilian de Winter

First appears in chapter 3

A wealthy, reserved English gentleman, owner of the celebrated estate Manderley, and a widower when the narrator meets him abroad. Some years older than she, he is courteous but moody, given to sudden silences and dark turns of temper. He proposes to her abruptly and brings her home as his second wife. Behind his composed manner lies a deep unease connected to the death of his first wife, and his changeable moods keep the narrator uncertain of his feelings.

First appears in chapter 3

A vulgar, snobbish American woman staying at a Monte Carlo hotel, who employs the narrator as her companion at the start of the story. Nosy, name-dropping, and self-important, she pursues acquaintance with anyone of standing. Her plan to leave for New York forces the narrator's hasty decision to marry, after which she passes out of the story.

First appears in chapter 7

The cold, formidable housekeeper of Manderley, who had served and adored the first Mrs. de Winter and preserves her rooms and memory like a shrine. Gaunt, quiet, and unsettling, she treats the new bride with barely veiled contempt and works to make her feel an inadequate intruder. Utterly devoted to her dead former mistress, she dominates the household and looms over the narrator as a constant, menacing presence.

First appears in chapter 7

Maxim de Winter's first wife, dead about a year before the narrator arrives, drowned in a boating accident off the coast near Manderley. Though she never appears, her presence saturates the house: she was, by reputation, beautiful, brilliant, charming, and admired by everyone, an accomplished hostess who ran Manderley with effortless flair. Her taste survives in every room and her monogram on every object, and the narrator, feeling she can never match her, becomes obsessed with the shadow of the woman she has replaced.

First appears in chapter 7

The elderly butler at Manderley, a dignified, long-serving member of the household staff. Correct and discreet, he has been at the estate for many years and treats the new mistress kindly within the bounds of formality, a steadying contrast to the hostile housekeeper.

First appears in chapter 9

Maxim's blunt, good-natured older sister, who visits Manderley with her husband. Frank and unpretentious, she means well and offers the narrator plain, sometimes tactless advice. Her open, county manner and evident fondness for her brother make her one of the few relaxed presences in the household.

First appears in chapter 10

A simple-minded local man who wanders the beach and coves below Manderley. Frightened and evasive, he speaks in half-hints about the sea and the past, and the narrator senses he knows more about the estate's history than he can plainly say.

First appears in chapter 11

The agent who manages the Manderley estate and Maxim's loyal, steady friend. Reserved and conscientious, he is kind to the anxious narrator and careful in what he says about the past. His discretion and evident concern for Maxim mark him as a dependable ally amid the household's tensions.

First appears in chapter 15

A smooth, disreputable man who turns up at Manderley when Maxim is away, having a familiar, secretive connection to the first Mrs. de Winter as her cousin. Charming in a cheap, insinuating way and clearly unwelcome to those who know him, he asks the narrator to keep his visit quiet, hinting at a past intimacy with the dead woman.

First appears in chapter 22

The local magistrate and chief constable, a fair, level-headed county gentleman drawn into the reopened questions surrounding the first Mrs. de Winter's death. Reasonable and observant, he oversees the official proceedings and weighs the competing claims and accusations that arise as the truth is pursued.