The second Mrs de Winter and Mrs Danvers

The relationship between the second Mrs de Winter and Mrs Danvers is a study in psychological warfare, a battle waged not with open conflict but with cold silence, veiled contempt, and calculated cruelty. From the moment the new bride arrives at Manderley, Mrs Danvers establishes herself as an implacable enemy, her hostility a direct consequence of her fanatical devotion to the deceased Rebecca. The housekeeper's presence is a constant, chilling reminder that the narrator is not the true mistress of Manderley but a temporary, unwelcome guest in a shrine built to another woman.

First Impressions and the Staging of Power

The antagonism is established at their very first encounter. When the narrator arrives at Manderley, Mrs Danvers has assembled the entire staff in the great hall to greet the new couple, a formal, intimidating reception that the narrator finds overwhelming. As the housekeeper advances, the narrator sees a "tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black" figure with "prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes" that give her "a skull's face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton's frame" . The hand Mrs Danvers offers is "limp and heavy, deathly cold," and her welcoming speech is a "stiff, conventional speech rehearsed for the occasion, spoken in a voice as cold and lifeless as her hands had been." When the narrator stammers a reply and drops her gloves, Mrs Danvers stoops to pick them up with "a little smile of scorn upon her lips," immediately branding the new mistress as ill-bred and inadequate. This initial tableau is a masterful display of power: Mrs Danvers orchestrates the welcome to overwhelm the newcomer, and her every gesture communicates disdain and a silent assertion that she, not the new Mrs de Winter, is the true guardian of Manderley's standards.

The Campaign of Intimidation and the Weapon of Rebecca's Memory

Mrs Danvers' hostility is not merely passive; it is an active, insidious campaign designed to erode the narrator's confidence and remind her of her inferiority. The housekeeper's every action is a pointed comparison to Rebecca. She speaks of the late Mrs de Winter's preferences with a reverence that excludes the new wife, and she ensures that the narrator is constantly confronted with Rebecca's lingering presence. The narrator feels like a guest in her own home, walking where Rebecca trod, resting where she lay, and using objects that were Rebecca's. Mrs Danvers' most devastating act of psychological warfare occurs when she deliberately leads the narrator to wear a costume identical to the one Rebecca wore at the last Manderley fancy dress ball. This calculated cruelty is designed to humiliate the narrator and to wound Maxim, forcing him to confront the ghost of his first wife on a night meant to celebrate his new marriage. The narrator's subsequent humiliation is complete, and she realizes that Mrs Danvers has orchestrated the entire disaster, her "loathsome, triumphant" face that of "an exulting devil" .

The Confrontation and the Incitement to Suicide

The conflict reaches its terrifying climax in Rebecca's preserved bedroom in the west wing. Mrs Danvers, having found the narrator there, drops her usual cold formality and adopts a "fawning, intimate" tone, forcing the narrator to touch Rebecca's nightdress, slippers, and furs. She describes Rebecca's beauty, her life, and her death in graphic, possessive detail, her voice "low and intimate, a voice I hated and feared." She then reveals the depth of her hatred, stating plainly, "Why did you ever come here?" and "Nobody wanted you at Manderley" . In a final, horrifying act, she leads the narrator to the open window and whispers, "Why don't you jump? It's easy, isn't it? Why don't you try?" . This is not a moment of madness but the logical endpoint of Mrs Danvers' campaign: she seeks to destroy the usurper, to drive her out of Manderley by any means, even death. The narrator is saved only by the sound of distress rockets from a shipwreck, which breaks the spell and forces Mrs Danvers to revert to her efficient, mechanical persona.

The Aftermath and the End of the Conflict

The relationship ends not with reconciliation but with Mrs Danvers' abrupt disappearance. After the inquest into Rebecca's death concludes with a verdict of suicide, and after the truth of Rebecca's terminal illness is revealed, Mrs Danvers vanishes from Manderley. She packs her belongings, receives a long-distance call from Jack Favell, and then walks out of the house through the woods, never to be seen again. Her departure is a final, ambiguous act: it is an admission of defeat, a flight from a truth that shatters her idolized image of Rebecca, and perhaps a last, silent act of loyalty, removing herself from a house that can no longer be ruled by Rebecca's ghost. For the narrator, Mrs Danvers' absence is a profound relief, lifting the oppressive weight of constant judgment and freeing her to begin building her own life at Manderley. The conflict, born of devotion to a dead woman, ends when the truth about that woman finally breaks the spell.