the west wing

The west wing of Manderley is the preserved suite of rooms that belonged to Rebecca de Winter, kept exactly as she left it by the devoted housekeeper Mrs Danvers. It functions as a mausoleum of Rebecca's memory, a space where the past is not merely remembered but physically maintained, and it becomes the site of the narrator's most intense encounters with the dead woman's lingering presence.

Location and Description

The west wing occupies the opposite side of the house from the east wing, where the second Mrs de Winter and Maxim have their suite. It is darker and broader than the east wing, with dark panelling that makes the corridors feel oppressive. The rooms are not shown to the public, unlike the hall and gallery below. The large bedroom in the west wing, which was Rebecca's, is described as the most beautiful room in the house, with a scrolled ceiling, tapestry chairs, a carved mantelpiece, and windows that look down across the lawns to the sea. The room is fully furnished as though in use: brushes and combs on the dressing-table, scent and powder, a made-up bed with white linen, flowers on the mantelpiece and dressing-table, a satin dressing-gown on a chair, and bedroom slippers beneath it. The wardrobe contains Rebecca's clothes—evening dresses, furs, underclothes—all preserved. The nightdress case on the pillow bears the monogram "R de W." The room smells musty despite the flowers, and the sea can be heard plainly from the windows.

Mrs Danvers' Preservation

Mrs Danvers keeps the west wing as a shrine to Rebecca. She dusts the rooms herself every day and allows no maids to enter. She maintains the bed, the clothes, the brushes, and the scent bottles exactly as they were on the night Rebecca died. She tells the narrator that she put out the nightdress, dressing-gown, and slippers just as she had for Rebecca the night she never came back. Mrs Danvers describes how she used to brush Rebecca's hair every evening, and how Maxim himself would brush it when they were first married. She shows the narrator the clothes, the furs, the underclothes, and recounts the details of Rebecca's last evening—how she returned from London, had dinner, and went out again to the beach, never to return. The preservation of the west wing is an act of devotion that keeps Rebecca's presence alive in the house.

The Narrator's Encounters

The narrator first discovers the west wing by accident on her first morning at Manderley, when she loses her way and finds herself in the dark corridor. Mrs Danvers confronts her there, offering to show her the rooms. Later, on the afternoon of the fancy dress ball, the narrator returns to the west wing after seeing Mrs Danvers and a man (Jack Favell) at the window. She enters Rebecca's bedroom and is overwhelmed by the reality of the preserved space. Mrs Danvers finds her there and gives her a tour of the room, the clothes, and the personal items, speaking in an intimate, fawning manner that terrifies the narrator. She forces the narrator to touch the nightdress, the dressing-gown, the slippers, and describes Rebecca's beauty, her hair, her figure, and the manner of her death. The encounter culminates in Mrs Danvers suggesting that the narrator jump from the window, a moment of psychological crisis that is interrupted by the sound of distress rockets from a stranded ship.

Thematic Significance

The west wing is the physical embodiment of Rebecca's undiminished power over Manderley. It is a space where the dead woman's identity is preserved in every detail, making the narrator feel like an interloper in her own home. The contrast between the preserved west wing and the narrator's own rooms in the east wing underscores her sense of inadequacy and displacement. The west wing is also the site of Maxim's past—the room where he once brushed Rebecca's hair, the room he has not entered since her death. It represents the secret history of the house, the truth about Rebecca's character and her marriage to Maxim, which is only revealed later. The narrator's final encounter with Mrs Danvers in the west wing, just before the discovery of Rebecca's boat, marks a turning point: the narrator begins to assert herself, and the power of the west wing begins to wane as the truth about Rebecca's death emerges.