The etymology of 'Rebecca' is something that stems deep into the lore of this small universe. So impactful that it affects the self-identity of the protagonist.
Introductions
Her first name? None. Or at least it's never told to the readers. Max De Winter, the prodigious lord of Manderley and love interest of Mrs. De Winter, marks her name as an 'amusing' one. Nothing more than that. The name is only significant enough to utter a single line.
Beforehand, the life we know of Mrs. De Winter is not one someone would write a book about, let alone play as an exciting featurette. She narrates about toiling over her handmaiden tasks and watching her life pass before her eyes as she remains stuck with the lower ranks of society. Something that she admittedly implies she sees herself in the beginning.
She is inked with specks of introversion, insecurity, and anxiety, yearning for success or to be part of a high-ranking society but feeling simultaneous that she is not someone worthy of that status, self-inflicted by her doubts. This aspect is what I love about Mrs. De Winter. She is written vividly to encapsulate those feelings I've resonated, as someone who's previously had their insecurities and still-constant anxiety.
Enter Max
But, Max De Winter sees her worthiness. Such worthiness that in rapid time, she is given the namesake of Mrs. De Winter. A new identity part of high-class society, with Max's ancestry having their landscape within Manderley.
However, 'Mrs. De Winter' is not a new being inhabiting this land. It is, to the protagonist's discovery, a moniker that once belonged to a deceased Rebecca. Instead of a new title, it is something recycled and infected with her memory. Something parasitic continuing to attack her self-worth.
What's worse is that Mrs. De Winter can't look back through a lineage and see how each one acted. There was only one. There was only Rebecca.
Haunted
Rebecca's stories often showcase her charisma, independence, and confidence in choosing how to decorate the mansion and what will be on the menu. All of this being an antithesis to the current shy and hesitant Mrs. De Winter. Thus, the parasite grows. The embroidered 'R' grows into a form of constant harassment to Mrs. De Winter, at one point the latter tearing an embroidered napkin to shreds.
These stories, nearly testimonials in a way, divulge the lament of Rebecca being gone, followed by the lack of excitement, or emphasis on prejudice, against Mrs. De Winter. So tormented that she tosses herself into the imagination of being happily married elsewhere, like a family enjoying a casual picnic by the peak of a mountain, void of any sort of judging to her character.
The best part of this novel is this singular theme of self-identity. To look past all the others, stop comparing, and find ones' self-worth. It is not until Mrs. De Winter understands the full truth that she can overcome this and become a powerful accomplice at Max's side.
A Legend
Mrs. De Winter's journey is one of high empathy and powerful enough to convince the reader that Rebecca's near-omnipotent presence is haunting her life.
Because the utterance of 'Rebecca' is remarking a legend. It is to curse Mrs. De Winter of her identity and throw her entire self-confidence into a conflict of doubt. It is for someone who still lacks certainty on where she stands in her life or understands her role in the universe. Mrs. De Winter is left to imagine at times what life would be like through the lens of other happy families had she met Max sooner. Or that she had never come in contact with Rebecca.
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