CHAPTER 27
Main Characters: Colonel Julyan, Favell , Maxim, Mrs. De Winters, Mrs. Danvers
Setting: A car, a gas station, a restaurant
Mood: Shocked
Plot: The chapter opens with Julyan, Favell, and Maxim. They all seem to be in shock about Rabecca’s
diagnosis. The diagnosis was terminal and only gave Rebecca a few months to live. This was a clear
motive for Rebecca to commit suicide. maxim, colonel julyan, and Mrs. De Winters all get in the car and
drive off. They drop off Colonel Julyan at his sisters house. the colonel invites Mr. and Mrs. De Winters
to stay over night and dine, they kindly decline his offer and prefer to eat at a pub on the way to
Manderley. During dinner Maxim told Mrs. De Winters that he felt that Rebecca’s suicide was her last
joke. After dinner Mrs. De Winters suggested that they stay in a hotel for the night. Maxim insisted that
they go back to Manderley because he had an eerie feeling. Maxim rolled Mrs. De Winters in a rug so she
could be warm and comfortable. On the way home Mrs. De Winters has a dream. It is about Mrs.
Danvers. She was on top of the stair case in
Manderley and she was all dressed in black. Mrs. De Winters tired to go to her but she vanished. They
stop at a garage to get something to drink and continue on their way. Mrs. De Winters has another
dream, she sees Frith and Robert brining tea to the library. Then she has another dream about her
sending out invitations. Mrs. De Winters has written them all in a big black pen, but when she looks
down her handwriting is not hers. She looks up into a mirror and sees Rebecca. Maxim comes up behind
Mrs. De Winters to brush her hair and the brush turns into a long rope. Maxim puts it around his neck
and looks into the mirror at Rebecca’s image and smiles. Mrs. De winters awakes screaming. She was
very nervous and shivering. Then Maxim and Mrs. De Winters see a glow in the horizon and she asks if
its the sun rising, but he replies, “That’s not the northern lights, that’s Manderley.”
Conflicts: Internal- Mrs. De Winter
External- Mrs. Danvers ( she can’t believe Rebecca committed suicide and doesn’t want
Maxim and Mrs. De Winters living the Manderley happily ever after so she burns the house.)
Imagery: “He drove faster, much faster. We stopped at the hill before us and saw Lanyon lying at our
feet. Their to the left of us was a silver streak of the river, Widening to the estuary at Kerryith 6 miles
away. The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black.
But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shocked with crimson, like a splash of blood. And
the ashes blew towards us with the salt from the sea. “
Symbolism- Mrs. Danvers standing in a black dress on the staircase, symbolized the end of Manderley.
Vocabulary:
Diffident- retiring
inevitable- certain
abscess- sore.
