The novel is narrated by the unnamed second wife of Maxim de Winter, reviewing the events of her 21st year from the perspective of middle-aged wisdom. At 21, the narrator has a youthful face, straight, bobbed hair, and often wears ill-fitting clothes, when she trails behind her employer, Mrs. Van Hopper “like a shy, uneasy colt” (9). The sophisticated, troubled Maxim de Winter falls in love with the narrator’s innocence and her “funny, young, lost look” (299) as she helps him forget his nightmarish first marriage.

However, the self-critical, highly imaginative narrator unfavorably compares herself with Maxim’s seemingly ideal first wife. Her background has not prepared her to become the mistress of the great estate of Manderley. She does not want to be treated like an amusing child by her husband. She wishes to be his spouse sharing everything together. Her insecurity, as well as her husband’s secrets, leaves her susceptible to the psychological manipulation of Mrs. Danvers. Maxim’s confession of the truth about his first wife frees the narrator from being haunted by Rebecca and matures her into a confident partner of her husband.