"Rebecca is the demon that must be exercised from both Maxim and the narrorator's minds." (Kelly 55). In a way, Rebecca does still haunt Manderley through Mrs. Danvers. "Mrs. Danvers is the embodiment of Rebecca, who must be destroyed for the story to end" (Kelly 56). Maxim feels the presence of Rebecca and is haunted by his own past because of her. Rebecca is in many ways similar to the story of Cinderella, a classic Gothic Romance (Masterplots 3). The main character is a poor, inexperienced girl who falls in love with a wealthy, lonely, man. Mrs. Danvers is equivalent to the evil stepsisters, trying to destroy the main character. Both stories also have a ballroom scene in the middle that ends unexpectedly. Rebecca has a twist though, that changes the story dramatically. An investigation begins to find the cause of death of Maxim's former wife, Rebecca. At the beginning of the investigation Maxim admits to his wife that he murdered Rebecca and made it look like she drowned on accident. After that point the story becomes increasingly suspenseful as evidence leads closer and closer to the truth.
The insecurity of the narrator drives the suspense and helps the reader relate to her. The narrator was a poor girl who worked as an assistant to Mrs. Van Hopper, a very dominating woman. "At first the narrorator appears to have no identity at all, only serving Mrs. Van Hopper." (Kelly 54). In most social situations she was not even allowed to speak. She also seems to be unbelievably stupid at times. All of the sudden she was thrust into the position of mistress of Manderley. People would talk about every little thing she does and she is all over the newspapers. She is constantly being compared to Rebecca and this makes her feel very uncomfortable. People would say things to her like "You're so different from Rebecca", and this would make her feel even more inferior to the great Rebecca.
