Sunday, May 11, 2014

"...I looked upon rain as an omen of ill-will..." (63).

Chapter seven is the transition from Mrs. de Winter's old life into her new one at the Manderely estate. The beginning of the chapter is the drive to Manderely; the transition from the rainy, ugly-weathered London, to the sun stricken, beautiful Manderley. The car ride to Manderely is a stomach jerking, nervous filled ride for Mrs. de Winter. She's afraid of the unknown, and scared of what is to come. She worries that Manderely won't be like the picture-perfect postcard that she had once seen. Foreshadowing, for sure!

They arrive at the gates of Manderely and drive the long curvy, gravel road to the Manderely estate. Once arrived, the couple is greeted by a group of people who want to meet the new Mrs. de Winter. Mrs. Danvers is to blame for the gathering, and from the description Mrs. de Winter gives of her, she seems as though she is going to cause many problems throughout: "prominent cheek bones, hollow eyes gave her a skull's face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton's frame" (67). Could this deathly description of Mrs. Danvers signify a deathly out come in terms of their new relationship? Well, perhaps, it could signify the death of the Manderley estate that Mrs. Danvers caused.

The newly weds go to the library to enjoy some tea, while Mr. de Winter catches up with the mail that he had missed while he was away.  Frith enters and tells Mr. de Winter than Mrs. Danvers would like for Mrs. de Winter to view her new room, which has just recently been reconstructed in the east wing of the Manderley estate. Mr. de Winter sends her along.

She meets Mrs. Danvers, who shows her new room. From this room, you cannot hear nor see the ocean, which Mrs. de Winter does not like. Mrs. Danvers expresses anger through her dialogue, emphasizing that you cannot hear or see the ocean. She also reveals that the rooms on the side of the wing that Mrs. de Winter will be staying have never been used for rooms before until just recently when Mr. de Winter wrote home for them to be remodeled.

Rebecca can feel the cold hearted emotions that Mrs. Danvers is conveying to her and she tries to make amends with her. She says to her that she will not stand in the way of the way that she ran the Manderley estate in the past, as she is just there to make Mr. de Winter happy. She then reveals any interesting point about the west wing, as a dig toward the new Mrs. de Winter. She says the room in which Mr. de Winter had stayed in on the west side of the estate was much older, however, twice the size, one could hear and see the ocean, and was filled with old, beautiful furniture. Mrs. de Winter tries to rationalize it by saying he probably wanted to preserve it for the public, but Mrs. Danvers rebuts by saying the public never sees the bedrooms. I wonder why he had his bedroom quarters changed? Would the memories of the time he spent with Rebecca haunt him? Not that I've ever killed someone before, but assuming that I did, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to sleep in the same bed that the person who I killed used to sleep in. Just saying!

Mr. de Winter and his wife chat later on about Mrs. Danvers, in which Mr. de Winter says that she should just ignore her, as he doesn't like her that much anyway. The chapter ends with the two have a divine dinner and relaxing in the library. The new Mrs. de Winter realizes that she's sitting in the chair that Rebecca once sat in, which erily haunts her. 

It seems as though Mrs. Danvers had a very strong relationship with Rebecca and is completely closed minded to anyone wishing to take her place. Mrs. Danvers makes the new Mrs. de Winter feel incredible out of place. The sound of her foot steps echoing makes her uncomfortable and provokes the feeling of being out of place. I think that Mrs. Danvers will play a crucial role in the rest of the novel, and even in Maxim's relationship with his new wife. Yes, she does. Just the descriptions of Mrs. Danvers is enough to instill fear in anyone, "A black figure stood waiting for me at the head of the stairs, the hollow eyes watching me intently from the white skull's face" (71).

Vocabulary

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