In Rebecca, Hitchcock’s adaptation of Daphné de Maurier’s novel, we only see one of the two Mrs de Winter. The first one, the late Rebecca de Winter, never appears on screen. The second one, whose name is never told, is the main character of the film. When Maxim de Winter, the wealthy owner of Manderley, proposes to her in his hotel room in Monte Carlo, the young woman suddenly becomes a lady. Throughout the film, we can see her struggle to fit in her new role, as she can’t seem to live outside of Rebecca’s shadow, until she finally takes control, as the actual body of her husband’s first wife is found in a shipwreck.

Marrying Maxim de Winter caused our unnamed character to change social status. She used to be a companion, assisting her employer: the rich Mrs Van Hopper and, over night, she finds herself at the head of her husband’s manor with a dozen of staff members assisting her every move. As a lady she is expected to write to barons and baronesses, lords and ladies, read the paper every morning, decide which sauce should accompany the meat for dinner, in short, be a perfect hostess. As her new role is introduced to her by some of the staff, she discovers how her predecessor seemed to be perfectly fashioned for this work. But she seems very insecure as she is not used to these types of tasks and obviously impressed by the affect Rebecca had on people, how much charisma she had, since everyone remembers as a great lady. Rebecca was a woman of style and dazzling beauty as Beatrice – her sister in law--, Mrs Danvers or even her husband would tell her.
It is surrounded by the memory of Rebecca that she has to find her place at Manderley. The sheets, the towels, the address book, everything is marked with a “R”, reminding her that this is not her place to be but Rebecca’s. Mrs Danvers, the head of the staff, keeps telling her how she enjoyed working for her mistress adding to the feeling that she doesn’t belong. She finally gets to think that if she tried to