Was it the revelation that Rebecca had cancer?
The fact Rebecca never told her?
Or the fact the Second Mrs De Winter had``won`` because she no longer felt in Rebecca's shadow or skeptical of Max's feelings?
What do you guys think specifically acted as a trigger to cause Mrs Daners to lose it and set Manderly on fire?
beauty freedom love truth
Your third choice - she couldn't allow the New Mrs. De Winter to win.
shareWhy not all of them?
shareI also think all three reasons. She became aware of them virtually all at the same time. Any one of them may have done it, or not... but the combination was definitely too much.
shareI have not read the novel.
To me it is obvious that Danvers had repressed lesbian feelings and a great love of Rebecca. Not possible to go beyond implications in a film of this time period and so taboo a subject, but Danvers was also very likely aware of the hatred DeWinters bore towards Rebecca (so he was never a rival for her own affection toward Rebecca, however subdued and unexpressed---but possibly they were expressed as DeWinters confesses that Rebecca was quite evil, sociopathic, and depraved--and being gay was definitely deemed depraved behavior in both the historical context of the film and the time it was produced).
Danvers absolutely cold not hold with Rebecca being washed away, forgotten...she was losing the battle despite her concerted efforts and mindgames (going so far as to coax suicide). I have not thought this out all that much, so I could be way off base...at least, it could open a discussion. I know, I am being intellectually lazy to take such a short cut. Sorry.
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Well from what I understood from the movie, your 3rd reason is the closest to what I agree with.
Was it the revelation that Rebecca had cancer?
-Well it couldn't have been that. Yes, she would've been devastated by it, but not to the point she'd snap.
The fact Rebecca never told her?
-Not this either. Because she knew Rebecca told her everything. So she knows she died before she could tell her.
Or the fact the Second Mrs De Winter had``won`` because she no longer felt in Rebecca's shadow or skeptical of Max's feelings?
-Exactly. She couldn't bear any other woman to be Mrs de Winter, except for the first one. Now, one could argue about whether she knew about the first wife's reality, how she didn't really love Maxim. But then again, even so if she did, it seems Rebecca had Danvers' completely loyalty. And when she was assured, that Rebecca's gone, and so will be her memories soon from Manderley, she knew that there's a new Mrs de Winter that'll come to define the family honor and also, Manderley. And I guess she couldn't have any other woman take control of Manderley except for Rebecca, so she snapped, and burned Manderley down.
I take the burning of Manderley as a symbol, that represents the complete death of Rebecca. Even after Rebecca's death, it seemed though as her memories were almost everywhere, from Maxim's sister to the house servants, everyone talked about how she was, or what she did, etc. So as long as there was Manderley, Rebecca was still alive, so to speak. And just like Rebecca, Manderley was beautiful. And the ending closed the chapter for Maxim to be suspected for Rebecca's murder, clearing his name, and also, 'killed' Rebecca and her memories and her belongings in Manderley. And thus, a new beginning for the new couple.
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On the OP's question, I tend to agree with Jeetp's post. In fact I am not sure I would even say that it is correct to say she snapped as in had some kind of psychological breakdown.
I htink there are a few scenes that lend support for Jeetp's pov. There is the scene where Mrs. Danvers literally says to the second Mrs. de Winter that it feels like Rebecca is in the house. Not outside the house, to state the obvious. In short it is in Manderley that Rebecca's spirit still is.
Another scene is the one where Mrs. Danvers is told to get rid of Rebecca's things in the library by the second Mrs. de Winter. This scene to some extent led Danvers to ratchet up the pressure on her vis a vis the gown worn to the costume ball and all that, but that gambit having in effect failed, with the wife surviving, Danvers could certainly expect more forthrightness from the second Mrs. de Winter.
Finally the requirement of the second inquest on the cause of Rebecca's death first seemed a game changer to Danvers, but obviously did not work out, either. It was a game changer since it added a completely different level of uncertainty regarding the possible future happy homelife for Maxim with his second wife. That of course being that he might face criminal charges, and literally be removed from Manderley. There would obviously be no prospects of him "polluting" Manderley with such happy homelife if he were in prison. And it was not merely that he got off that would have impressed itself on Danvers. She also saw to what extent Maxim was relying on the second Mrs. de Winter, and could expect that the couple would be drawn together closer than ever, that had to grate on her.
What previously had been the object of scaring away the second Mrs. de Winter to "allow" Maxim to return to a life of silent brooding for his first wife had by then clearly gone out the window.
I would merely add a bit more emphasis on what I have felt to be a general motivation of Mrs. de Winter, which was in effect based on a form of class consciousness. She felt herself to be Rebecca's assistant in running up all these wealthy people. Did Danvers know about Rebecca's plans to have Maxim be forced to accept Favell's child as his own? But even if not, there is that general way in which Danvers had been an ally of Rebecca in doing that. Combine the expected and likely to be greater forthrightness from the second Mrs. de Winter with the now completely dashed hope that she would leave, with the recognition Maxim loved his second wife, and not his first, well, you could say Danvers would have felt she no longer had anything to live for.
I feel it is the third choice....she couldn't stand the 2nd Mrs. De Winter and wanted to torment her because she was still infatuated with Rebecca, the first wife.
shareIn the book, it was suggested that Danny caught onto Maxim. She absolutely did not believe that Rebecca would commit suicide, and it seemed like she realized Maxim killed Rebecca, so she set Manderly on fire to punish him. I think she also wanted to burn it down because Rebecca was the one who made it a famous showplace that people came from all over the country to see, and she didn't want Maxim and his wife to benefit any more from Rebecca's efforts.
http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/
Having read the posts I agree with you. Maxim had been cleared of Rebecca's death and was coming home to continue his new life. Your assessment of making him pay for taking Rebecca away rings true.
she loved poetry and romance, but she hit the glass ceiling at birth
Remember that Danvers had said, and I think we are meant to understand this was also her belief, that Maxim mourned Rebecca's death, and wanted the second Mrs. de Winter to leave so that he could share Manderlay with Rebecca's spirit, undisturbed by his second wife.
Now of course Danvers also essentially knew that Rebecca had been cheating on Maxim with Favell. But did she think Maxim knew that? Not disclosed by the film, and let's put it this way - the second Mrs. de Winter ALSO was under the decided impression that Maxim mourned for Rebecca.
Add in Danvers's distate for the second wife, and the new knowledge that Maxim killed Rebecca, was getting great support from his new wife, was closer to her than ever, knowledge the new wife would be much less likely to defer to Danvers going forward, might even quite plausibly have fired Danvers, leaving Danvers to go where?
So she killed herself while simultaneously burning the house down.
I think it was Mrs. Danvers' realization that it was all over, the 2nd wife had won and her comfortable life at Manderley was about to end. In the novel, Maxim says that he had wanted to fire Mrs. Danvers after Rebecca died, but was afraid of what she might know. Now there is no longer a reason to keep her on. Mrs. Danvers isn't stupid. Losing her job would mean losing her last link to Rebecca.
shareI think it was Mrs. Danvers' realization that it was all over, the 2nd wife had won and her comfortable life at Manderley was about to end. In the novel, Maxim says that he had wanted to fire Mrs. Danvers after Rebecca died, but was afraid of what she might know. Now there is no longer a reason to keep her on. Mrs. Danvers isn't stupid. Losing her job would mean losing her last link to Rebecca.
Probably a combination of all of the above.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
Get it? lol
How about this? To both destroy the new Mrs. DW, punish Mr. DW, and to herself be consumed by fire rather than being subject to whatever they might do to her.
She revels in the notion that Rebecca could not be defeated by man or woman - only the sea could end her. Well, looking at her own situation she must have known it was all over. She'd be fired at the very least. So rather than allow man nor woman to defeat her, she let herself be taken by flame.
Fire and water. She was always the yin to Rebecca's yang, servant to mistress, plain spinster to beautiful married woman, etc. It's fitting.