MovieChat Forums > Rebecca (1997) Discussion > Maxim and Mrs De Winter loved up couple?...

Maxim and Mrs De Winter loved up couple??

posted 16 years ago by sarahwilks
19 replies | jump to latest

I write this having read the book then watch this mini series, which on the whole i enjoyed very much, i like how the tv mini series allows such detail and not rushed like most book to film adaptations. I was however, a little confused at the amount of love shown between Maxim and Mrs De Winter, it seemed they were frequently in bed together, or sharing a passionate kiss, i did not get this impression from the book. The book depicts a rather love-less (at least on maxims part) and sex-less marriage, Maxim only tells Mrs De Winter he loves her after he has confessed to murdering Rebecca, and only after this does Maxim kiss Mrs De Winter "as he never has before". Then i think it is implied in the book that the marriage is consumated.
I think the film goes for the "Rebecca is a love story" angle, which i believe, when the book was first published, was the way it was viewed, but then later viewed as a much more dark and sinister tale, which i think is a much more accurate interpretation.
I would be pleased to hear anyone elses views in this!

Sarah.

[–] Aim0788 16 years ago

I thought the exact same thing when I viewed the adaptation. There were parts of it that I thought reflected the novel very well but the nature of the relationship between Mrs De Winter and Maxim before the confession was all wrong. I feel that the 1940 Hitchcock film portrays the relationship a bit more accurately- Maxim isn't at all romantic with her in the early stages and treats her a bit like a child. I would definately recommend watching that one if you haven't done so already.

[–] Lozcat2 15 years ago

The book depicts a rather love-less (at least on maxims part) and sex-less marriage, Maxim only tells Mrs De Winter he loves her after he has confessed to murdering Rebecca, and only after this does Maxim kiss Mrs De Winter "as he never has before". Then i think it is implied in the book that the marriage is consumated.

I'm not so sure that it was a sex-less marriage to begin with, in the book Mrs DeWinter says when they return to Manderley after the honeymoon

"My Maxim laughed and sang, threw stones into the water, took my hand, wore no frown between his eyes, carried no burden on his shoulder. I knew him as a lover, as a friend and during those weeks i had forgotten that he had a life orderly, methodical, a life which must be taken up again..."

Say it again, it keeps me awake
I love you

[–] maryborrege 15 years ago

Spoiler-

There is no reason to think the marriage of DeWinter and his second wife was not consumated in the book. (Danvers: "All men enjoy their honeymoons.") Clearly, the author intended to give the impression that their marriage was not overtly sensual or intimate because she was trying to emphasize that the spectre of Rebecca was thwarting their relationship and was, in a real sense, always there between them. Everything in the book was intented to make the point that it was Rebecca who had been Maxim's great love & passion--NOT his "poor subsitute" non-descript new wife. Only after Maxim admits he always loathed Rebecca is his new marriage revealed to be passionate and complete.
The 1942 and 1979 film versions were more faithful to Du Maurier's vision.

[–] janburn007 15 years ago

When understanding the meaning of the word "lover" in the book, I think one needs to be mindful that during the time in history when this story is set, the terms "lover" and "to make love to someone" did not necessarily have a sexual meaning in the same way that they have today. In those days, when one spoke of making love to someone, it usually meant love in the more romantic sense - holding hands with someone, kissing, embracing etc. At that time it was also not considered appropriate to to openly display one's emotions in public.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Jane_Claire 14 years ago

Because they have to sex everything up now to make it sell even BBC. No, please don't go the Hollywood way. But o.t.o.h, I do think their relationship was more sexual that it has been thought.

[–] Flippitygibbit 14 years ago

I agree, and Emilia Fox seems to like to strip off I also read the 'lover' comment in the book to indicate that their marriage was physical, if not loving, which shows at least that the second Mrs de Winter loves Maxim, even if he isn't as demonstrative - she seems like the kind of woman who would be scared stiff of 'marital relations', but instead wants to love her husband.

"Tony, if you talk that rubbish, I shall be forced to punch your head" - Lord Tony's Wife, Orczy

[–] joyfarrah 14 years ago

Sarah IMO I dont think that the marriage was unconsummated Until teh revelation of Rebecca's death. However I do think that on returning to Manderley the relationship between the narrator and Maxim becomes fraught and tense and possibly then the sexual side of it stops. A critic I’ve read a while ago refers to the narrator’s embarrassment at the thought that anyone might think she was pregnant, as if she knows that this is not going to happen since Maxim does not now sleep with her. I think that the marriage was consummated on honeymoon – as Mrs Danvers says “no man denies himself on honeymoon “or something like that.
I haven’t seen all this version, so I’m not sure if they depict Maxim and Mrs DW sleeping together back at Manderley, but I think you’re right. The book's story IS darker and IS about the sinister scary aspects of love and marriage....On honeymoon the couple are happy and are lovers. But when they come back, Mrs DW starts to feel inferior to Rebecca, frightened and alone and she feels that Max is not really interested in her any more. He says later that she seemed not to have much to say to him and she seemed happier with Frank than with him... so he does not make love to her.
Then when she learns that he never loved Rebecca that he hated her and killed her, she is able to overcome her feeling of inferiority and become a support to him and they are lovers again.

[–] Robbyngirl 11 years ago

I have read the book and seen all the movies, also read the "sequel". LOL.. I think it is suppose to be that way. He was loving and caring before they came home. But the relationship began to change when they got home and not just because of him either. He is pulling away from her because of his fear and the reminders, she is pulling away because of the reminder and Mrs. D. Also her lack of confidence and lack of experience doesn't help and Maxim doesn't understand that, he is use to this kind of life, so he think she should just fit right in. It come down to his if she would of been older or more confidence in herself and him, she would have went to him and talk to him. Let him know what was going on and we won't have a movie! Anyways, it is about her grow up and about becoming a woman, face her fears for the man she loves. If it would have been me, one day in that house, it would have been clean out of all Rebecca's things and Mrs. D would have been find a job elsewhere.

[–] wenarskys 14 years ago

I found the miniseries to be disappointing after the book. In the book, we get the powerful impression that he does not love her. The author deliberately leads us to believe that. It comes as a surprise when he confesses his crime, that he indeed does. That's part of the twist. And her utter shock (and delight) to find that he never did love Rebecca. She tells him how tormented she's been and he's incredulous to even discover that she thought all this time that he was pining for her. I felt that was missing from this adaptation, unfortunately, and was a key element in the entire story.

[–] whitespirit26 12 years ago

Yes, I think the book did imply that.

Now I'm not sure what to think. I thought Mrs. De Winter was too much in shock to react with horror when Maxim told her he killed Rebecca, and didn't react much at all until after he told her how evil Rebecca was. But instead, after re-reading the novel, I found that she did start in right away with all that "I DO love you" junk right after he said he killed Rebecca. She even asked why he didn't tell her before, because they'd wasted all that time being apart because of it. Ok, still in shock, but when she finally returns to something fairly normal once he discloses the entire story, she's thinking of how she'll lie, perjure, fight for Maxim, anything for him. There's NO transition time from shock to realization, just shock and then acceptance; never once is there a "My God, he killed his wife?" moment. I'm looking at her right now as a pathetic little ninny who will do anything for her man. If the author meant this as a mixed, dark novel, fine, but it in general is romanticized, and Mrs. De Winter treated like a sweet heroine, the kind who gets and presumably deserves a happy ending. I don't think I like that picture anymore! How should I see this? As a novel with no totally pure characters? Of Mrs. De Winter as a troubled and mixed soul like the rest? Or a weakling who cared for nothing except her man? Do you guys think she would, in fact, have reacted with such acceptance if Maxim had said he'd murdered a normal, good enough wife? Thoughts, please!

[–] velcronewsletter 11 years ago

she still seems like a girl after all of it. rebecca seems to be a woman with a cold sensuality and in comparison i always think of the narrator as too young and innocent, no matter how old she is as she narrates the story

[–] blackberrybabe 11 years ago

If Maxim had murdered a "normal, good enough wife," then I would be horrified at both of their actions. But Rebecca wasn't a "normal, good enough wife." She was a manipulative bitch who used M and every other man out there to get what she wanted. I felt no sympathy for her whatsoever.

Now, in terms of Mrs. DW, yes, she should have been shocked at the confession. But she is so obsessed with Rebecca that finding out Maxim loved HER overruled everything.

Our fingerprints don't fade from the lives we touch--Remember Me

[–] whitespirit26 11 years ago

Thank you black, I agree, she would have been horrified if she thought Max murdered an innocent woman, and I don't believe for a second that she would, as she did in the movie, wrap her arms around him the minute she heard he killed Rebecca, unless she really was not thinking clearly; I believe instead she would have been effectively frozen until he related Rebecca's evil nature; they should have added this in the movie. However, even if she had reacted so badly in the film, I also believe she would have ended any shocked affections for him later if he HAD revealed himself to have killed a perfectly normal woman.

[–] whitespirit26 11 years ago

As a matter of fact, after re-reading the whole end of the book from Max's confession onwards, I'm surprised I didn't at least add that, while Mrs. De Winter's reaction wasn't stellar, I now understood that she had been numb with shock, then heard the truth about Rebecca's evil just in time to recover into survival mode, which explained her sudden resolve to utterly protect Maxim.

My main problem with any weakness in her portrayal was in this movie's part, bc there was a huge space between Maxim's confession of murder and explanation for how evil Rebecca was; and in that space, the little Mrs. threw her arms around him and appeared to sleep with him before hearing ANY conceivable reason for him killing Rebecca! I was outraged, thus my descriptions in the last post; bc of her weird reaction, some other scenes between her and Maxim were tainted, making her seem not like a newly strong wife, but a suddenly selfish doormouse-turned-rat who almost appeared turned on by the whole ugly business. This certainly isn't who Mrs. de Winter is meant to be, nor was it the filmmakers' intentions; they just chose a HORRIBLE little chain of events occuring after Maxim's confession rather than just having the Mrs. hear him out a little before jumping his tweed suit.

Only later do they start to rectify this by showing the heroine a cautious and caring person again, horrified for her husband and by the whole thing, like when she cried silently in bed after he related the last details of his misery at the moment of R's death, and especially when R's nasty lover began describing the murder again and she suddenly couldn't take it, yelling for him to stop and gripping her ears. They did well showing that the genuine horror of the whole thing really did get to her.

[–] Robbyngirl 10 years ago

It has been quite awhile since I have read the novel, but I do understand your problem with this film in the confession scene. To be honest, I never really thought about it how it was filmed, being caught up in the confession. But it does seem crazy she would jump his bones after he tell he killed his wife, then he explains why. Before I say this maybe this is because I have seen this film, the older version and read the book, but I believe that Mrs.De Winter's suspected something was wrong with Rebecca, before he told he what she was. Also, in my opinion she is so in love with him and so dependent on him, she might of jumped off a bridge for him. He all she has in the world, so think of the time that it takes place and her nature it doesn't surprise me she would just take it so well. This film has it problems to be sure, she seem to dress better than the original film and she has more backbone. But I like it, because it stick with the right ending, unlike the older film.

[–] whitespirit26 10 years ago

True Robbyn, I just hope the filming was lazy and his wife would not have been so heartless as to accept him had he been a cold-blooded killer. Bc other than this, they seemed to press the idea that she had a strong morality; everything started affecting her, including the awful truth of Rebecca's true life and death, because she not only fainted during the hearing but screamed at Rebecca's cousin to stop talking and covered her ears, when he started describing how he thought Maxim killed Rebecca.

[–] Robbyngirl 9 years ago

Yes, it does seem that way. But, love conquers all right? Don't get me wrong I love the story, it has a beauty to it. I never really thought of it that way until you pointed it out, but it is kinda crazy when you think about it. Most women would not want to sleep with there husbands after he confessed to a murder. But I have notice watch a lot of love stories, with the less that perfect men, we seem to over look the bad, because we want love to conquer all. This story is truly made out to make Rebecca the villain. So we are like she got what she deserved. But, I think in true, she wanted him to kill her and get caught so she could take him down in the end. It make you wonder why she hated him so much, would have love for the author to put out another book on Rebecca life before she married him and tell us why she hate him so. Another one of those thing s that make you go mmmmm.....

[–] cookiela2001 7 years ago

I like this aspect of this adaptation (which is by far the best, IMO). Without feeling some human connection between the two leads, the story's just too bleak and cold. (Hitchcock said he actually didn't care for it much because it lacked humor.)

It increases the tension to see the couple connect on some levels, yet be so far apart on others.

It's much more realistic to see them taking SOME pleasure in each other, and their sex like is the most intimate, discrete way to do this (as it doesn't include them interacting with outsiders.)

.