Cambridge IGCSE English Literature Rebecca Exam Questions

About Cambridge IGCSE English Literature Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca is a prose set text for Cambridge IGCSE Paper 1: Poetry and Prose. The unnamed narrator marries the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter and arrives at Manderley, where she is haunted by the memory of his first wife Rebecca and tormented by the housekeeper Mrs Danvers. The novel turns from Gothic romance into a mystery when Maxim reveals the truth about Rebecca's death. Cambridge asks either a passage question on how du Maurier creates tension, atmosphere or character, or an essay on the whole novel. Examiners reward close attention to the narrator's anxious, retrospective voice.

Key themes, characters and context

• The narrator Young, shy and never named, she constantly compares herself unfavourably to Rebecca. Her namelessness suggests her lack of identity at Manderley.
• Maxim de Winter Older, moody and secretive. His confession that he killed Rebecca transforms the reader's understanding of his earlier behaviour.
• Rebecca Never seen yet everywhere, through her monogrammed belongings, her rooms and other people's memories. The image of her changes from perfect wife to cruel manipulator.
• Mrs Danvers The sinister housekeeper devoted to Rebecca. She tricks the narrator into wearing Rebecca's costume at the fancy dress ball and later urges her to jump from the window.
• Manderley The house is almost a character. The famous opening, 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again', frames the story as a memory, and the house ends in flames.
• Gothic and suspense Du Maurier uses the West Wing, the sea, the boathouse and the weather to build mystery, and controls when key truths are revealed.

Common mistakes in Rebecca

• Forgetting that the narrator is telling the story years later; the retrospective voice creates foreshadowing and irony.
• Giving the narrator a name; she is never named, and that matters to the novel's meaning.
• Treating Rebecca as a straightforward ghost story; the 'haunting' is psychological, created by memory and jealousy.
• Describing events instead of analysing du Maurier's language, especially in the passage question.
• Ignoring the moral questions raised by Maxim's confession and the narrator's response to it.

Try three Rebecca practice questions