Rebecca Du Maurier Chapter Summary

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In Chapter 1 of Rebecca, du Maurier depicts Manderley as a magnificent estate with overgrown nature, a house and a long drive and gate. To begin, du Maurier describes Manderley as an estate with uncontrolled, foreign nature. "And there were other trees as well, trees that I did not recognize, squat oaks and tortured elms that straggled cheek by jowl with the beeches, and had thrust themselves out of the quiet earth, along with monster shrubs and plants, none of which I remembered" (du Maurier 3). Many new trees, along with plants that the narrator does not remember, invade the estate. Similarly, the hydrangeas exhibit this uncontrolled growth of the nature. "Scattered here and again among this jungle growth I would recognize shrubs that had been landmarks in our time, things of culture and grace, hydrangeas whose blue heads had been famous. …show more content…

Du Maurier again exhibits the uncontrolled growth of the plants. Additionally, she illustrates how much the nature has changed since the narrator lived at Manderley. Lastly, ivy has taken over the house and landscape, as described by, "...the malevolent ivy, always an enemy to grace, had thrown her tendrils about the pair and made them prisoners. Ivy held prior place in this lost garden, the long strands crept across the lawns, and soon would encroach upon the house itself" (du Maurier 4). Du Maurier uses the ivy to demonstrate the uncontrolled plants of Manderley. In addition to describing the nature of Manderley, du Maurier describes the house of Manderley. The house stands at the center of Manderley as a prominent site. Du Maurier writes, "There was Manderley, our Manderley, secretive and silent as it had always been, the gray stone shining in the moonlight of my dream, the mullioned windows reflecting the green lawns and the

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