# Hitchock's REBECCA **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732 "2002-12-14T15:38:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/21 "2002-12-15T18:25:37Z")
I remember in the movie that there was an "R’ or “RdeW” monogram on a lot of Rebecca’s belongings. I have always thought that “R’s” are beautiful. I have been accused of marrying my husband just so that I could have that initial. I ain’t sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/22 "2002-12-15T18:33:02Z")
I remember in the movie that there was an "R’ or “RdeW” monogram on a lot of Rebecca’s belongings. I have always thought that “R’s” are beautiful. I have been accused of marrying my husband just so that I could have that initial. I ain’t sayin’. Doesn’t the name C K Dexter Haven sound familiar to any of you? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/23 "2002-12-15T18:41:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\*Doesn’t the name C K Dexter Haven sound familiar to any of you? \*\* I have no [sub]The Philadelphia Story[/sub] idea what [sub]The Philadelphia Story[/sub] you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/24 "2002-12-15T19:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michele in SoCal \* > \*\*(My Two favorite DuMaurier novels are _Rebecca_ and _My Cousin Rachel_ ) \*\* She also wrote the short story which was the basis for Hitchcock’s _The Birds_. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/25 "2002-12-15T20:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > **BTW, when my students did book reports, usually someone chose REBECCA. I always interviewed my students about the books in addition to requiring written reports. Just to tease the students who selected REBECCA, I would ask what the main character’s name was. There would be a stunned silence and then great protests of "Miss Zoe, I promise you, I really did read this book, but I just can’t remember he name!"** I first read the book when I was 14 as a school assignment. I didn’t realize that the poor girl had no name until I was nearly finished, and was talking to a friend about it. Oh, and I love the monogram. It’s all over Manderly, as if Rebecca is saying, “This is all still _mine_, you gauche little interloper.” Maxim too, one presumes. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/26 "2002-12-15T20:37:59Z")
The non Hitchcock film " Don’t Look Now " is also based on a Daphne du Maurier story. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/27 "2002-12-15T20:50:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > **One of the great things about both the book and the film is that the reader/audience doesn’t even realize that the 2d Mrs. de Winter is unnamed. The poor girl – even the sympathetic audience cares more about Rebecca than her.** I have a totally different take on the two Mrs. De Winters. I think the reason that the second Mrs. De Winter has no name is because the reader is supposed to identify with _her_. I know I do. I love the book so much because when I read it, _I_ am Mrs. De Winter. Her namelessness makes it easy to just put yourself in her place. I certainly never sympathized with Rebecca, who represents “Them” as opposed to “Us”, the people who are always more beautiful and more popular. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732/28 "2002-12-16T00:54:34Z")
Apparently, on the set, Hitchcock called the second Mrs de Winter “Daphne”, and Dame Du Maurier later said (I think in her autobiography) that there was a lot of truth to it. If my name seems familiar to you, it’s probably because I’m a moderator of another forum, and I write a lot of Staff Reports. That’s all. Any coincidence between my name and the name of any other C K Dexter Haven is purely coincidental. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchocks-rebecca/142732.md?page=1)