In Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, the narrator's perception of self changes over the course of the romance novel. This can be observed by scrutinizing her perception of self at the beginning of the novel, soon after she arrives at Manderly, the famous mansion where her new husband, Maxim DeWinter, lives, and after she hears Maxim's revelation: he killed his first wife, Rebecca, because he thought she would have a son who would not be …showed first 75 words of 732 total…

…showed last 75 words of 732 total…narrator "It's gone forever, that funny, young, lost look that I loved... It's gone, in twenty-four hours. You are so much older...." She regards herself as an adult for the first time. In the novel, Rebecca, the reader observes the narrator develop from a young woman who perceives herself as innocent, fearful, and naive, into a woman who, because of her love for her husband, will never think of herself as a helpless innocent again.