“It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter for the way was barred to me.”

The narrator has a recurring dream of returning to her beloved Manderley. The splendid English estate represents a paradise from which she and her husband have been exiled. The way back is barred to her, except in dreams. Their memories are a blend of the beauty of Manderley, horror at the evil presence that once walked its halls, and regret at the loss of their home.

“He sat motionless, looking without his hat and with his white scarf round his neck, more than ever like someone medieval who lived within a frame.”

The brooding Maxim de Winter is described as a Gothic hero, burdened with dark secrets that make him seem like a figure from the past. He does not belong to the bright landscape of Monte Carlo when he is tortured with memories of his terrible first marriage.

“This at last was the core of Manderley, the Manderley I would know and learn to love.”

When her husband first takes her on a walk to the Happy Valley, the narrator experiences the enchantment of Manderley, away from house still dominated by the presence of the Maxim’s first wife, where the second wife feels like an interloper. Descriptions of nature are used to indicate the charm of Manderley.