The narrator and her husband find themselves in the midst of a revolution of the truth about Rebecca in the romantic mystery novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. The oppressive presence of Max’s first wife pressures the narrator’s new role as the real Mrs. de Winter, but also deprives Max of his own emotional stability while surviving in the trenches during the metaphoric war to determine the fate of the estate, Manderley. The eyes of the characters become testaments to the realities of their vulnerable natures, as the de Winters’ identity as a whole is shaken by the uncovering of Rebecca’s illusions meant to culminate her quench for absolute power. The author emphasizes how when Ben “[shows] the whites of his eyes” (du Maurier 338), his eyes