Maxim's first and second wives are opposite personalities. His first wife, Rebecca, now dead, was self-confident, beautiful, self-assured, and much admired for her forceful personality. She was an excellent hostess who wore lovely clothes with effortless grace.

Maxim's second wife is a shy, meek orphan, who Maxim meets at a glamorous watering hole because she is there as a paid companion to a wealthy woman. Shy, insecure, and not born, as Rebecca was, to run a grand estate like Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter is intimidated by her new role as lady of the manor. She is especially intimidated that she does not have the beauty, social know-how, poise, and self-possession of the dead Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers, who worshipped the first Mrs. de Winter, reinforces the idea that the second wife is a poor substitute who could never hope to live up to the standard set by Maxim's first wife.

The second Mrs. de Winter's mistake is to think that she is inferior to Rebecca and to believe that Maxim finds her wanting in comparison to his first wife. What she doesn't realize is that Rebecca was an evil, self-centered, and manipulative woman who didn't love Maxim, cheated on him repeatedly, and finally goaded him into murdering her when she found out she had cancer. The second Mrs. de Winter may not have Rebecca's confidence and flair, but she is a good person who cares deeply about her husband. Her kindness and thoughtfulness are what Maxim prefers to his former wife's haughty and cruel character.

There are many differences between the Maxim's relationship with Rebecca and his relationship with his second wife, the story's narrator.  The main similarity was that secrets were kept in each marriage.  In the first marriage the secrets were Rebecca's and in the second marriage the secrets were Maxim's.  The major difference between the two marriages is that while Rebecca was an evil and unfaithful woman who cared little if at all for Maxim, his second wife was a good and somewhat naive woman who loved and wanted to please her husband.  The irony was that the second wife spends most of the novel assuming that she was second best and that her husband was still mourning his beautiful first wife.  Furthermore in the first marriage it seems that Rebecca was definitely the stronger of the two personalities.  In the second marriage it initially seems that Maxim is the stronger personality but as Maxim's secret comes to light as well as his love for his second wife, her character becomes stronger.  Unfortunately for Maxim, the damage caused by his first wife did not end with her death and ended up costing him his lovely home leaving him and his second wife as virtual exiles.