Rebecca ending explained

What happens

Maxim is cleared, and Favell's blackmail fails when a doctor shows Rebecca was dying. Driving home, Maxim sees a glow in the sky: Mrs. Danvers has set Manderley ablaze and dies in the fire. The house, and Rebecca's hold on it, burns.

The last image

Flames consume Manderley, and the monogrammed R on Rebecca's pillowcase burns away.

What it says

Rebecca's power lived in objects, memory and Mrs. Danvers' devotion, so the fire destroys all three. The heroine is free of a ghost, and the film, held by the Production Code to punish its guilty, lets Manderley and Danvers pay.