How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Angel cake, that melted in the mouth, and his rather stodgier companion, bursting with peel and raisins. There was enough food there to keep a starving family for a week. I never knew what happened to it all, and the waste used to worry me sometimes. (2.13)
The abundance of food at Manderley is mentioned frequently. The passage highlights the fact that there are multiple classes existing within Manderley. For example, the de Winter's have too much food, while some of the workers and servants might not have quite enough.
Quote #2
At any rate I have lost my diffidence, my timidity, my shyness with strangers. I am very different from that self who drove to Manderley for the first time, hopeful and eager, handicapped by a rather desperate gaucherie and filled with an intense desire to please. (2.16)
Mrs. de Winter sees her "diffidence" (lack of self-confidence), her "gaucherie" (social awkwardness), and the other qualities mentioned as symptoms of her inability to fit in with the peers she acquires when she marries Maxim.
Quote #3
I remember well that plate of ham and tongue. It was dry, unappetizing, cut in a wedge from the outside, but I had not the courage to refuse it. (2.19)
When the soon-to-be Mrs. de Winter is Mrs. Van Hopper's paid companion, she's looked down on by Mrs. Van Hopper and her wealthy peers. Unfortunately, she's also scorned by waiters and others in a servant class, as indicated by the supremely unappetizing meal she's served.
Quote #4
This abruptness showed that I could safely be ignored, and women would give me a brief nod which served as a greeting and a dismissal in one, while men, with large relief, would realise they could sink back into a comfortable chair without offending courtesy. (3.9)
Our narrator is super aware of class divisions. She sees the wealthy, famous people as so different from herself that they couldn't possibly like her or be interested in her. This is why it takes so long for her to realize Maxim is interested in her romantically. (Or is he?)
Quote #5
"By the way, dear […] don't think I mean to be unkind, but you put yourself just a teeny bit forward this afternoon. Your efforts to monopolise the conversation quite embarrassed me, and I'm sure it did him. Men loathe that sort of thing." (3.44)
Mrs. Van Hopper is just mad because Maxim was making fun of her and being nice to Mrs. de Winter. She's just as aware of class differences as her paid companion, and she delights in reinforcing her companion's insecurities.
Quote #6
She stooped to pick them up, and as she handed them to me I saw a little smile of scorn upon her lips, and I guessed at once she considered me ill-bred. (7.35)
Mrs. Danvers does see Mrs. de Winter as ill-bred. Therefore, she's doubly insulted by the idea of her replacing Rebecca, who she considers the epitome of well-bred. After all, Mrs. Danvers herself had a hand in raising Rebecca.
Quote #7
"I'm afraid that would not do for very long," she said; "it's usual, you know, for ladies in your position to have a personal maid." (7.71)
Mrs. de Winter is learning that it's very important that she conform to certain standards that define her status.
Quote #8
"I hope we shall be friends and come to understand one another." (7.83)
Mrs. de Winter is talking to Mrs. Danvers here. Her desire to cross class lines, so to speak, instead of treating Mrs. Danvers like a servant, is proof to Mrs. Danvers of Mrs. de Winter's inferiority. A bit ironic, don't you think?
Quote #9
"Do you play golf at all, Mrs. de Winter?" said Mr. Crawley. (9.79)
If we had a nickel for every time somebody asks her that! Mrs. de Winter is constantly being asked what sports, games, and activities she participates in. She considers her lack of knowledge in that department an indicator that she is inferior to Rebecca, who, of course, excelled in all sports and games.
Quote #10
"She knew I would sacrifice pride, honour, personal feelings, every damned quality on earth, rather than stand before our little world after a week of marriage and have them know the things about her that she had told me then." (20.42)
Social pressure can be a major pain; Maxim would rather be miserable than have everyone know his personal business.
Quote #11
"Oh, I see," said Favell, "you're going to hold his hand through this. You're going to back de Winter. You won't let him down because you've dined with him, and he's dined with you. He's a big name down here. He's the owner of Manderley. You poor bloody little snob." (24.13)
There seems to be a ring of truth in Favell's statement. Maxim's social and economic status does shield him from prosecution for his crime. It seems that Colonel Julyan, who Favell is addressing, would rather preserve the illusion that Maxim is a fine gentleman, than go up against him and disturb the social pecking order.