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Summary: Wilkie's Women
Review: In the 143 years since its publication, Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White (Random House Modern Library Classics, 1860) has never gone out of print. Originally serialized in Charles Dickens' weekly journal All the Year Round, it outsold Dickens himself in London and New York in 1860.
The novel (and Collins himself) is considered the forerunner to the modern mystery genre and the premise is as simple as it is delightful. London artist Walter Hartright is sent to Cumberland to teach drawing to two half-sisters. He falls instantly in love with Laurie Fairlie, the younger of the two, who is betrothed to a man of noble blood. When it becomes obvious that the fair and delicate Laura's new husband has dastardly intentions, Walter and the older, spinster sister, Marian, are set off on a thrilling chase to rescue Laura and solve the riddle of the woman in white.
Part of the ongoing appeal of The Woman in White is certainly its status as a paragon of mid-Victorian literature. England in 1860 was a rural and aristocratic society coping with the rise of industrialization, urbanization, and the effects of a rapidly-growing middle class on the ideals of democracy. Literature of this time focused on realism - the creation of believable behavior, setting, and psychologically credible characters - combined with sensationalism - high drama and volatile passions.
Victorian readers expected a happy ending to a story that provided social commentary on the present condition of England and Collins delivered both. The Woman in White serves up a critique on class relations, insane asylums, foreigners, and Victorian feminism.
The story is told in a series of first-person narratives, each picking up where the other left off and continuing the plot from his or her own point of view. Collins based this style on court trials he witnessed while attending law school. His progressive class consciousness is revealed in giving a narrative voice to servants who help tell the story, while denying a voice to upper-crust characters such as Laura and her husband, Sir Percival Glyde.
Additionally, like much of Victorian literature, Collins addressing the question of what constitutes a gentleman. The rise of the British middle class spawned a debate as to whether money or morals conferred gentlemanly status. The evils of Sir Percival and his Italian mastermind, Count Fosco, compared to the innocent honor of the lowly drawing master place the designation of gentleman with a kindly heart rather than a thick wallet. Though Collins avoid eat-the-rich didacticism - Laura herself is quite wealthy, but not a villain.
The subplot of madness serves to show up the deplorable conditions of the Victorian asylum where it was possible to be falsely restrained by greedy relatives who then obtained all one's property. Several prominent cases like this preceded the publication of The Woman in White. Forced commitment to an asylum is a common theme in Victorian literature, probably reflecting fears over the narrow range of acceptable behavior that was considered normal and sane. The book's continued popularity may speak to a universal fear of losing one's identity, of having the whole world think we're crazy simply for speaking the truth.
Collins' views on foreigners are alluded to in his treatment of two central characters, both foreign-born Italians. Walter's servant, Pesca, is a bumbling fool but a loyal friend. Count Fosco is evil, yet cultured and clever. The apparently negative portrayal of Italians may be partially due to the British fear of Catholics during the Pope's vie for power in the mid-19th century. More likely, they were a product of the British Empire and the Crimean War, which ended shortly before publication. Victorian Brits justified the Empire with a belief that foreigners were irrational, childlike, irreligious, criminal, hypersexual, and dirty. The Italians were specifically targeted because they sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the war. That Collins created Pesca and Fosco to be quirky and engaging characters is probably progressive in the same sense as a modern American writer might create a Middle Eastern Muslim character to be appealing to the reader without becoming a caricature of either good or bad qualities.
The Woman in White is probably best known as an expose' on the lot of the Victorian woman. Feminism in Victorian times is still recognizable today, influenced as it was by liberal Protestant evangelism, enlightenment appeals to reason, and the rise of communitarian socialism as a strong political force. "Ladies' reading societies" were cropping up in response to Susannah Wright urging women to "read yourselves into awareness". John Stuart Mill was being arrested for distributing information on birth control and attacking the traditional family, saying child-rearing should be communal.
Collins himself was known for being unsympathetic to the traditional family. He lived in a polygamous arrangement with two women he never married and once said his writing "dramatizes the domestic horror of marriage" and showed up the vagaries of marital law.
The novel compares four distinct female characters - Laura; her half-sister, Marian; Count Fosco's wife, Eleanor; and Anne Catherick, the titular women in white herself. Marian is arguably the story's richest character. Collins never mocks her and the reader is not left pitying her even though a Victorian spinster carried the stigma of pity. She mirrors Fosco's cleverness and culture, but for good instead of evil. Unexpectedly, at the time of publication, men contacted Collins wanting to know if Marian was based on a real woman because they wished to meet such a woman. It begs the question of whether the ideals in weight, beauty, and temperament to which women strive to please men have ever been what men really wanted in the first place.
In the shadow of Marian, there's Madame Fosco - temptress and shrew turned dutiful wife. Her subservience is wound into Count Fosco's villainy, yet Laura's subservience remains a symbol of virtue (perhaps Collins avoiding didacticism again).
In spite of her sweetness, Laura remains a two-dimensional character. The plot revolves around her, yet she's as lifeless on the pages as one of her own drawings. In the end, we're left pitying Laura's weakness rather than Marian's spinsterhood, which may have been Collins' intention.
But if Laura is the bright side of virtuous Victorian womanhood, Anne Catherick is its dark underbelly. Her truthful tongue and sharp mind mark her as insane. Her ineffectual weakness and lack of male protection are exaggerated into madness where she whispers in and out of the story - the wraith-like woman in white.
As a feminist novel, it's not without flaw. Collins stoops to portraying Marian as ugly and mannish, implying that she can't catch a man because of her indelicacy and her facial hair. (In point of fact, the number of mid-Victorian spinsters rose because of the women outnumbered the men.) We do watch Marian pine for love, yet it's her beautiful, passive half-sister who is rewarded with it. Though, given Collins' views towards marriage, he may have bestowed this as an ironic mixed reward. Rather than being strong or cunning in standing up to Sir Percival, Laura mostly resorts to the tired stereotype of childlike sneakiness. And here the book falls into the common trap, at least for the modern reader, of mistaking Laura's cunning or Marian's wit and spunk for genuine feminist analysis. This is a problem even in modern entertainment where we're supposed to believe the heroine is liberated when, in fact, she's only making cynical and sarcastic one-liners. But overall, Collins effectively shows the futility of both options for women - the lack of means and social stigma of spinsters and the legal and social disappearance of marriage. The modern reader is left to ponder whether this has really changed.
Characters aside, the heightened language of the novel is lovely and begs to be read aloud, despite a criticism of Collins is that his language was too flowery to accurately reflect Victorian English and, because he was paid by the word, some passages become unnecessarily wordy. To the modern taste, the book is simply too long for a suspense novel, weighing in at 645 pages.
The plot structure of the serial narratives diverges from the typical Victorian novel in which it was common for the author to interject with commentary in his or her own voice, addressed to the reader. The narrative format allows all the advantages of the omniscient viewpoint while keeping the immediacy and personal feel of the first person.
Some holes in the plot are distracting. A woman believed dead is able to marry. Chronological errors in dates (the result of the original serial publication) leave events occurring in nonsensical order. Characters appear and disappear with inexplicable suddenness. Some coincidences strain credibility. A case of typhoid fever figures into the story twenty years before typhoid was officially diagnosed (though it had become a matter of public health and medical inquiry in England at the time of publication).
The quality of The Woman in White is clearly overstated today because of its status as a period piece. In its day, it was little more than a trashy novel for mass entertainment - only slightly less degraded than the modern soap opera because of the evident social commentary. The overemphasis placed on The Secret is a cheap gimmick to lure the Victorian reader into purchasing the next installment.
In spite of this, and in addition to the social commentary, The Woman in White has literary value. Collins plants a fabulous story into the genre of the sensation novel. He uses the kind of symbolism meaningful to a Victorian audience - for example, fire was a common symbol for the tensions between stable, conservative, and restricting values versus destructive and liberating passionate emotion and sexuality. Witticisms are planted into the characters' names - Pesca can't swim yet, his name is Italian for "fish"; Fosco means "gloom"; Percival refers to the knight seeking the Holy Grail.
Collins' use of word painting is evocative and typically Victorian - for example, the description of Blackwater Park is both explanatory and creates an aura of evil. The coincidences, epiphanies, and mistaken identities are fun even when they're exaggerated. All in all, The Woman in White is likely to continue entertaining readers for another 140 years to come.
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Summary: An amazing read that will keep you guessing
Review: A friend of mine bought this book for me for Christmas and I was a little on the disappointed side. I thought from the blurb on the back and the time period the book is from that it would be long winded and dull. I was SO wrong! This book is literally non-stop excitement. Every page was chocked full of mystery and suspense and the characters were among the most interesting I've ever read about. Particularly the villain. He is without a doubt amongst the most evil and manipulative characters I've ever read about. This one is a must read!
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Summary: Great mystery with lots of atmosphere!
Review: Collins was a contemporary of Charles Dickens, and its interesting that his stories are still just as exciting as they were when first printed. This is a great mystery story that is as evocative as its title. Whoever has read this story never forgets Wilkie's crossroads. "the road to West End, the road to Hampstead, the road to Finchley and the road to London." This is where we see his solitary woman dressed all in white from head to toe. The story is masterfully written, and Mr. Collins uses some of his characters to "write" different parts of the story. In this unique way the reader really gets to know his characters and how they think. There is a wealth of detail, and a carefully plotted story. Still as exciting today as the day it was written. No higher praise can be given for a mystery story.
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Summary: sleep was my second-best option
Review: Everyone has their own criteria for what makes a great novel-for me the best praise is that(in the words of an earlier reviewer) I was desperate for lunchtime at work and hometime so that I could continue reading.I forwent sleep untill I'd finished the book.It took me three days when a similar-length novel can take me months.When you sacrifice things to read a book you KNOW you have a pearl.When you "don't have the time" you have an also-ran.
This book,for me,had everything:Fantastic prose(Austen-like),deep characters,convoluted plot,humour, supense.I shy from naming a favourite character out of fear of disloyalty to the others! I'd previously read Brave New World and it was just so awful with it's two dimensional characters and plot (albeit an outstanding idea)and I think this helped my appreciation of The Woman in White.I'd never even heard of it until recently.I,of course, would recommend you read this and,short of weddings,funerals,etc.be prepared to sacrifice your engagements!
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Summary: Outstanding and compelling tale!
Review: I became interested in Collins' novel due to it being the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical. I was a bit apprehensive at first, fearing that it, like many 19th century novels, would plod along ponderously under the weight of the flowery and overly descriptive prose of the period. I am happy to report that this is NOT the case with Collins. Though the language is much more formal than modern novels, it flows wonderfully and he weaves a very intricate and compelling story. At the same time, he gives the reader a wonderful view into the world of 19th century society life. This is an outstanding piece of literature that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in mystery and adventure novels.
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Summary: Excellent classic thriller.
Review: I didn't think this would be my type of book, but I ended up loving it. Much better than other Collins reading, in my opinion.
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Summary: A Mystery Classic of the Highest Caliber, but not the best..
Review: I give this book 4 stars due to its extraordinary characters and great ideas. However, it is not the 'greatest' mystery ever, I think there are so many other books in this genre that are even better. Wilkie Collins was a bit long-winded, as many mystery writers are apt to be, but he excelled in creating an unforgettable, haunting story.
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Summary: Brilliant but need help please!
Review: I have just read this book for my A level English Literature course and found it absolutely thrilling. The story weaves together so well and leaves you guessing for so much more. If anyone could help I'd like to know how people think the protagonist overcomes adversity in this book. Thanks!
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Summary: Clumsy plot, great characters, wonderful atmosphere.
Review: It is rare for a heroine to be ugly. One of the elements that makes "Jane Eyre" a perfect romance is that Jane is physically unattractive, just as the author Charlotte Bronte perceived herself to be. In Collins' novel also, the heroine's plainness makes her a more sympathetic character.Britain produced some great Victorian novelists and Collins is one of them. He is a superb stylist, making this book a pleasure to read. It does however, suffer from the 'curse of the coincidence', requiring the reader to believe that the hero just happens to be in the right place at the right time to meet the right person, not once but repeatedly. We also have to swallow the contrivance of two unrelated characters looking as identical as twins. In fact the opening episode contains a coincidence so great that I almost gave up on the book there and then. Despite this clumsy plotting, the story contains much that is good, not least one of the most memorable villains in all literature. I find the hero himself rather exasperating. He hesitates and dithers, insisting always on being the perfect English gentleman while the evil foreigners run rings round him. I kept wanting to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. British novels, probably more than those of any other culture, are notable for their character portraits. "The Woman in White" is a fine example of that, as well as being wonderfully atmospheric. By common consent, this and "The Moonstone" are the author's two worthwhile works, so if you enjoy one you can go on to read the other, and be satisfied that you have 'done' Collins.
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Summary: INNOCENCE, VILLAINY AND HEROISM
Review: Laura Fairly is the innocent, the young, sheltered, Victorian maiden who abides by her departed father's wishes. On his deathbed, he bids her to marry Sir Percival Glyde. Enter villainy. The grasping, frightened, short-tempered Sir Percival insists on a speedy wedding. He handily dispatches any obstacles thrown up in his path; he is damned and determined to wed Laura--and her fortune. But Laura has a sister, Marian, a strong-willed, independent, fiercely loyal sister who at first champions the marriage and then recoils once she realizes the true nature of Sir Percival. The man is a monster. And Marian will do anything to protect her sister. Heroism, and then some. There is also another, a drawing master named Walter Hartright, commissioned to teach Laura and Marian the fine art of watercolors. He falls in love with Laura, and she with him--before her marriage to Sir Percival. The drama should be obvious.
But what of the title? Who is the Woman in White? Her chance meeting with Walter Hartright on the road to London provides the catalyst upon which the entire narrative turns. She is at once and both the key and the puzzle. She is a victim. She is a harbinger. She scares Sir Percival out of his wits.
This book offers vivid portrayals of Victorian England, its mannerisms, its wardrobe, its inhibitions, its attitude. This book eerily reflects our own time, our own angst, in the 21st century. Once you read it, you'll know what I mean. Deception has no age.
P.S. Whatever you do, don't turn your back on Count Fosco!
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