the woman in white
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商英陈净 2010012053
The woman in white
Published in 1860, one of the two novels (with the moonstone) for which Collins is most famous. It firmly established his reputation with the reading public and helped raise the circulation of All the Year Round. S. M. Ellis described how The Woman in White was so popular that 'every possible commodity was labelled "Woman in White". The Woman in White has never been out of print since its first publication. The Woman in White is generally regarded as the first Sensation Novel and inspired numerous imitations, most notably from Mary Braddon. The story is in part based on an eighteenth century case of abduction and wrongful imprisonment, taken from Mejan's Recueil des Causes Celebres. It uses the theme of substituted identity, a favourite with Collins, and also attacks the misuse of lunatic asylums.
The story can be considered an early example of detective fiction with the hero, Walter Hartright, who meets a young woman dressed all in white late at night on a deserted road back to London. From there he finds out the woman has escaped from a nearby asylum in order to pass a message along to a mysterious baronet, though Hartright helps her to escape detection he expects never to see her again but somehow he cannot forget the ghostly figure. Eventually his life and the woman in white’s become entangled forever through two ‘sisters’, Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe, as he is commissioned as a drawing instructor for the two sisters. After falling in love with Laura Fairlie, Hartright is informed that he is to marry a particular baronet by the name of Sir Percival Glyde who also has a perplexing history with the mysterious woman in white Hartright met that fateful night.Through a series of sensational circumstances, Laura Fairlie and her spinster sister Marian endure a ‘fall
from grace’ and the sinister Count Fosco and Sir Percival. A sophisticated mystery unravels with Hartright being the hero to bring this mystery to a close.
Like a solicitor presenting the simple facts of the presented case, Hartright carefully removes all of the unnecessary formalities and trivial facts. I really can’t say enough good things about this book, it was a typical Victorian novel but had the feel of a modern novel….timeless is about the only way I can put it. You start reading this book and it just keeps getting more and more sensational that you just HAVE to see what’s going to happen next.
In the novel, my favorite character was by far Marian…I LOVED her. She really was more of a brave and intelligent woman .I loved that Collins made Hartright the ‘hero’ of the tale, but allowed Marian to be the true savior and a strong heroine herself when so many Victorian writers down played female influence.
Overall this is a great book and I would highly recommend it.。
