The Woman In White Essay, Research Paper
THE WOMAN IN WHITE: THE CREATION OF A NEW REALISM?
I had now arrived at that partcular point of my walk
where four roads met – the road to Hampstead, along
which I had returned, the road to Fichley, the road
to West End, and the road back to London. I had me-
chanically turned in this latter direction, and was
strolling along the lonely high-road – idly wonder-
ing, I remember, what the Cumberland young ladies
would look like – when, in one moment, every drop of
blood in my body was brought to a stop by the touch
of a hand laid lightly on my shoulder behind me.
I turned on the instant with my fingers tighten-
ing round the handle of my stick.
There, in the middle of the broad, bright high-
road – there, as if it had that moment sprung out of
the earth or dropped from Heaven – stood the figure
of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in
white garments….. (p.47)
An analysis of the above passage will illustrate why The Woman in White and
novels of a similar nature have been labelled `sensational’ and denied any
significant status as realism. Most obviously, the extract shows the main
characteristic of sensationalism: the sudden shock or surprise – every drop
of Walter Hartright’s blood `brought to a stop’ on encountering the figure on
the highway: he grips his stick nervously in anticipation of the unknown. The
aspect of mystery and the ghostly, too, can be seen – the Woman is described
as being `out of the earth’, otherworldly, her white garments, too, evoking a
ghostly overtone. The text, here, highlights yet subtler aspects of
sensationalism which I wish to discuss. Walter comes to a point where there
is a network of roads, where `four roads met’. The number of directions in
which he can travel mirrors the multi-faceted and intricate plot of Wilkie
Collins’ novel. This importance of plot has become – rightly or wrongly – a
trade mark of `sensational’ fiction. A further aspect of this genre is
fatalism, the predestined, the notion perhaps that is not mere chance that
Anne Catherick appears on Hartright’s `lonely high-road’ and not on the other
four.
The `characteristics’ of the sensation novel which I have touched
upon superficially above have, critically speaking, prevented it being
bestowed with any notion of `realism’. Though I do not desire necessarily to
challenge the notion of sensationalism in the novel but I do wish to question
the apparent `lack of realism’ in The Woman In White. I hope therefore to
illustrate the sensation paradox – that Collins’ novel is bound in realism as
well as being `sensational’. I would like to suggest also that the result is the
creation of a new, higher realism, different to that of writers such as Eliot
and Trollope.
I believe it would be appropriate, initially, to define the traditional
connotation of the term `realism’. The common view is that the main function
of realism in fiction is mimetic; that to be realistic is to attempt to convey
an accurate imitation of life as it is: we are supposed to be left with the
impression that these realistic characters have lived and breathed. I first
want to demonstrate the degree to which The Woman in White defies this
traditional code of Victorian fictional realism.
When reading Collins’ novel we cannot fail to be struck by the
intricacy of the plot. This is what grips us so, what makes us read on, what
forced Anthony Trollope to stay up all night to finish the book. It is the
design and plot that is uppermost in our minds; we are not necessarily
concerned about the feelings of Marian Halcombe or Walter Hartright.
Undoubtedly in The Woman In White, character is subordinated to plot. The
former is dictated by the latter. It is Anne Catherick’s initial confrontation
with Hatright on the road to Limmeridge House that sets the whole chain of
events in motion. In fact it could be traced back to Hatright’s association
with Pesca; it is the Italian – returning a favour to Hartright for saving him
from drowning – who secures his position as Drawing Master employed by
Frederick Fairlie. The first narrator observes:
If I had not dived for Professor Pesca when he lay
under water on his shingle bed, I should…never
have been connected with the story which these pages
will relate. (p.37)
Contemporary critics tended to link – wrongly I believe – novels of incident
such as The Woman In White to sensationalism and novels of character to
realism. I will illustrate later how I feel this judgement is flawed but I am
merely pointing out here that the supremacy of plot breached the realistic
faith.
As an adjunct to this, it must be admitted that depth of character
(with the possible exception of Count Fosco) and plausibility of motive is
wanting to a certain extent within The Woman In White. Frederick Fairlie is
just a hyperchondriac; Marian Halcombe’s characteristics are seen to be
those of strength and bravery; Laura is weak-willed and sensitive while
Hartright is a combination of the latter two. It would be a mistake to say
that the figures which populate the novel are colourless – they are not – but
they do lack the complexity of, say, a Dorothea Brooke. In addition,
traditional realism demands that the actions of a character and motives
behind them be plausible, be `believable’. Plausibility does seem lacking in
sections of the novel. Walter Hartright’s sudden move to Honduras is a prime
example of this. He becomes timid, frail and effete, deciding to go to `another
country to try a change of scene and occupation’. He is merely said to be
making `excavations among the ruined cities of Central America’. There is no
real description about the thought process behind such a decision.
Pyschological realism appears, on a superficial inspection, to be neglected.
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