The Woman In White By Suzanne Collins

The theme of gender and the role of women is one of the key themes of The Woman in White, which can likely be attributed to Collins’ own belief in women’s rights. While this led to some very positive portrayals of women, such as Marian Halcombe, and some proto-feminist sentiments, such as the comments on marriage, there are also problematic elements to Collins’ presentation of gender, such as Marian’s numerous disparaging comments on the competence of her own sex. Marian Halcombe is presented as one of the most capable characters in the novel, she is intelligent, and Walter has the utmost respect and trust for her: “I owed it to Marian to be faithful to my past experience of her, and to trust her as I trusted herself”. However, Marian’s

Hartright, and finish the sentence, in the name of female propriety, for yourself.". While Marian is mostly referring to their appearances, this notion of contrasts between the two women applies in almost all areas of their personalities. Laura is not only a perfect example of a Victorian lady while Marian is nothing of the sort, but Laura is also incredibly passive, in sharp contrast to Marian’s agency and self-sufficiency. This is seen the most within the context of Laura’s marriage to Sir Percival. Once the engagement has been revealed to the reader, it quickly becomes apparent that Laura does not want to marry Percival because she loves Walter. However, she vehemently refuses to take action, "I can never claim my release from my engagement," she went on. "Whatever way it ends, it must end wretchedly for me.”, despite the fact that she is given the complete freedom to do so. Laura’s extreme passivity can be read in two ways, it can either be read as a presentation of what women are actually like, in contrast to Marian who is not an ordinary woman, or it can be interpreted as a social criticism by Collins, critiquing the lack of agency afforded to women by society. Which reading is found to be most compelling is a major factor in determining how Collins presented women. Given Collins’ support of women’s rights and his stance on marriage (he famously never married his long term partner because he believed marriage was unfair to women, sentiments echoed in the novel) it seems most likely that the authorial intent at least was for Laura to serve as a social criticism of the treatment of