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Madame Fosco
Mr. Fairlie is the hypochondriac uncle of Laura Fairlie and the guardian of her and her half-sister, Marian Halcombe. He is the current owner of Limmeridge House, which will pass to Laura in the event of his death, as he is the brother of Laura’s late father, Mr. Philip Fairlie. Mr. Fairlie is a self-centered, pampered, and idle man. He rarely leaves his rooms, is paranoid about becoming ill, and never troubles himself to help or go out of his way for anyone, even his own family. Marian appeals to him for help several times throughout the novel, but he ignores her and leaves her and Laura at the mercy of the men who plot against them, Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde. Mr. Fairlie is also a snob and believes himself to be superior to everyone because of his noble birth. He treats, and openly refers to his servant, Louis, as an inanimate object and is rude about the residents of Limmeridge and to the servant girl, Fanny, who visits him to bring a message from Marian. Mr. Fairlie pretends to be obsessed with art and spends all his time examining pieces in his room. He believes that his refined taste and interest in culture mark him out as a man of superior intellect and aristocratic bearing. However, underneath all this, Mr. Fairlie is lazy, has no serious opinions on art, and does nothing to help anybody else throughout his life. His death does not cause his nieces grief but, instead, is a joyful event because it allows them to move back to Limmeridge House and allows Laura to inherit her property. This demonstrates that Mr. Fairlie has made no impact on his family in life and has left no friends or acquaintances to mourn him because he has been totally self-absorbed and unfeeling.
Mr. Fairlie Quotes in The Woman in White
The The Woman in White quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Fairlie or refer to Mr. Fairlie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The First Epoch: Part 2, Chapter 3 Quotes
As matters stood, my client – Miss Fairlie not having yet completed her twenty-first year – was her guardian, Mr. Frederick Fairlie. I wrote by that day’s post and put the case before him exactly as it stood; not only urging every argument I could think of to induce him to maintain the clause as I had drawn it, but stating to him plainly the mercenary motive which was at the bottom of the opposition to my settlement of the twenty thousand pounds. The knowledge of Sir Percival’s affairs which I had necessarily gained when the provisions of the deed on his side were submitted in due course to my examination, had but too plainly informed me that the debts on his estate were enormous, and that his income, though nominally a large one, was, virtually, for a man in his position, next to nothing.
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The First Epoch: Part 3, Chapter 2 Quotes
‘It will only involve us in more trouble and more confusion,’ she said. ‘It will set you and my uncle at variance, and bring Sir Percival here again with fresh causes of complaint— ’ ‘So much the better!’ I cried out, passionately. ‘Who cares for his causes of complaint? Are you to break your heart to set his mind at ease? No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women. Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and our peace – they drag us away from our parents’ love and our sisters’ friendship – they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel. And what does the best of them give us in return?’
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Mr. Fairlie Character Timeline in The Woman in White
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Fairlie appears in The Woman in White. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 3
...the job is at Limmeridge House in Cumberland, that he will be employed by a Mr. Fairlie , and that the work will involve teaching two young ladies to draw for four...
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Walter writes to Mr. Fairlie about the job but secretly hopes that he will be turned down. He is disappointed...
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The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 6
...up with just her at breakfast as her sister has a headache and her uncle, Mr. Fairlie , never comes down. She tells Walter that she is one of his students and...
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...stash of her mother’s letters which she will examine for clues. A note arrives from Mr. Fairlie , inviting Walter to visit him, and Walter leaves Marian to her breakfast.
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The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 7
A servant leads Walter upstairs to Mr. Fairlie ’s rooms. He is led into the room very quietly and discovers on entering that...
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Mr. Fairlie commissions Walter to examine a collection of English watercolors that he owns and decide their...
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The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 10
...and Laura comes inside for breakfast, Marian tells Laura that she has had heard from Mr. Fairlie and that the “purple room” is to be prepared. This news makes Laura begin to...
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The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 14
The next morning, Walter gives Mr. Fairlie his notice, and Mr. Fairlie haughtily asks him to leave immediately. Walter travels to Todd’s...
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The First Epoch: Part 2, Chapter 1
...contract, before the arrival of her betrothed, Sir Percival Glyde, on Monday. He notes that Mr. Fairlie , who thought of himself “as an invalid,” did not greet him at the house...
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...explanation for the accusations leveled against him. Finally, after being kept waiting for several hours, Mr. Fairlie invites Mr. Gilmore to his room to discuss the marriage. Mr. Fairlie considers the wedding...
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The First Epoch: Part 2, Chapter 3
Laura will inherit Limmeridge House when Mr. Fairlie , her uncle, dies. Once she inherits it, the house will bring her an income...
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...by this rejection of his terms—and suspecting a “mercenary” motive behind it—Mr. Gilmore writes to Mr. Fairlie in the hope that, because he is Laura’s legal guardian, he will call off the...
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Mr. Gilmore has just received this reply—and is disgusted by Mr. Fairlie ’s disregard for his niece’s wellbeing—when Sir Percival’s lawyer, Mr. Merriman, arrives at his office...
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...more time, however, to work on the contract and to get a final answer from Mr. Fairlie and Laura.
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...has made no headway with Mr. Merriman. He feels it is pointless to appeal to Mr. Fairlie again in writing and, instead, decides to visit Limmeridge again in person. At the train...
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The First Epoch: Part 2, Chapter 4
Mr. Gilmore arrives at Limmeridge but is told that Mr. Fairlie will not see him until the next day because of his nerves. When Mr. Gilmore...
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Mr. Gilmore begs Mr. Fairlie not to allow Sir Percival to marry Laura. Mr. Gilmore now believes that Sir Percival...
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Seeing that he has made no progress with Mr. Fairlie , Mr. Gilmore tells Mr. Fairlie that the responsibility lies on him if anything happens...
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The First Epoch: Part 3, Chapter 1
The next morning, Marian and Sir Percival are called to Mr. Fairlie ’s room to discuss the date of the wedding. Marian feels that Laura should get...
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...has departed on his expedition to America. The next day she receives a letter from Mr. Fairlie that asks her and Laura to return to Limmeridge house at the request of Sir...
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The First Epoch: Part 3, Chapter 2
...the end of the year. While they were away in Yorkshire, Sir Percival wrote to Mr. Fairlie and told him that, because of some renovations which need to be carried out on...
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...placed in, and her inability to do anything to prevent the wedding, Marian storms to Mr. Fairlie ’s room, bursts inside and shouts at him that Laura agrees to the proposed date—the...
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The Second Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 1
...have new servants at Blackwater, and has gone to live with her sister in London. Mr. Fairlie is, as usual, immersed in his art and delighted to have the women out of...
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The Second Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 7
Marian now tells Laura that she plans to write secretly to Mr. Kyrle and Mr. Fairlie for help. The bruises on Laura’s arms are evidence of mistreatment that she will use...
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The Second Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 8
Once in her room, Marian writes her two letters—one to Mr. Kyrle and one to Mr. Fairlie —imploring them to help her and Laura out of their terrible situation. She runs to...
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The Second Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 9
...Count Fosco then asks Sir Percival what money he expects to receive from Laura when Mr. Fairlie dies. Sir Percival says that, if Mr. Fairlie dies, he expects three thousand pounds a...
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The Second Epoch: Part 2, Chapter 1
The next section of the narrative is a letter written by Mr. Fairlie , which he has been asked to write by Walter Hartright, and which details his...
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Mr. Fairlie says that he cannot possibly remember dates but that he thinks Fanny visited him in...
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When Fanny is shown in, she begins to cry, and Mr. Fairlie irritably asks Louis to step in and find out what she wants. He wishes the...
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Mr. Fairlie takes Fanny’s letter and unsympathetically dismisses the crying girl. After she leaves, he has a...
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A few days later, Mr. Fairlie receives a concerned note from his lawyer, Mr. Kyrle, which says that the lawyer received...
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Mr. Fairlie immediately assumes that Count Fosco has come to borrow money from him. Instead, Count Fosco...
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...not get along and that he advises they separate for a short time. He asks Mr. Fairlie if Laura can stay at Limmeridge. Count Fosco is so insistent and Mr. Fairlie so...
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The Second Epoch: Part 3, Chapter 2
...stop in London overnight on her way to Limmeridge, where she would to speak with Mr. Fairlie , as he had requested in his letter.
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...Limmeridge the next day, just as Marian has done. He showed her a note from Mr. Fairlie inviting her to Limmeridge whenever she wanted. Laura was utterly horrified at the idea of...
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The Third Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 2
...news of Laura’s death. Count Fosco stayed at Limmeridge for Laura’s funeral and wrote to Mr. Fairlie while he was there. In these notes, Count Fosco told Mr. Fairlie that Anne Catherick...
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...that she is extremely mentally fragile. When they arrive at Limmeridge, she decides to approach Mr. Fairlie the next day, with the news about Laura, rather than that evening.
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When Marian tries to present Laura to Mr. Fairlie the next morning, she is aghast to find that he coldly rejects Laura. He says...
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The Third Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 3
...ever. For this reason, Walter does not believe that there is any hope of convincing Mr. Fairlie or any of Laura’s old friends and relatives that she alive without some proof. He...
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The Third Epoch: Part 4, Chapter 1
...nurse for Marian. This nurse was their accomplice, Mrs. Rubelle. He then went to see Mr. Fairlie and asked him to write to Marian, inviting her to Limmeridge. He knew that Laura...
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...she would be hidden from Laura. Count Fosco then gave Sir Percival the letter from Mr. Fairlie and, on the 24th of July, he and Madame Fosco set out for London to...
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The Third Epoch: Part 5, Chapter 1
...the next morning, he, Walter, Marian, Laura, and John Owen travel to Limmeridge to confront Mr. Fairlie . They agree to leave Laura at Todd’s Corner so that she is not upset....
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The Third Epoch: Part 5, Chapter 3
...his son there, happily set up in one of the rooms. He is told that Mr. Fairlie is dead, and Marian happily hands Walter his son and announces that the boy is...
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