Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Woman in White, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Evidence and Law
Morality, Crime, and Punishment
Identity and Appearance
Marriage and Gender
Class, Industry, and Social Place
Summary
Analysis
Walter begins by telling the story of Marian and Laura and how they found each other after Sir Percival and Count Fosco split them up. Marian returned to Limmeridge, after recovering from her illness at Blackwater, but grief-stricken by 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 had been found and returned to the asylum. The note also warned Mr. Fairlie that Anne Catherick now maintained a delusional fantasy that she was his niece, called herself Lady Glyde, and that she might send letters to the family of Lady Glyde in her insanity.
At first Marian, like everyone else, believes that Laura is dead. She has no reason to question this, as there are so many witnesses and there is so much evidence to confirm it. Count Fosco takes the precaution of warning Mr. Fairlie that Anne may try to impersonate Laura. If Laura is not really dead and tries to return, everyone will believe she is Anne and will accept that Anne is capable of this because of her history of mental illness.
Themes
Shortly after she comes back to Limmeridge, Marian falls ill again. When she recovers, she tries to find out about Sir Percival, Count Fosco, and Mrs. Rubelle. She hires someone to spy on the Count’s house in London and on Mrs. Rubelle, but discovers nothing, and hears that Sir Percival now lives in Paris. Thwarted, Marian decides to go to the asylum that Anne Catherick is confined in.
Marian suspects that all is not what is seems and feels that there may have been suspicious circumstances in her sister’s death. If Anne has been returned to the asylum, it is likely that Sir Percival or Count Fosco put her there and she may know something of the men’s behavior.
Themes
She is shown into the establishment and learns that Anne is in the garden. Anne is pointed out to her by a nurse and, when Marian approaches, the woman flings herself into Marian’s arms. Marian instantly knows that this woman is Laura; her sister whom she believed to be dead. Marian is in shock for several moments but soon recovers and assures the nurse that she does not need help. Instead, she takes Laura a short distance into the garden, away from the nurse, to speak to her more privately.
Like Walter, Marian knows Laura so intimately that she cannot be fooled by the superficial evidence that points to her sister’s death. The nurse is worried that Anne is attacking Marian, and asks if Marian needs help.
Themes
Laura calms down when she realizes that Marian recognizes her. Returning to the nurse, Marian gives her some money and asks her to arrange a time when Marian and “Anne Catherick” can meet privately. The nurse reluctantly agrees to allow them to meet the next day and to cover for them with the other staff. Marian does not think that Laura can withstand much more time in the asylum, and she plans to free her sister as soon as possible.
Marian bribes the nurse. She can tell that Laura has been profoundly affected by her time in the asylum and is worried that she will really go mad if left there much longer. This shows how counterproductive asylums were at this time—they could drive even a sane person mad.
Themes
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Marian visits her stockbroker and withdraws all of her savings. She takes this money with her to the asylum, prepared to bribe the nurse if necessary. After speaking to the nurse for a short while, Marian learns that the nurse is saving up to get married and that she will be dismissed if Laura goes missing. Marian, therefore, decides to give the woman several hundred pounds to pay for her wedding if she helps Laura to escape. The nurse promises to help her the next morning and Marian returns to the asylum the next day at ten am.
Marian is extremely clever and good at manipulating people. She uses the information she learns about the nurse to persuade her to help. This supports Count Fosco’s belief that he and Marian are alike. However, Marian’s behavior is well-intentioned (she helps both her sister and the nurse) and is therefore morally defensible, while the Count manipulates people for his own gain.
Themes
Marian and the nurse concoct a plan to distract the authorities after Laura goes missing from the asylum. The nurse is to casually drop into conversation with the other nurses that Anne Catherick has been asking for directions to Hampshire, where Blackwater Park is situated. This way, when the police attempt to follow her, they will likely go in the wrong direction. The nurse brings some of her own clothes to disguise Laura, and Marian is able to free her sister and catch a train with her to Carlisle, in the direction of Limmeridge.
Again, this is a very clever plan devised by Marian, as it misleads the police and gives her and Laura time to escape. The characters frequently travel by rail throughout the novel, and cover distances in short periods of time. The rail networks across Britain were a revolution to the Victorians and allowed them to travel frequently and easily for business and leisure. The effects of this led to the development of commerce and allowed middle-class and poor people to go on holiday, often for the first time.
Themes
On the train to Carlisle, and during their first few days at Limmeridge, Laura tells Marian the story of what has happened to her. Unfortunately, like Mrs. Michelson, Laura does not remember the date that she traveled to London and met Count Fosco. He met her on the platform when she arrived, and she immediately asked about Marian. The Count told her that Marian was still at his house—she had decided to rest before journeying to Limmeridge—and the pair got in a carriage together.
The date on Laura’s death certificate really reflects the date of Anne’s death. If Laura could remember the date she traveled to London, and if she traveled after the date of Anne’s death, this would prove that Laura is not dead, as Mrs. Michelson would be able to confirm her story.
Themes
They arrived at a house somewhere in London and Count Fosco showed Laura into an upstairs room. He told her that Marian could not see her for the moment and returned with a foreign gentleman. He did not introduce Laura to this man and, soon, the Count returned with a second man who began to ask Laura questions.
This is very suspicious and confuses Laura, who is totally powerless in this situation.
Themes
After this had gone on for some time, Laura grew panicked and felt faint. Count Fosco summoned a servant with a jar of smelling salts, and this is the last point in her journey to the asylum which Laura remembers clearly. She is adamant that she slept at Mrs. Vesey’s house with Mrs. Rubelle and then woke up the next day in the asylum. The nurses there showed her the tags on her clothes, which had Anne Catherick’s name written on them, and told her that she could not be Lady Glyde because Lady Glyde was dead.
Count Fosco sedates Laura in order to control her. Laura had intended to escape to Mrs. Vesey’s house, and this has possibly given her a false memory. Laura then wakes up in an extremely confusing and stressful situation—in the asylum, being told she is someone else. She has been dressed in Anne’s clothes, which Count Fosco obviously had because Anne died in his house. The nurses believe that Anne is delusional and so do not believe her protests.
Themes
Marian is able to work out from Laura’s story that she was taken into the asylum on the 27th of July and that she was formally identified there as Anne Catherick. Marian notes that her sister is much changed by the experience, and 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.
Although they can work out the date that Laura arrived at the asylum, they cannot prove the date on which she traveled to London, as Laura does not remember how many days she was in London after she got off the train.
Themes
When Marian tries to present Laura to Mr. Fairlie the next morning, she is aghast to find that he coldly rejects Laura. He says that he has been warned by Count Fosco about an imposter who pretends to be Laura and that he is fully convinced that the real Laura is dead. He demands that Laura leave Limmeridge House.
Mr. Fairlie is a shallow person and obsessed with aesthetics and appearances. He is also very lazy, and therefore has no desire to look beneath the surface appearance of things. Instead, he blindly accepts Count Fosco’s word.
Themes
Laura is so like Anne Catherick already, and looks so tired and ill after her ordeal, that even the servants at Limmeridge do not recognize her. The pair decide that they must head back to London because the authorities will no doubt look for Laura at Limmeridge—believing her to be Anne Catherick. Before they go, Laura wishes to visit her mother’s grave. They make their way to the churchyard, where they unexpectedly meet Walter Hartright.
Laura has essentially been turned into Anne in the eyes of the people around her. As no one believes that she is Laura, she cannot prove who she is and is rejected as an imposter. This suggests that, while inner identity is recognizable to those who know one best, identity as it is perceived by the rest of the world is mutable and can change based on public opinion and belief.
Themes
