Is Wilkie Collins a descriptive writer? You bet your sweet bippy! Here is part of his description of Laura Fairlie’s uncle: ”Mr. Fairlie’s age, when I saw him, might have been reasonably computed at over fifty and under sixty years. His beardless face was thin, worn, and transparently pale, but not wrinkled; his nose was high and hooked; his eyes were of a dim grayish blue, large, prominent, and rather red round the rims of the eyelids; his hair was scanty, soft to look at, and of that light sandy colour which is the last to disclose its own changes towards gray. He was dressed…” Wow! And what does Laura’s hair look like? Okay, here is part of Wilkie's description, “Her hair is of so faint and pale a brown - not flaxen, and yet almost as light; not golden, and yet almost as glossy-that it nearly melts, here and there, into the shadow of the hat. It is plainly parted and drawn back over the ears, and the line of it ripples naturally as it crosses her forehead.” Why can’t modern day authors write like this? I’m only bringing this up so you know why I couldn’t rush through this classic...each sentence had to be appreciated for what it was. The reader can clearly visualize what each character looked like. By the way, the 1948 movie was undoubtedly aided by Wilkie’s descriptions because each actor looked exactly like they were conveyed in the novel.
The novel itself is narrated by many of the characters in an alternating manner, although only one is narrated by a villain. This is done in a way wherein the reader envisions the cast of characters in the same room passing along the baton until the story ends. Some narrations are epistolary, others are in the first person. How did Wilke come up with the idea for this complicated novel? As a lifelong sufferer of gout, he was known to be addicted to opium (in the form of laudanum). As a side effect, can this drug tweak the writer’s artistry? Many of the English writers were (for whatever reason) on this drug. And did Charles Dickens get the idea of a recurring character from Wilkie Collins? I’m talking about Collin’s character, Pesca versus Dickens’s Orlick in Great Expectations, published in 1861. All of this is guesswork on my part but isn’t supposition the fun part of reviewing a novel? I ask a lot of questions, don’t I? Well, that being said...do you want to know what this novel is about?
Walter Hartright (the first narrator) is an art teacher who has been hired by Frederick Fairlie of Limmeridge House to be a live-in art teacher at the mansion for Frederick’s niece, Laura Fairlie and her half sister, Marian Halcombe. Before he starts his employ, he meets a mysterious woman in white on the road at midnight. She is in a hurry and seems stressed out. She wants to know if Walter knows a certain Baronet, he says that he doesn’t and she seems relieved. He helps her find her way to London. After she leaves, two men in a convertible carriage stop a policeman and ask him if he has seen a lady in white. Apparently, she has just escaped from a asylum. Who is this lady in white? The next day Walter starts his job at the mansion. He meets a somewhat unlovely but very intelligent Marian Halcombe who dotes on her beautiful but docile half sister, Laura Fairlie. The uncle, Frederick Fairlie, lives alone upstairs ogling his art possessions. He seems to be a hypercondriac because his illnesses are never revealed or diagnosed in the novel. He can’t stand loud noises, light bothers his eyes, and visitors to his room (if granted) must speak in low tones because of “the state of his nerves.” Walter tells Marian about the lady in white (we find out later that she is Anne Catherick). It is revealed that Anne (who is a dead ringer for Laura) was loyal to Laura’s mother (since passed on), a well known teacher. As the months pass, Walter and Laura fall in love.
Marion ask Walter to quit his employ because Laura is engaged to be married to Sir Percival Glyde, a Baronet. The marriage was arranged by Laura’s father before his death and Laura agrees to it because she couldn’t break her promise to her father. An unsigned letter arrives for Laura stating that Sir Percival is evil. Before Walter leaves, Marian and he learn that the letter came from the lady in white. Heartbroken, Walter leaves Laura and soon leaves the country, joining a journey to Honduras. Sir Percival comes to Limmeridge House as a house guest in order to make arrangements for a future date of marriage with Laura. From here on in, the novel gets very mysterious with numerous twist and turns. The reader will meet the lady in white’s mother (what does she know about the evil Baron? Is she in cahoots?) and the Baron’s good friend...the obese Count Fosco (the original confidence man?) and his cigarette rolling wife, the Countess Fosco, who is Laura’s aunt. What does this loathsome couple have to gain with the impending marriage of Sir Percival and Laura Fairlie? Will Walter come back from Honduras in time to unravel the mystery? Is Sir Percival’s motive for marriage monetary? Why does Italian language teacher Pesca reappear in the novel 600 pages later? Yes readers, there are many surprises ahead...some hurtful, some joyful. I can only say that I can’t remember when I enjoyed a novel more than The Woman in White.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: I mentioned the 1948 movie in the second paragraph. Well I can’t find the movie anywhere, but I did some research on it. As I said, Wilkie’s descriptions of the characters were so good that it was easy for the movie people to cast the parts. Here are the characters and the actors in the missing movie:
Walter Hartright is played by Gig Young (excellent choice).
Laura Fairlie and Anne Catherick are played by Eleanor Parker (in a dual role).
Sir Percival Glyde is played by John Emery.
Marian Halcombe is played by Alexis Smith (too good looking for the part?).
Count Fosco is played by the obese Sydney Greenstreet (a no- brainer!).
Countess Fosco is played by Agnes Moorehead (another no- brainer!).
Frederick Fairlie is played by John Abbott.
The movie poster:
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