Themes- The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)

Themes :

1) Gender equality / power:

In 19th century in England, when a woman get married she lost her legal status, the couple was considered as one and the same person, so the husband became responsible for his wife, often in the place of the father or in our story in the place of Mr. Fairlie. Moreover, the property that the wife obtained during the marriage became the property of the husband. Because of this inequality, men profit from the power they had over women. In our story, Sir Percival tries to get his wife's money back by forcing her to sign a paper certifying that she is giving the money to her husband. Even if Laura didn’t sign the paper the first time, we can expect (=supposer) that she will sign it because her husband has power over her.

2) Right (VS wrong) :

There are many lies, secrets in this story and Anne Catherick wanted to restore the truth, she also tried to prevent Laura by sending her a letter unfortunately she was still married to Sir Percival but she continues to try to protect her from this man and at the end of the chapter she wants to stop the lies and reveal the whole truth to Laura about her husband.

3) The general atmosphere:

Indeed (en effet) the atmosphere of this chapter is very special. First the place (Blackwater Park) is very particular; he is very different from the atmosphere of Limmeridge house. Walter said on page five: ‘’I had a wonderful view of the garden stretching down to the bright blue sea in the distance. ‘’ We can understand that Limmeridge House seems to be a very lovely place. In addition the characters seem to spend good time in this place. They draw and walk in the garden, play piano in the sitting room. In contrast, the atmosphere of Blackwater park is heavy (=pesante), Marina said on page thirty-four : ‘’The main part of the house was very old and full of dark gloomy (=lugubres) corridors with ugly family pictures of Sir Percival’s ancestors. (…) p.34 It was so different from the wide open spaces of Limmeridge House.’’ The atmosphere seems to be darker and less happy. In part because Marian and Laura are with Sir Percival and count Fosco in the house and because Walter is gone.

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