In music, all I want is melody; in literature, all I want is plot. The Woman in White delivers plot by the carraige load. It's a terrific read with suspense on every page. I admire that Collins was respectful of a reader's incapacity to remember every detail, character and occurrence. He repeats things you need to know when you need to know them.

I agree with all that has been written about Laura's insipidity. Walter should have been pursuing a woman like Marion. Poor Marion. She gets described as "ugly." and ends up with no one (except Laura) for all her troubles. Collins should have found a kinder word to describe her face. The uncle, Mr. Fairlie, is annoying but richly drawn. One character says of him: Getting married and fathering a child is the last thing that is likely to happen to him. So, he's gay, but in 19th century England, Collns couldn't say that.

Too bad the plot is just too complicated to fit into a standard movie without truncation and simplification.. The BBC film version I watched after reading the novel used some of the main events but rewrote the whole story. All the fun was lost.

The Woman in White is another great reading experience that was not covered in high school literature in the 1960s. I guess it was not considered high brow enough. ( )

The Woman in White first appeared in Dickens' serial “All the Year Round” in 1859 and was published as a book the following year. It is good example of the sensational genre popular in the 1860's. Suspense is created by repeated reference to ominous things yet to occur, and an atmosphere of mystery and doom is created. Fate and chance play important roles in The Woman in White such as Walter Hartright's repeated encounters with Anne Catherick. The outcome of the book is perfectly happy. All wrongs are righted. The humble drawing master Walter Hartright never does anything bad. The vestry fire kills the evil “Sir” Percival and the Italian society finally catches up with Fosco. In the end, the hero and heroines live happily ever after at Limmeridge House.

The idea that appearance does not necessarily correspond with reality is central to The Woman in White. Laura Fairlie does not appreciate this distinction and her innocent naivete brings about her downfall when she accepts Percival. A similar theme is the lack of correspondence between word and meaning. For example, the name Anne Catherick on Laura's clothes in the asylum is presented by the nurse as evidence of her identity, the name engraved on the tombstone is wrong, and the brand on Fosco's arm belies his treachery to the secret Italian society. An extension of the idea of reality versus appearance is the role of propriety or social convention in human behavior.

Propriety represents conformity with social convention and a system of rules to govern social behavior. Propriety is good for society in that it promotes acceptable standards for human behavior but it can be deceptive and even harmful in that an individual person's behavior in a social setting may not correspond with the reality below the surface. It is this regard for appearances as opposed to reality that gets Marian and Laura into trouble when lower class Hartright falls in love with upper class Laura. Count Fosco has the appearance of propriety but is undeniably the most evil character in the book. Throughout The Woman in White, propriety and appearance are contrasted with reality. Although Percival is a deplorable character, his evil is quite visible on the surface and is merely physical. The evil of Count Fosco is much more dangerous because of his intelligence and deceptive behavior.

Several other themes are expressed in The Woman in White, for example, the impotence of the legal system. Law has little to do with the abstract sense of justice but rather is a formality (as is propriety) that serves the ruling groups of society. For example, Mr. Kyrle doubts that Hartright would have a case if he tried to prove Laura's identity in a court of law. Another theme is Collins' attitude about the inadequacy of the Victorian laws of marriage and inheritance. It is this inadequacy that leads to Laura's tragedy. Yet another theme is that knowledge and intellect are more powerful that brute strength. Consider for example, Marian's eavesdropping on the conversation between Fosco and Percival, the effect of Fosco's reading Marian's diary, and the meticulous research that Hartright conducts in his documentation of Fosco's deception. This contrast between the effectiveness of intellect versus force is embodied in the characters of Fosco as compared to Percival.

In what light are women presented in The Woman in White? In 1944, Dorothy Sayers said: "Collins is genuinely feminist in his treatment of women." Laura embodies the common representation of women in Victorian literature and what befalls her can be interpreted as Collins' dissatisfaction with this view of women. On the other hand, Marian is more of a modern woman. Her strength and resources rise above what is considered feminine by Victorian social convention. There is an ironic pattern of gender ambiguity in The Woman in White. Fosco is somewhat feminine and childlike (e.g. his taste for sweets and small pets) but he is the epitome of evil. Marian is masculine (see for example Hartright's original description of her). Even Sir Percival has a feminine nose. Thus, the categories of masculine and feminine are insufficient to cover the entire spectrum of human sexuality and gender. In this sense, Collins can be considered a feminist. ( )

The Woman in White is a Victorian mystery that is considered to be one of the best mysteries ever written. Written in 1859, it takes the form of an early detective novel with an amateur sleuth. The plot (man marries woman and schemes to get her money), albeit predictable by today's standards, is plausible, entertaining and, at times, slightly suspenseful. I attribute this slightness to the Victorian language itself. I'm not a fan of that style of speaking and found myself frustrated at times and thinking just get on with it all ready, stop dragging things out. The story is told from the viewpoints of several characters – much like a legal deposition where each character relates what he/she knows about certain events.

The characters were interesting and memorable; however, I was disappointed in the characterization/treatment of women – weak and inferior. Was this an accurate portrayal for the times? I don't know. I have read other Victorian novels and didn't come away with the same feeling. Because of his portrayal of women, Mr. Collins didn't do justice to Marion Halcombe, one of the more memorable characters in the novel. A greater role would have been appreciated more by today's society but, in 1859, who knows. Creating a lead woman character who 'out thinks' a man may have been taboo. The other memorable character was Count Fosco, the mastermind behind everything evil in the world. I am being a bit facetious; however, the character was so full of himself that I couldn't help but inflate his imaginary ego a little more. His character was fully developed – I didn't like him and found him frustrating – once again this could be attributed to the Victorian language.

Overall, I did like the novel; however, the above issues prevent me from giving it more than three stars. I recommend to those who enjoy Victorian literature and those who would like to read one of the first mystery novels. This is a long book and not a quick read – you will be in it for the long haul – which you will enjoy. ( )

Thee is quite a lot to say about this book: the story itself, a case of stolen identity, Sir Percival who was not, the eponymous woman in white, interchangeable with Laura Fairlie, the technique of multiple narrators, pulled off to greater or lesser degree depending on the strength of the narration itself, the amazing characters, from Hartright to Marian Halcombe to the Count Fosco, all this and more packed tightly in this six hundred plus page novel.

I really enjoyed it. The story immediately sucked me in and held me rapt through the first two epochs. Not until the third epoch did it lose its suspenseful edge. At this point the story ceases to move forward and starts to be seen in retrospect. In my estimation this took a lot of the steam out of the pace, but was, in its own way, necessary and ultimately fulfilling.

I heartily recommend this read to anyone looking for a nice, suspenseful, Victorian mystery carried through with taste, wit, imagination, and style. ( )

On a warm summer night, Walter Hartright walks towards his home in London when he is stopped by a mysterious lady in white. Without realizing just what the implications mean, he is touched by her plea for help, and so assists her, and is drawn into a ring of deceit, mystery, and danger...

My Thoughts:
(Some spoilers)

The narration of the story is something different that I've not encountered before- the tale has several different narrators throughout- each moving the story along through their eyes. While it is an interesting way of doing things, especially since one gets a clear picture of how the events are seen through the eyes of the main characters, I'm not entirely sure that I like it all that much, or would want to read many books like that. It's interesting, but to make the reader jump from narrator to narrator and force them to re-accustom themselves with a new narrator perhaps is a risky thing to do.

I found each character well written- especially, as much as I don't like him, the Count. He was a multi-layered person and at times I actually wondered if he truly was good, but I reminded myself that he probably was not. If Sir Percival was the obvious (after he married Laura) villain, the Count was the one that had a evil air about him but one could not quite be sure. His admiration of Marian helps to give the readers a sense that he could act convincingly good, but leaves lingering questions in the minds of the readers as to the other side of him. At the end, of course, I felt no pity for him, I was (as morbid as it may sound) glad that some sort of justice was measured out upon him.

As to the good characters, I loved the relationship between Marian and Laura, despite them being half sisters. I enjoyed Walter's various detective methods and ways of investigation, he was certainly very clever. Some people seem to have a problem with Laura being only a two dimensional character, and while perhaps she isn't as strong as Marian, but I in all honestly don't mind. I found her a lovely character- just one trapped in her circumstances.

Now, there are some things that I did not like so much about it. (Some spoilers, sorry!) Several parts of the plot hinge on affairs between people who were not married, even some suggested scandal between married people and those who were not. While all these events happened in the past, they figured into the current events in the story quite a bit. They are never described in detail, but they are mentioned more then once. I was extremely disappointed by this. To me it was the reason I don't like the book as much as perhaps I could have liked it. There is also mention of emotional and mental abuse (some of it in past events, some of it in current) which I didn't enjoy- even if it had to be part of the story.

I could probably more easily recommend this book then Daniel Deronda, but parts of me are still unsure. Obviously, I cannot quite finalize my thoughts in the time since I've actually finished the book, so perhaps once I think on it some more, I'll be more decisive and final about that.

To sum it up: It was a very enthralling story that draws the readers in and for the most part, doesn't disappoint, but there are some twists and turns that I wish had of been written differently. Aside from that, it's a very well written mystery novel. ( )