The Woman in White (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Woman in White is an epistolary novel
written by Wilkie Collins
in 1859, serial
ized in 1859–1860, and first published in book form in 1860. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels
and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of 'sensation novel
s'.
The story is considered an early example of detective fiction
with the hero, Walter Hartright, employing many of the sleuthing techniques of later private detectives. The use of multiple narratives draws on Collins's legal training
and as he points out in his Preamble: 'the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness'.
to London. On this he meets a mysterious woman dressed in white, apparently in deep distress. He helps her on her way to London but later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. The next day he travels north to Limmeridge House, on a commission of being drawing master to residents of the house, previously gained by his devoted friend, an Italian language professor named Pesca. The household comprises Mr Frederick Fairlie, and Walter's students: Laura Fairlie, Mr Fairlie's niece, and Marian Halcombe, her devoted half-sister. Hartright finds that Laura bears an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white, called Anne Catherick. The mentally disadvantaged Anne had lived for a time in Cumberland
as a child and was devoted to Laura's mother, who first dressed her in white.
Walter and Laura quickly fall in love. Laura, however, has promised her father that she will marry Sir Percival Glyde, and Marian advises Walter to leave Limmeridge. Anne, after sending a letter to Laura warning her against Glyde, meets Hartright who is convinced that Glyde was responsible for shutting her in the asylum. Laura and Glyde marry in December 1849 and travel to Italy
for 6 months. Hartright also leaves England, joining an expedition to Honduras
. After their honeymoon, Sir Percival and Lady Glyde return then to his family estate in Hampshire
, Blackwater
Park. They are accompanied by Glyde's friend, Count Fosco. Marian Halcombe is also living at Blackwater and learns that Glyde is in financial difficulties. Sir Percival unsuccessfully attempts to bully Laura into signing a document which would allow him to use her marriage settlement of £20,000. While Marian is hearing about their plan, it is also raining and then she collapses with a fever which turns to typhus.
While she is ill, Laura is tricked into travelling to London. Her identity and that of Anne Catherick are then switched. Anne Catherick dies of a heart condition and is buried in Cumberland as Laura, while Laura is drugged and placed in the asylum as Anne Catherick. When Marian recovers and visits the asylum hoping to learn something from Anne Catherick, she finds Laura, supposedly suffering from the delusion that she is Lady Glyde.
Marian bribes the nurse and Laura escapes. Hartright has safely returned and the three live together in obscure poverty, determined to restore Laura's identity. After some time Walter discovers Glyde's secret, which was known only to Anne's mother and which Anne only presumed to know: several years earlier, Glyde had forged an entry in the marriage register at Old Welmingham Church to conceal his illegitimacy and hence unlawful inheritance of estate and title. Glyde attempts to destroy the register entry, but the church vestry catches fire and he perishes in the flames. Hartright then discovers that Anne was the illegitimate child of Laura's father, which accounts for their resemblance. On returning to London to resume his battle with Fosco, Hartright marries Laura. When he secretly tails Fosco to investigate about him, Hartright also discovers that Fosco belongs to, and has betrayed, an Italian secret society (dubbed "The Brotherhood"), of which Pesca is a high-ranking member with enough authority to dispatch him. Using Fosco's weakness as bargaining chip, Hartright now has the power to force a written confession from Fosco and Laura's identity is restored. Fosco departs from England in haste, only to be discovered by the Brotherhood's agents some time later and murdered. Hartright and Laura have married and, on the death of Frederick Fairlie, their son becomes the Heir of Limmeridge.
Film and television
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Literature
Epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...
written by Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
in 1859, serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
ized in 1859–1860, and first published in book form in 1860. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of 'sensation novel
Sensation novel
The sensation novel was a literary genre of fiction popular in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s, following on from earlier melodramatic novels and the Newgate novels, which focused on tales woven around criminal biographies, also descend from the gothic and romantic genres of fiction...
s'.
The story is considered an early example of detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
with the hero, Walter Hartright, employing many of the sleuthing techniques of later private detectives. The use of multiple narratives draws on Collins's legal training
and as he points out in his Preamble: 'the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness'.
Plot
Walter Hartright, a young drawing master, is walking from HampsteadHampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
to London. On this he meets a mysterious woman dressed in white, apparently in deep distress. He helps her on her way to London but later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. The next day he travels north to Limmeridge House, on a commission of being drawing master to residents of the house, previously gained by his devoted friend, an Italian language professor named Pesca. The household comprises Mr Frederick Fairlie, and Walter's students: Laura Fairlie, Mr Fairlie's niece, and Marian Halcombe, her devoted half-sister. Hartright finds that Laura bears an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white, called Anne Catherick. The mentally disadvantaged Anne had lived for a time in Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
as a child and was devoted to Laura's mother, who first dressed her in white.
Walter and Laura quickly fall in love. Laura, however, has promised her father that she will marry Sir Percival Glyde, and Marian advises Walter to leave Limmeridge. Anne, after sending a letter to Laura warning her against Glyde, meets Hartright who is convinced that Glyde was responsible for shutting her in the asylum. Laura and Glyde marry in December 1849 and travel to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
for 6 months. Hartright also leaves England, joining an expedition to Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. After their honeymoon, Sir Percival and Lady Glyde return then to his family estate in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, Blackwater
Blackwater, Hampshire
Blackwater is a small town in the north-eastern corner of the English county of Hampshire, lying in the Hart District.-Location:It is situated on the borders of both Berkshire and Surrey about north of Farnborough, west of Camberley and east of Basingstoke on the A30 road. Blackwater is situated...
Park. They are accompanied by Glyde's friend, Count Fosco. Marian Halcombe is also living at Blackwater and learns that Glyde is in financial difficulties. Sir Percival unsuccessfully attempts to bully Laura into signing a document which would allow him to use her marriage settlement of £20,000. While Marian is hearing about their plan, it is also raining and then she collapses with a fever which turns to typhus.
While she is ill, Laura is tricked into travelling to London. Her identity and that of Anne Catherick are then switched. Anne Catherick dies of a heart condition and is buried in Cumberland as Laura, while Laura is drugged and placed in the asylum as Anne Catherick. When Marian recovers and visits the asylum hoping to learn something from Anne Catherick, she finds Laura, supposedly suffering from the delusion that she is Lady Glyde.
Marian bribes the nurse and Laura escapes. Hartright has safely returned and the three live together in obscure poverty, determined to restore Laura's identity. After some time Walter discovers Glyde's secret, which was known only to Anne's mother and which Anne only presumed to know: several years earlier, Glyde had forged an entry in the marriage register at Old Welmingham Church to conceal his illegitimacy and hence unlawful inheritance of estate and title. Glyde attempts to destroy the register entry, but the church vestry catches fire and he perishes in the flames. Hartright then discovers that Anne was the illegitimate child of Laura's father, which accounts for their resemblance. On returning to London to resume his battle with Fosco, Hartright marries Laura. When he secretly tails Fosco to investigate about him, Hartright also discovers that Fosco belongs to, and has betrayed, an Italian secret society (dubbed "The Brotherhood"), of which Pesca is a high-ranking member with enough authority to dispatch him. Using Fosco's weakness as bargaining chip, Hartright now has the power to force a written confession from Fosco and Laura's identity is restored. Fosco departs from England in haste, only to be discovered by the Brotherhood's agents some time later and murdered. Hartright and Laura have married and, on the death of Frederick Fairlie, their son becomes the Heir of Limmeridge.
Characters
- Walter Hartright - A poor young man who earns his living as a drawing master.
- Frederick Fairlie - A fanciful, selfish invalid, owner of Limmeridge House in Cumberland. Laura's uncle. His irresponsibility in handling matters concerning Laura's welfare as her guardian is one of the key factors that lead to the success of Count Fosco's plan.
- Laura Fairlie - Mr Fairlie's gentle, pretty niece, an heiress and an orphan.
- Marian Halcombe - Laura's half-sister and companion, not attractive but intelligent and resourceful. She is described as one "of the finest creations in all Victorian fiction" by John Sutherland.
- Anne Catherick ("The Woman in White"). A young woman said to be of disordered wits. It's heavily implied that she's an illegitimate daughter of Laura's father.
- Mrs Catherick - Anne's unsympathetic mother, who is in league with Sir Percival Glyde in committing her daughter to the asylum.
- Sir Percival Glyde - Laura's fiancé and then husband, he is an unpleasant baronet with a secret. He is able to appear charming and gracious when he wishes, but his true character appears soon after his marriage to Laura. Walter later discovers that his secret is that his inheritance of his title and estate was unlawful because his parents had never married, and to obtain it he forged a false marriage register entry.
- Count Fosco - Sir Percival's closest friend, his full name is revealed to be Isidor Ottavio Baldassare Fosco. A grossly obese Italian with a mysterious past, he is eccentric, bombastic, urbane, but also unfathomably intelligent and menacing. He takes especial interest in little animals, and keeps many birds and mice as pets. The Count greatly admires Marian for her intellect, so much that he is willing to compromise several weak points in his plan (such as allowing Marian to retrieve Laura from the asylum) for her sake.
- Countess Fosco - Laura's aunt, once a giddy girl but now humourless, cold and in thrall to her husband and his schemes.
- Professor Pesca - A teacher of Italian, and a good friend of Hartright. The professor finds Hartright the Limmeridge job, introducing him to Laura and Marian, and proves to be Fosco's unexpected nemesis.
Adaptations
Theatre- 2004 Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
stage musical The Woman in WhiteThe Woman in White (musical)The Woman in White is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones, based on the novel The Woman in White written by Wilkie Collins...
Film and television
- 1912 American silent film
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- 1912 American silent film
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- 1917 American silent film
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- 1929 British silent film adapted by Robert Cullen starring Haddon Mason as Walter Hartright and Louise Prussing as Marian Halcombe
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- The 1940 film Crimes at the Dark HouseCrimes at the Dark HouseCrimes at the Dark House is a British film directed by George King starring Tod Slaughter, Sylvia Marriott and Hilary Eaves. It is loosely based on the novel The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.-Plot summary:...
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) directed by George KingGeorge King (film director)George King was an English actors' agent, film director, producer and screenplay writer. He helmed several of Tod Slaughter's melodramas, including 1936's The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.-Career:...
is loosely based on The Woman in White with Tod SlaughterTod SlaughterTod Slaughter was an English actor, best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas.-Ealy life:...
playing the part of the false Sir Percival Glyde and Hay PetrieHay PetrieHay Petrie , born David Hay Petrie, was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop , the McLaggen in The Ghost Goes West and Uncle Pumblechook in Great Expectations .Hay Petrie went to St Andrew’s Academy, Dundee, and St...
as Count Fosco. - 1948 Hollywood filmThe Woman in White (1948 film)The Woman in White is a 1948 film adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel of the same name. It stars Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet, and Gig Young...
adapted by Stephen Morehouse AveryStephen Morehouse AveryStephen Morehouse Avery was an American author who wrote numerous Hollywood screenplays. His daughter is the actress Phyllis Avery....
starring Gig YoungGig YoungGig Young was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.-Early life and career:Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St...
as Walter Hartright, Alexis SmithAlexis SmithAlexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...
as Marian Halcombe, Eleanor ParkerEleanor ParkerEleanor Jean Parker is an American screen actress. Her versatility led to her being dubbed Woman of a Thousand Faces, the title of her biography by Doug McClelland.- Early life :...
as Laura Fairlie/Anne Catherick and Sydney GreenstreetSydney GreenstreetSydney Hughes Greenstreet was an English actor. He is best known for his Warner Bros. films with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, which include The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca .-Biography:...
as Count Fosco.
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- 1982 BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
miniseries adapted by Ray JenkinsRay JenkinsRay Howard Jenkins was an American lawyer, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region, throughout much of the 20th century...
starring Daniel GerrollDaniel GerrollDaniel Gerroll is a British theatre, television, and film actor.Born in London, Gerroll has appeared on television in both the United Kingdom and the United States, although his greater contribution has been to the stage in both countries...
as Walter Hartright and Diana QuickDiana Quick-Life:Quick was born in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of a dentist's four children. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent. She was greatly aided by her English teacher, Miss Davis, who encouraged her to pursue acting...
as Marian Halcombe
}
- 1982 Soviet film under the RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
title Zhenshchina v belom, directed by Vadim Derbenyov and starring Aleksandr AbdulovAleksandr AbdulovAleksandr Gavrilovich Abdúlov was a notable Soviet/Russian actor....
as Walter Hartright and LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n actress Gražina Baikštite as both Laura Fairlie and Anne Catherick
}
- 1997 BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV seriesThe Woman in White (1997 TV series)The Woman in White is a BBC television adaptation of the 1859 novel of the same name by Wilkie Collins. Unlike the epistolary style of the novel, the 2-hour dramatisation uses Marian as the main character. She bookends the film with her narration....
adapted by David PirieDavid PirieDavid Pirie is a screenwriter, film producer, film critic, and novelist.As a screenwriter, Pirie has written numerous mysteries and horror-themed works, mostly for television, including recently the hit ITV series Murderland starring Robbie Coltrane . He was nominated for a BAFTA for his...
starring Andrew LincolnAndrew LincolnAndrew Lincoln is an English actor, known for his roles in the TV series This Life, Teachers and Afterlife, and the films Love Actually and Heartbreaker...
as Walter Hartright and Tara FitzGeraldTara FitzgeraldTara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage....
as Marian Halcombe; also broadcast on PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
television in 1998
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Literature
- Douglas PrestonDouglas PrestonDouglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...
and Lincoln ChildLincoln ChildLincoln Child is an author of seventeen techno-thriller and horror novels. He often writes with Douglas Preston. Many of their novels have become bestsellers, and one, Relic, was adapted into a feature film...
published the novel BrimstoneBrimstone (book)Brimstone is a novel written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, published in 2004. It is the first novel in the trilogy that includes Dance of Death and The Book of the Dead .-Plot summary:FBI Special Agent Aloysius X.L...
(2004), featuring a modern re-imagining of the villain Count Fosco. - James Wilson, The Dark Clue (2001): a "sequel" to The Woman in White