The woman in white english literature essay

bThe woman in white was written by Willkie Collins in 1859, serialized in1859-1860, and first published in 1860. It is considered to be among the first mystery novel and is widely regarded as one of the first and finest in the genre of sensation novels. The woman in white first appears at night on a lonely heath near London and is next seen at a grave-side in Cumberland. 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. When you start to read the story, you will have wonder about the story. This story was attracted reader to read. What is story talk about? Who is she? Where has she come from? Before you know exactly about story, you read the summary of story first. The summary of the woman in white, one night Walter Hartright, a young drawing-master, met a woman dressed all in white. They talked and Walter was surprised that the woman knew the place and the family, which he was going to work with. The next day, Walter went to work as an art teacher at Limmeridge House in Cumberland. He taught two half-sisters, Laura Fairlie and Marian, whose parents were both dead. Walter observed that Laura resemble to the woman in white very much. Walter and Laura fell in love. However, Marian advised Walter to leave Limmeridge House because Laura had already promised to her dead father that she would marry Sir Percival Glyde. Walter went to meet Anne, the woman in white, after she sent a warning against Laura and Percival’s marriage. He found that Percival was the person who shut Anne in the Asylum. In December 1849, Laura and Percival got married and travelled to Italy. Also, Walter left England to join an expedition in Honduras. In June, after their honeymoon, Percival and Laura returned to his family in Blackwater Park. Percival’s friend, Count Fosco, who married to Laura’s aunt, ElenorFairlie, accompanied them. In Blackwater, Marian learnt that Percival was in financial difficulties. He married Laura for her money only. He also tried to make Laura sign a document about her money, but he failed. When searching Percival and Count Fosco, Marian became ill. Then, Laura was tricked into travelling to London. Her identity and Anne’s are changed due to their similar appearance. Anne died of heart problem in Count Fosco’s house as Laura, while Laura was put in the asylum as Anne. When Marian recovered, she went to asylum and found Laura there. She helped Laura to escape, and then they went to meet Walter at Limmeridge. While looking for evidence, Walter knew Percival’s secret that his parents ‘ marriage was a forgery; they didn’t get married. Percival tried to destroy the forged page, yet the church was in fire and he died at that time. Afterwards, Mrs. Catherick, whose Anne mother explained Walter that actually Laura and Anne were half-sister and that was why they looked alike. Walter and Laura got married. Walter took Laura to Limmeridge House and told her what had happened. Walter was a sensitive, honest, true love and caring man. Caring and loving aspects were revealed by his behavior toward Laura and his kindness toward Anne. His honorable nature was portrayed by his ready leave. He was also courageous and resourceful as was shown in the latter part when he confronted the Count and fight for Laura’s identity. Laura was a sweet, gentle and womanly. She had a very keen sense of honor as she vowed to keep her promise to her dead father about marrying to Sir Percival. She had a passion for beauty and capable of true love. Marian was an intelligent and strong woman. She had a lively sense of honor and very capable of dealing with difficult circumstances. Themes in the story are Love, Sacrifice and Secret. Love: the one thing that can make life happy and miserable at the same time. Walter and Laura loved each other very much but they could not get married because Laura engaged to someone else. Marian loved Laura from the bottom of her heart would do anything to make Laura happy even if Laura was Marian half-sister. Sacrifice: Laura sacrificed a happy life together with Walter for a promise she made to her dead father. Walter would sacrifice his life if it would restore Laura’s life back to normal. Secret: Sir Percival actually was an illegitimate whose parents did not get married. In order not to let anyone know about his reality, Percival tried all his best and would do anything to keep his secret. He could event kill someone who knew about his secret and eventually, his life was ended in the fire since he tried to destroy all the evident that could reveal his secret. In conclusion, even if the story of the woman in white was a fiction story which was written by Wilkie Collins, but we can assume that it provided the real experiences of people in our society as the failure of marriage of Percival and Laura. We can see this event happens in our society. Especially, those arranged couple who do not get along well to one another after getting married. So this story told us, when you decided to get married with who don’t love you, you will fail for your married.