Isabel Morgan Candidate Number: 3066
In the Thriller genre, women are presented as victims through social expectations of the era.
In the light of this view, compare the presentation of key characters in ‘The Woman in White’ and
‘Gone Girl’.
‘This is the story of what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what a Man’s resolution can achieve’.
In Wilkie Collins’ ‘The Woman in White’, women are mostly presented as victims to society, similarly,
in ‘Gone Girl’ Gillian Flynn takes advantage of this stereotype to create an increasingly dramatic
mystery. In Victorian 19th Century England, ‘society was undergoing many economic, social, moral
and religious changes’, brought on by the Industrial Revolution (Fernandez). Whilst Laura in ‘The
Woman in White’ is typically objectified and abused by her husband in this 1860s Victorian narrative,
we face the difficulties of social changes which brought the issue of ‘The Woman Question’
discussing the roles of women in society, but through the perspective of a modern reader we find
that Wilkie Collins presents Laura as a stereotypically victimised Victorian woman through her
‘essentially feminine’ composure, whilst contrasting Laura against the modern feminist ‘masculinity’
of her half-sister Marian Halcombe. In comparison, Amy in ‘Gone Girl’ conveys the stereotypes of
society, ‘women are crazy’, through the exploitation of the mysterious crime in the novel which
frames her cheating husband, Nick Dunne, creating a conflicting opinion within the narrative about
whether Amy Dunne is the victim. Throughout this essay, I am going to discuss the complexities of
the female characters and how the use of the thriller genre and the stereotypes of society portray
women as victims.
In order to examine the role of women, we must first consider genre. The popular genre of thriller is
broadly experimented with by writers as it has a variety of sub-genres that can be successful towards
the target audience. Thriller has a variety of sub genres such as psychological, action, crime, political,
mystery, spy, legal and even science fiction. The Woman in White presents the Victorian audience
with a sensation fiction thriller which is considered ‘an offspring of modern mystery, detective and
suspense fiction’ (Brantlinger). A sensation novel usually deals with a crime that has been committed
within the novel. As well as the Woman in White, other authors such as Sheridan Le Fanu, Mary
Elizabeth Braddon, Charles Reade and Mrs. Henry Wood, show the use of a ‘special’ narrative
structure, which can be ‘summed up historically as their unique mixture of contemporary domestic
realism with elements of the Gothic romance’. (Brantlinger)
Wilkie Collins uses this sensation fiction to exaggerate the structural choices within the novel. The
epistolary structure shows a preference for one narrator, that being Walter Hartright, by using this
structure Collins allows the reader to have a first-person experience with every character as well as
avoiding the possibilities of a biased narrator. This structure allows the reader to experience the
truth in the novel, creating reliability as it narrates a crime. Collins projects a sense of realism
through this structure as it mimics the workings of real life and allows the narration of intimate
thoughts and feelings. This structural choice allows Collins to demonstrate the complexities of the
female character within the novel and show their true nature despite the overpowering pressure of
society.
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, Isabel Morgan Candidate Number: 3066
‘The Woman in White’ being based during the Industrial Revolution is of great significance within the
narrative as it brought many changes to society, that had a great impact on Victorian women and
how they were treated. ‘The Industrial Revolution was a process of revolution from traditional
methods of manufacturing to more sophisticated ones’ (Fernandez). The industrial revolution
produced the beginning of many questions within society, especially regarding the non-existent
rights of women. This resurrection of society created a variety of questions, such as ‘The Woman
Question’ which challenged what the role of women was as well as their rights. In the narrative
Collins gives the impression that ‘The Woman Question’ is prominent during this era through the
creation of the character Marian Halcombe, Laura Fairlie’s half sister and her juxtaposing ‘masculine’
characteristics.
As well as discussing the thriller genre in order to highlight the victimisation of women, we must
consider society as an affecting factor. ‘The representation of the Victorian woman as the idealised’
(interdisciplinary humanities journal), by the concept of ‘angel in the house’. ‘The Angel in the
House’ is the concept of an idealised woman within literature. The Angel in the House is a concept
used in 1854, suggesting that a woman should be ‘tenderness of understanding, unworldliness and
innocence, domestic affection, and, in various degrees, submissiveness’(TNA1), showing femininity
and purity. The phrase ‘Angel in the House’ comes from the popular poem of Coventry Patmore
(1854-62), in which he places his ‘Angel’ wife on a pedestal as an example for all women. ‘Man must
be pleased; but him to please, is woman’s pleasure; down the gulf, of his condoled necessities, she
casts her best, she flings herself. How often flings for nought! and yokes, Her heart to an icicle or
whim…’ (Coventry Patmore).
In reference to Wilkie Collins’ characterisation in ‘The Woman in White’, Laura Fairlie becomes the
definition of the ideal ‘Angel in the House’, which shows how captivating Laura is to the Victorian
man, such as Walter Hartright who describes Laura’s ‘charm’ and it being the ‘most gently and yet
most distinctly expressed’. The poem by Patmore shapes the views of society within a literary
context and Collins presents this ‘ideal wife’ to an audience. By creating the juxtaposing character of
Marian Halcombe, Collins appears to be mocking the ideal through Walter Hartright finding Marian
unattractive due to her ‘masculine’ attributes. Marian’s appearance alone defies the conventional
Victorian female image, as she is described as having a ‘moustache’, as well as an attitude of
‘suppressed vehemence’ which contains a ‘strength’. Marian is presented within the novel as a rebel
for society, this sense of ‘masculinity’ that Marian holds, presents to the reader how Collins despises
the restrictive conventions that society pressurises onto women.
Collins clearly considered the characterisation of Marian Halcombe within the narrative, as whilst
her character is a complete contrast to the Victorian preference of Laura Fairlie, Marian Halcombe
possesses many masculine characteristics that Collins uses in order to mock society. Collins creates
the character of Marian Halcombe in response to the concept of the ‘New Woman’, which was ‘a
much-debated phenomenon’ (TNA1). The typical characterisation of the ‘New Woman’ was
described as a ‘bicycle riding, cigarette smoking, mannish creature’ that was ‘confident and
assertive’ (TNA1). This typical characterisation seems to support Collins’ character Marian Halcombe
as she is described to have a ‘large, firm, masculine mouth’ and a sense of ‘ugliness’ to her, despite
her ‘feminine body’.
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