The Woman in White, written in 1859 by a man named Wilkie Collins, is regarded as one of the most exciting and outstanding thrillers. The themes in the text are appropriately contextualized by the author, who easily adjusts them to reflect the Victoria period of the middle of the nineteenth century (O'Neill 101). The book describes how women were viewed in the culture of the time. The female gender is portrayed and viewed as being inferior to that of men. As a result, women are supposed to take care of their husbands, kids, and household duties. Higher education wasn't just for women to have access to. The middle-class experience is more embraced and liked than the senior level, as the latter w is characterized with riches, extravagance, and laziness, unlike the former which is morally upright and rational. Therefore, other than the themes of injustices against women, and the decadence of civilization, the author explores the subjects of celebrations of the middle-class values, and the appearance of the New Woman to challenge the patriarchal orders.
The Injustices against Women in the Victorian Era
The Woman in White is a novel through which the author takes the reader on a journey along the trajectory of social relations, and reveals the many injustices women face from their male counterparts. Persecutions, abuse, and exploitation are pertinent to the mistreatment meted against the female gender. The patriarchal society is a deliberate source of great torture for Anne Catherick and Laura Fairlie (Austine 534). The two characters face extreme physical abuse, and they at some point present with psychological distress as well as emotional instability. Nevertheless, most people who interact with the two, and seem friendly, never bother about the situation of the women. A good example is seen when the mother to Anne seems not to be concerned about the suffering of her daughter, even when she is taken into custody in the asylum (Austine 915). On the other hand, Laura loses her property, and her marriage is undergoing challenges. Nevertheless, the Uncle, who is in a better position to help, does not do anything to make the situation better. It thus comes out clearly that women do not have the independence and the right to lead their lives as they desire.
In their guest to pursuing higher education, both Laura and Mariana are denied the opportunity because such academic positions are the preserve of the male. Instead, the two women are only allowed to pursue painting and music, as such courses are regarded as the disciplines for the female gender. Women are never allowed to seek either formal employment or solicit for their income independently “The lady not being at hand to speak for herself, her guardian had decided, in her absence, on the earliest day mentioned—the twenty-second of December” (Taylor 33). Nevertheless, women are strictly under the guard of either their uncles or their husbands. Their primary duty is to look after their spouses and children, together with running the domestic chores. The dress code of the feminine is designed and mandated by the males, which has been tailored in a manner naturally capacitated to impair the women`s swift and comfortable movements. Furthermore, women have no choice in deciding the nature of the husbands they should get married to, rather, their male relatives, the uncles, fathers, and brother play a role when it comes to marriage “It is an engagement of honor, not of love—her father sanctioned it on his death-bed, two years since—he herself neither welcomed it, nor shrank from it—she was content to make it.” (Hughes 302). It is, however, unimaginable that the decisions made by men on behalf of their sisters and daughters often backfire like, for the case of Laura, she meets misfortunes in her marriage because the husband was imposed on her without her consent. Laura loses the freedom to speech, justice, movement, and she is physically abused, poisoned and imprisoned following the forced marriage. Through the person of Marian, a formidable character, the author helps as see the need for women to come out deliberately and claim their justice (Sutherland 89). Marian acts as an eye opener to the females, as she paints a picture that men are careless, unconcerned, and biased against women. Therefore, the theme of denouncing the patriarchal order comes out through this character.
The Decadence of Civilization
The segments of aesthetics, scientific discoveries, and industrialization characterized the mid-nineteenth century of the Victorian era. The refinements of the communities, improved lifestyles, pleasure, and happiness were the primary desires of the people then. The scenario is well manifested in the person of one Frederick Fairlie. Fairlie is a rich person; who has amassed wealth for years. He has nothing to do as he has seemingly achieved his desires in life. He idles around and eventually ends up an otherwise useless individual, whose primary interest is to solicit for pleasure, extravagance, and refinements. He is a representative of a majority of the people in the high class. Therefore, such behavior after people gain riches is a mock to civilization and hard work. Both industrialization and civilization are portrayed as the sources of idleness, indolence, and decadence. It is evident that the result of opportunities in life and achievement is the reinvigoration of unethical and morally compromising behavior. Social production, development, and the need to better the lives of the less privileged is the call for the developed human race, nevertheless, in the novel, the author portrays the rich as people who are self-destructive, mean, and of artistic pursuit without value.
The Celebration of Middle-Class Standards
The Victorian period was characterized by middle-class values and hence their celebrations. The culture of the people who lived during the time is the belief that a healthy society is one that cherishes happiness and values the common standards. Honesty, prudery, industry, competence and hard work are elements appreciated and recognized to be pertinent to the middle-class values. Indeed, the author creates three despicable individuals (Mr. Frederick Fairlie, Count Fosco, and Sir Percival) at the apex of the upper social class in his work to portray the middle class as persuasive and likable. The three individuals are characterized by laziness, dishonesty, unproductiveness, and vice. Furthermore, the unwelcome character of Sir Percival is that he seizes the wealth of his parents without concern, and he fakes their marriage certificates to impersonate them. On the other hand, the betrayal of his company and the engagement of his deceptive behavior to achieve success unfairly mirror the behavior of one Count Fosco as a wicked person in the society (Sutherland 12). Mr. Fairlie is unproductive and lazy, as he uses his wealth to seek pleasure, and do artwork and nothing more. As opposed to the high class, the middle class is seen to be resolute, virtuous, hardworking, disciplined, brave and capable. Even though Marian Halcombe and Walter Hartright own no estate of grand fortunes, they are morally upright and ethical middle-class personalities. The two characters display courage and love, as they risk and save Laura Fairlie. The author challenges the reader to realize that ethically and morally upright people receive the appreciation of their efforts naturally when Walter married a rich and virtuous heiress, Laura “Forty-five; and she not even twenty-one! Men of his age married wives of her age every day, and practice had shown those marriages to be often the happiest ones” (Hyder 198). At the end of the novel, the three high-class characters have already died, which is a manifestation that the high class, the rich, the civilized who let civilization consume them, and the morally degraded always get punished in time.
The Appearance of the “New Woman”
The novel is done at the time when women have no independence in their societies. They are perceived as instruments of child bearing and upbringing while looking after their husbands and performing domestic chores. Women are not allowed to access education, or if otherwise, then not the lucrative courses like law, medicine, engineering among others, as such are the preserve of men. Nevertheless, the emergence of The New Women is a feminine character that towers in opposition to the patriarchal society orders. The new woman is capable of challenging her female counterparts to take up new roles, and demand for their independence. The person of Marian Halcombe is a character that the author nurtures along the storyline, portraying with behavior that is against the male favoring society and one that never recognizes the position of women in their communities (Rance 97). The new features in the personality of Marian are masculine in nature, and she becomes a turning point, and a center of change for the female oppression, as she courageously claims for the rights and the interests of the woman person. She believes that women can do just as well as men and that the independence of the female gender was urgently needed without failing. Marian has a firm belief in the fact that courageous women who know their rights cannot be awed by irrational men.
References
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