American Literature: Romanticism Student Midterm Submissions 2016 (midterm assignment) 2b. Short Essay 2b. Choose a previously-read literary text . . .

Umaymah Shahid

The Woman in White: Nature, Horror, and a Quest

          In the texts read thus far authors portray Romanticism through different forms not only in the genre of writing such as poetry, essay, and narrative, but they each explore a different aspect of Romanticism. Poe explores the gothic, Emerson and Thoreau the transcendental, Cooper and Rowlandson the captivity narrative and so on. A novel that explores almost all of these aspects of Romanticism is Wilkie Collin’s The Woman in White. Combining transcendentalism, gothic, and characterization, the novel is a super pack of Romanticism.

          There are numerous transcendental scenes in The Woman in White especially in scenes of solitude as well as when surrounded by nature. Walter Hartright takes many solitary walks throughout the novel. One particular scene that strikes as transcendental is when Walter Hartright leaves his home to travel towards his new employment, Limmeridge House. On his walk he notices that the “moon was full and broad in the dark blue starless sky; and the broken ground of the heath looked wild enough in the mysterious light, to be hundreds of miles away from the greatest city that lay beneath it” (Collins 22). As he walked he “enjoy[ed] the divine stillness of the scene, and admir[ed] the soft alterations of light and shade as they followed each other over the broken ground on every side of [him]” (Collins 23).  Thus, a few pages into the novel the reader finds him/herself walking a solitary path at midnight with Walter, fulfilling objective 1a as a figure who finds himself within nature, separated from the masses. The reader can almost feel the divine stillness and see the full moon in the dark sky. Walter paints the picture of the sublime where one has both awe of the darkness while afraid of what it contains. Within Limmeridge house right outside of his room window, Walter discovers “the sea opened...under a broad August sunlight, and the distant coast of Scotland fringed the horizon with its lines of melting blue” (Collins 33). There is correspondence between Walter and the nature that surrounds him as “he burst[s] into a new life and a new set of thoughts the moment” he looks at his surroundings (Collins 33). From these passages the reader can infer that Walter enjoys nature and solitude and it is in this peaceful atmosphere that he escapes society and draws.

          Aside from the transcendental aspect of nature, the fact that Walter is an artist helps to create the Romantic genre within the text. Walter’s description of his water-color drawing of Laura Fairlie is a perfect example of the blending of colors and images in Romantic artwork which we saw in the Hudson River School of American Romantic Painters page on the course website. Laura’s hair in the drawing is described as “so faint and pale a brown...that it nearly melts, here and there, into the shadow of the hat” and her eyes are “of that soft, limpid, turquoise blue” (51). The image is one of blended colors and features. Where in Realism the paintings are sharp and defined, Walter’s drawing of Laura is anything but sharp and defined. Soft tones are used to color her and light lines are used to create the outline of her face and hat. She is the ideal Romantic painting.

          Gothic elements also color the narrative of The Woman in White and can be seen in the character of Anne Catherick and the contrasting Limmeridge house and Blackwater Park. The reader is introduced to Anne Catherick in the middle of the night on a deserted road when she finds Walter walking on his own towards Limmeridge house. He finds “the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments; her face bent in grave inquiry on [his], and her pointing to the dark cloud over London” (24). The stark contrast between the white outfit she wears and the darkness which surrounds her is not only gothic but Romantic in the color contrast of light and dark. Anne is always shown in gothic scenes and mysterious ways. Throughout the novel Anne often appears mysteriously and seems to be mentally troubled by some traumatic event which leaves her unable to trust anyone.  Similarly, the reader sees this gothic and thematic light and dark in Sir Percival Glyde’s house which is accounted by Marian Halcombe, half-sister of Laura Fairlie who becomes the wife of Sir Percival Glyde. The name of the mansion and surrounding land is Blackwater Park which lends itself nicely to the gothic and Marian describes Blackwater Park in complete opposition to Limmeridge house. Limmeridge house is secluded yet surrounded by the sea, fields, and parks. Sunlight pours through its many windows and strangers are greeted with compassionate servants and hostess. Blackwater Park, however, is “situated on a dead flat, and seems to be shut in- almost suffocated” by trees (197). Through her first day or so at Blackwater Park Marian does not see any of the servants save the man-servant who opened the door for her and the housekeeper. When the clock strikes eleven o’clock at night she describes it in her account as in “a ghostly and solemn manner” followed with a large dog waking up by the sound of the bell “howling and yawning drearily, somewhere around the corner” (197). All of these details Marian provides of the house serve to show the darkness and mystery around the home, unlike Limmeridge house. The dog howling, the eerie home with no servants to be seen, and the presence of dark corners are all signs of the Gothic, and these characteristics are also reflected in the characters that live in Blackwater Park such as Count Fosco and Sir Percival.

          One of the most interesting aspects of this novel which ties it to Romanticism is the characterization of Walter, Marian, and Laura. After Walter leaves Limmeridge house, he becomes an empty soul wandering hoping one day to reunite with his love Laura. After Laura’s apparent death and his discovery of the true story, Walter spends approximately half the novel in pursuit of the truth of what happened to Laura and to clear up her name. In so doing, Walter discovers many long held secrets and hidden identities, but in the end, he clears up Laura’s name and they live a happy life together. In addition to the quest, Laura and Marian fulfill the fair and dark lady of the novel (objective 1a). Previously I cited Laura described as light with almost golden hair and turquoise eyes. Throughout the novel she is delicate and emotional. Marian, on the other hand, is described as dark, ugly, and masculine yet she is also intelligent and poised. This contrast between the two sisters depicts the undoubtable Romantic aspect of the novel.

          When reading Wilkie Collin’s The Woman in White I was not aware of the Romantic elements within the novel, yet after looking at the novel as part of the Romanticism: My Reading class presentation, I realized how well it incorporated the Romantic elements of characterization, nature, color and style, and the gothic. Not overwhelmingly saturated with nature references or the gothic, Wilkie Collins craftily incorporates various Romantic elements to create an engaging, suspenseful, and page turning novel.