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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Woman in White, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Evidence and Law
Morality, Crime, and Punishment
Identity and Appearance
Marriage and Gender
Class, Industry, and Social Place
Summary
Analysis
Walter Hartright, a twenty-eight-year old drawing teacher, addresses the reader and explains that the story they are about to read is about “Woman’s patience” and “Man’s resolution.” He further observes that, if the law could be relied upon to solve every mystery in the world, then his story would be worthy of coming before a court. However, since this is not the case, and the law is still “the servant of the long purse,” Walter asks that the reader should act as Judge for the story. Walter explains that he will only narrate the events he was directly involved in, and that nothing in the story is derived from “hearsay evidence” but is all based on the experiences of the individuals involved. After laying out these terms, Walter announces that his own evidence will “be heard first.”
Walter’s first-person address to the reader sets up the epistolary structure of the novel. He suggests that these events will show that women can be unusually patient and that men can be unusually determined: two commonly held beliefs about gender in the nineteenth century. Walter suggests that his story involves a crime, but that this crime has never been officially recognized as such by a court; this, he says, is because the law is corrupt and works for money rather than for justice. The reader therefore will “judge” the events in the story and make up their own mind about who is innocent and who is guilty. Walter wants to be truthful with the reader and will only narrate events in which he was directly involved. He will use first-hand accounts from other characters for the events at which he was absent. This mirrors the way in which evidence is presented before a court.
Themes
Literary Devices
