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The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 4
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 is horrified to hear that the woman in white clothes has escaped from an asylum. He thinks back over their conversation and admits that, although she seemed on edge and “unsettled,” she gave him no reason to believe she was insane. He agonizes over his actions and wonders whether he has helped an innocent victim who has been unfairly locked up, or whether he has helped a dangerous criminal to escape. He wonders what has become of the woman and is quite relieved to depart from London for Limmeridge the next afternoon.
Walter is unsure whether he has done the right thing by helping the mysterious woman escape. He seems to believe that it is equally possible that the woman is dangerously insane or that she has been imprisoned for some other, unfair reason. This implies that a woman could be committed to an asylum unjustly, suggesting a level of corruption or injustice in the treatment of women and all mentally ill people.
Themes
Walter takes the train towards Cumberland and arrives after dark. A carriage is waiting at the station to take him to Limmeridge House, and the servant seems surly but respectable. Walter dines alone when he arrives at the manor and feels strange eating and going to bed in an unknown house where the inhabitants are complete strangers to him.
Walter feels a sense of mystery, dining alone in the house with total strangers. He is curious about how his time at Limmeridge will unfold.
Themes
