against the grain: female detectives - Digital Library

AGAINST THE GRAIN: FEMALE DETECTIVES

AND "LA WYERS IN PETTICOATS" IN

THE FICTION OF WILKIE COLLINS

by

Audrey Caming Fein

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of

The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, Florida

December 2001

Copyright by Audrey Caming Fein 2001

11

AGAINST THE GRAIN: FEMALE DETECTIVES AND "LA WYERS lN PETTICOATS" lN

THE FICTION OF WILKIE COLLlNS

by

Audrey Caming Fein

This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Oliver Buckton, Department of English, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.

Vice Provost Date

Ill

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the love and extraordinary support of my husband. Herbert. I am grateful to my parents for instilling in me the love of literature; to my family and friends for all their encouragement; to Professor Howard Pearce for his advice and availability; to Professor Jennifer Low for planting the seed for my topic; and to Denise Frusciante for many kindnesses. It is my great good fortune to have as my thesis advisors Professors Oliver Buckton. Mary Faraci and Carol McGuirk. who have my eternal thanks for their invaluable guidance and unflagging patience. and for sharing their time with generosity. humor. and grace.

iv

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ABSTRACT

Audrey Caming Fein

Against the Grain: Female Detectives and "Lawyers in Petticoats" in the Fiction of Wilkie Collins

Florida Atlantic University

Dr. Oliver Buckton

Master of Arts

2001

Wilkie Collins ( 1824-1889) changed the direction of English fiction during his

lifetime and created the prototype for a new and lasting genre. ..The Diary of Anne

Rodway;' The Dead Secret, The Woman in White, No Name. and The Law and the Lady

all exemplifY his skill in crafting tales of mystery and detection. and feature women as

detectives. He was one of the most feminist of Victorian writers in his portrayal of

women as intelligent. assertive and resourceful. as well as in his attacks on gender and

class prejudices. His innovative plot devices established him as the founder of English

detective fiction. Collins's interest in social and legal reforms. especially of the laws

relating to marriage and family, informs his novels foregrounding women as sleuths.

Female incursions into masculine domains of law and detection represent a bold

departure from convention; his transgressive heroines challenge stereotypes and succeed

where men have failed.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter One "The Diary of Anne Rodway" ............................................. 12

Chapter Two The Dead Secret ........................................................ 18

Chapter Three The Woman in White .................................................... 35

Chapter Four JVo Name .............................................................. 66

Chapter Five The Law and the Lady ................................................... 78

Conclusion ............................................................ 91

Notes ................................................................ 95

Works Cited ........................................................... 98

VI

To Herb

the wind beneath my wings

INTRODUCTION

Wilkie Collins's labyrinthine plots of mystery and suspense created physiological

"sensational" responses in his reading audience: his critique of gender and class

distinctions in mid-nineteenth century England incensed contemporary critics. His fiction

is populated with a cast of women who break the mold of the Victorian heroine-they are

assertive in disposition. imperfect in looks. and determined to use their own minds. This

bold departure from convention. together with his implicit attacks on the hypocritical

prudery of his day. makes his work more progressive than that of most \\Titers of his

time.

Perhaps because he was influenced by several strong. creative women and

because of an unconventional secret life (he maintained two mistresses) that had to be

concealed from the public. Collins was sympathetic to the untenable social position of

women. His protagonists are resourceful. intelligent women who themselves challenge

stereotypes. Foremost among the ranks of resolute and transgressive heroines in

Victorian literature are his female detectives. whose exploits go far to establish him as the

founder of English detective fiction.

Although Collins shocked critics such as H. F. Chorley and Henry Mansel with

his sometimes criminal female characters. many of his heroines show spirit and bravery.

even if they violate the standards of;;propriety" in pursuing their goals. Some of his

1

novels conclude with the restoration of traditional gender roles, yet his contempt for the

demeaning stereotype of woman as obedient and selfless, coupled with his implicit social

criticism, has earned him the respect of modem critics (Maurice Richardson labels him ··a

radical feminist" [vii]).

This thesis will consider several works in which Collins presents women in the

then-unusual role of amateur detective. ranging from a short murder mystery. "The Diary

of Anne Rodway'" ( 1856). to The Dead Secret ( 1857). followed by the novel credited with

creating the genre of sensation fiction. The Woman in White ( 1860). My discussion

concludes with the controversial No Name ( 1862) and the best of his later works. The

Law and the Lac(v ( 1875). Thorough knowledge of the laws he condemns in these works

is evident in his echoes of celebrated criminal cases. such as the murder trials of William

Palmer and Madeleine Smith. Collins counterbalances such concrete dements with

narratives exemplifying the damaging consequences of these laws. and indicts Victorian

reactionaries for refusing to adjust to the reality of change. By creating female characters

functioning as successful detectives. Collins also critiques Victorian gender stereotypes.

Biography

Wilkie Collins. who incurred the censure of Mrs. Grundy for his portrayal of

transgressive heroines, and whose private adult life was shared with two .. morganatic··

families, grew up in a conventional middle-class household. Born William Wilkie

Coliins in London on January 8. 1824 to William Collins. landscape painter (later a

2

member of the Royal Academy) and the former Harriet Geddes, the novelist's childhood

environment reflected respectable domesticity and strong moral values. His father was a

Tory and a dedicated High Churchman who loved his sons but was given to

sermonizing.' Known in his boyhood as Willie to family and friends, he later used only

his middle name. given in honor of his godfather. the eminent painter David Wilkie. R.A.

During his forty-year career as a writer. Collins produced over twenty-one novels.

as well as dozens of short stories. plays. and articles. Although he avoided the stylistic

excesses of many of his imitators. his work was often relegated to the newly-coined

school of"sensation tiction" by critics who teared its eftect on public morals. Sensation

fiction reached its height of popularity during the 1860s. largely because of Collins· s

novels. Over time. however. the label took on a negative connotation and has frequently

clouded critical estimates of Collins's tiction. Collins's greatest novels, The Woman in

White ( 1860) and The ,\loons tone ( 1868). appeared during these years. as did his highly

successful No Name ( 1862) and Armadale ( 1866); he continued to write until his death at

the age ofsixty-tive. on September 23. 1889.

Collins was concerned with focusing attention on social abuses. primarily the

inequitable laws governing inheritance, legitimacy, marriage. and women· s property

rights. At the same time he was aware of the rapidly growing market for tiction and.

influenced by his friend Charles Dickens. was self-consciously commercial-one of his

famous mottoes was '·make ·em laugh: make ·em cry: make ·em wait.''2 As a youth.

Collins spent two years with his family in Italy. where he developed an appreciation for

fine food and travel as well as for the arts. After resuming his formal schooling in

3

London, he painted, though he lacked the artistic talent and drive of his father and

younger brother. Charles. Nevertheless, one of his landscapes was accepted for the Royal

Academy summer exhibition in 1849.3 To his father's disappointment. Collins had no

interest in entering the Church or pursuing any other career except for what he called

.. tale-writing .. (Clarke 44-45). At seventeen, rejecting the idea of attending a university.

he began five years' work in the office of a prosperous tea merchant. where his

undemanding duties allowed him to travel to the Continent with friends and pursue his

literary efforts.

William Collins arranged in 1846 to have his son entered as a law student at

Lincoln's Inn. reasoning that as a barrister his son could earn a livelihood in the event

that his literary efforts should prove unsuccessful.~ It was during this period that Collins

began \Hiting a historical novel. Antonina. or. The Fall of Rome ( 1850). his tirst

published work of tiction.

Collins continued to devote himself to writing and paid cursory attention to his

legal education. although he was called to the Bar in November 1851. Since by this time

he had already published his }femoirs of his father. who had died in 1847. and his novel

Antonina. he never practiced the profession oflaw.5 Ironically, the only time Collins

identified himself as .. Barrister" was to conceal his untraditional domestic arrangements.

He adopted the alias .. William Dawson. Barrister" in establishing a household for his

mistress, Martha Rudd. and the first of their three illegitimate children. about ten years

after he began living with Caroline Graves and her daughter in 1859.6

4

Collins's adult life ran "against the grain" of the traditional patriarchal family

such as the one in which he was raised, and he also delighted in mocking the stereotypical

image of women as submissive and virginal. Such transgressive women in Victorian

fiction as Hardy's Tess are punished by death or banishment from society (this is also

true of Collins's Lydia Gwilt in Armada/e). But the ··fallen·· women in Collins's novels

are usually treated less harshly. Certainly his living \vith one mistress (Caroline Graves)

while maintaining another (Martha Rudd .. Dawson .. ) close by. and still managing to

avoid the type of public scandal that tainted Dickens. is a credit to his ingenuity. He

never married. although he maintained both households concurrently for decades and

provided generously for the women and children in his will.

Culture and Law

The concept of woman as domestic angel-virtuous. self-abnegating. and

submissive-was eulogized by Coventry Patmore in The Angel in the House ( 1854-63 ).

retlecting the view held by many Victorians that woman· s role was inspirational and

supportive. Morally superior but intellectually inferior to men. women were in need of

masculine protection. (This notion is forcefully expressed by Miserrimus Dexter in The

Law and the Lady. but is manifestly not a retlection of Collins's 0\\'TI beliefs.) As

Graham Law observes. biological difference was the primary justification for the legal

subjection of women and the separation of male and female spheres (14). Recognizing

5

the harmful effects of this cultural conditioning, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill

argues in The Subjection of Women that:

I deny that any one knows, or can know. the nature of the two sexes ... What is now called the nature of women is an eminently artificial thing-the result of forced repression in some directions. unnatural stimulation in others. It may be asserted without scruple. that no other class of dependents have had their character so entirely distorted from its natural proportions by their relation with their masters. ( 4 51)

The emerging women· s movement agitated for the right to intellectual

development. which in turn led to demands by mid-century tor suffrage and for

rectification of laws that supported discrimination against women. John Reed observes

that alarmed reactionaries viewed these demands as "female assertions of superiority ...

an independent woman challenged moral and social assumptions which Victorians

considered essential to a stable society" (35-36).

Wilkie Collins strongly opposed existing laws that severely limited the legal

options of married women: he was •·tess sympathetic." however. as Graham Law

maintains. "to bourgeois women· s demands for the right to vote and to enter the

professions'' (7). Rather than joining this often strident public controversy. he addresses

social issues through his fiction. as his heroines seek to redress injustices. In the process

he creates some of the most memorable characters and indelible scenes in nineteenth-

century literature, as well as devising innovative plots that set the standard for future

generations of detective tiction writers.

6

Detective Fiction

The first literary detective was Edgar Allan Poe· s Chevalier Auguste Dupin. In

three famous stories, .. The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841 ), ''The Mystery of Marie

Roget" ( 1842). and ''The Purloined Letter'' ( 1844 ). the eccentric Dupin· s ratiocination

solves mysteries that have baffled the police. Four decades later. Arthur Conan Doyle

introduced Sherlock Holmes in A Stm(v in Scarlet ( 1887). T. J. Binyon points out that

like Dupin. the prototype of great detectives. Holmes exhibits .. stupendous reasoning

powers:· and his ··investigative tours de force .. are similarly recorded by an "admiring but

imperceptive friend and assistant"' (5).

Both Dupin and Holmes are dilettantes and amateur detectives. as contrasted with

the "professional" police investigators such as Dickens's Inspector Bucket in Bleak

House (1852-53). Although Bucket. as Binyon notes. is the first police detective in

English fiction (3). he plays a minor role in Dickens's novel. It is Wilkie Collins in The

Moonstone ( 1868) who first makes a detective character interesting and believable. As

Dickens had used an admired police officer as his model for Bucket. Collins bases

Sergeant Cuff on an actual police detective. Sergeant Whicher of the notorious Constance

Kent case (known in the popular press as the .. Road Murder"). Unlike Dupin. Cuff does

not solve the case himselt: although he does perform some intelligent detecting: Collins

cleverly humanizes his detective by endowing him. unexpectedly. with a passion for and

extensive knowledge about growing roses. Conan Doyle follows Collins· s precedent by

recording Holmes· s expertise with the vioiin and his iove of pipe-smoking. not to

7

mention his cocaine use (legal at that time), echoing the use of opium by Ezra Jennings in

The i\loonstone. Thereafter nearly all tictional detectives would exhibit a wide variety of

hobbies and personal eccentricities.

The Moonstone, held by T. S. Eliot to be ''the first. the longest and the best

detective story in the English language.''7 was acclaimed not only for its excellence as a

tale of mystery and detection. but also because. as Craig Bell asserts, "it is at the same

time 'literature· ... it has style. intellect. individuality .... No other work of detective

tiction can measure up to it" ( 198-99). Since there is no female detective character in the

novel. however. discussion of The ,\loonstone in this thesis is limited to a summary of the

innovative techniques devised by Collins that are fundamental to detective fiction.

Robert Ashley observes that in this novel Collins fonnulated the two most basic

principles standard in the genre: the "fair-play" rule. which prescribes that all

infonnation acquired by the detective be shared with the reader. and the plot twist of

making the least-likely suspect the guilty party (52). Ashley enumerates other elements

of The Aloonstone that Collins used in his later works and that are now familiar features

in detective fiction: the shifting of suspicion from one person to another, the rivalry

between bumbling local police and the superior metropolitan police, the problems

resulting from the withholding of evidence. and the solution of the crime by an amateur.

among other conventions. He points out, however. that some of these hallmarks

descended to the genre from Poe. as well as from actual criminal cases. Ashley reads

Collins as the link between Poe and Doyle (53).

8

Just as Poe ''had no intention of writing detective stories or of creating a

detective" (Binyon 4), so Collins could not foresee that his work would become the

cornerstone of a new genre of fiction. ln his detective fiction. mystery and buried secrets

are significant elements of his suspenseful and meticulously constructed plots. and apart

from Sergeant Cuff of The Aloonstone, his sleuths are always amateurs. Unlike Poe or

Doyle and many later writers, Collins never presents a detective. amateur or professional.

as a continuing character. In addition. his most famous detectives are women: yet his

original techniques of plot manipulation have established him as a pioneer in the field.

He possessed. argues Dorothy Sayers. "that peculiar English genius for combining

melodrama with calculation which has made the English detective story a thing apart"

(Wilkie Collins 25).

Repeating his successful use of a similar device in The Woman in White. Collins

in The ;\;/oonstone tells the story as a series of narratives: each character is restricted to

relating only what he or she knows at first-hand, which contributes to verisimilitude. In

discussing the history of detective fiction. Sayers considers The Aloonstone to be

"probably the very finest detective story ever written." Praising its "dove-tailed

completeness and the marvellous variety and soundness of its characterisation." she

judges that it "comes about as near perfection as anything of its kind can be" (Omnibus of

Crime 365).

The law in all its convoluted majesty and oppressive inequalities remained a

lifelong interest for Collins; he frequently introduced legal problems as a device for

challenging Victorian conventions and highlighting the need for social and legal reforms.

9

His experience at Lincoln's Inn obviously was not an unpleasant one, since a series of

trustworthy family solicitors appears in his works. His indignation is especially apparent

where the respected family advisors criticize society foe permitting unjust laws to destroy

the lives of innocent people: Mr. Pendril speaks for Collins in his denunciation of the

archaic legitimacy statutes in No Name that ··produce these ... abominable results in the

names of morality and religion" ( 121 ). These well-intentioned and humane gentlemen

are powerless. however. to correct the evils engendered by bad laws-which can only be

accomplished by the protagonists themselves. who circumvent the machinery of the legal

system.

Later critics disagree on whether Collins's fiction is feminist. in part because he

tends to restore the traditional gender roles to his protagonists in novels depicting

transgressive women. Nevertheless. as Dorothy Sayers argues ... In his whole treatment of

women he stands leagues apart from his period .. :· and she heaps fulsome praise on

Collins as "the most genuinely feminist of all the nineteenth-century novelists. because he

is the only one capable of seeing women without sexual bias and of respecting them as

human individuals in their O\\'TI right. and not as 'the ladies. God bless them! ... 8

Collins's respect for intelligent. self-reliant women is never more evident than

when his heroines function as amateur detectives. succeeding where men have failed. In

addition to the complex plots laced with mystery, villainy and suspense tor which he was

famous. his heroines are endowed with dimension and complexity. and take the initiative

rather than working under male direction. An important effect of Collins's portraying his

protagonists overcoming hindrances in their quest for justice was to raise public

10

awareness of the inequitable laws he denounces. Although the archaic illegitimacy laws

were not abolished until 1926, Dougald Mac Eachan notes that '·four of the five legal

reforms·· that Collins advocates in his fiction were achieved during the novelist's lifetime

( 138).

...

11

CHAPTER ONE

'The Diary of Anne Rodway''

Collins often used short stories as sketches for later novels. His protagonist in

'The Diary of Anne Rodway" 1 is regarded by Robert Ashley as the tirst female detective

in English fiction (50). and her perseverance is echoed in one of his notable later

heroines. Valeria Macallan of The Law and the Lcu(v.

Originally published in Dickens's weekly magazine Household Words in July

1856. "The Diary of Anne Rodway·• was Collins's tirst murder mystery. as well as his

tirst use of the epistolary method. according to William Marshall ( 48). as the story of the

crime and the punishment emerges entirely through excerpts from Anne's diary. The

story was reprinted in Collins's second collection of short pieces. The Queen of Hearts

( 1859), in which he further experimented with detective tiction. According to some

historians of the genre. "Anne Rodway" deserves recognition in the annals of the torm

not only for its prototype of the female detective. but also. as Ashley asserts. for meeting

Ellery Queen's threefold test for the "pure detective story'': featuring ··a detective who

detects. who is the story's protagonist. and who triumphs over the criminal" (48, 50).

"The Diary of Anne Rodway" is elevated above the level of pure detective fiction

by Collins's portrait of the poverty and brutality surrounding the two young seamstresses.

Anne and her dear friend Mary Mallinson. Collins frequently satirizes the

12

pretentiousness of the upper and middle classes in his fiction. and depicts servants and

working-class people with insight and sympathy. By creating a heroine who is a member

of an underprivileged social class and is also capable of acting intelligently and

resolutely, he "implicitly questions the 'propriety' of conventional attitudes towards class

distinctions" (Bedell24).

Writing in her diary in March of 1840. Anne reveals that she is twenty-six years

old and barely subsisting; she worries that Robert. her fiance. will return from America

no more prosperous than when. having failed in business. he left England to seek his

fortune. Anne· s inner strength and determination sustain her and she tries to instill a

sense of hope in the despairing. eighteen year-old Mary. who is now three weeks behind

in her rent. Contrasting his sympathetic portrayal of the plight of working-class women

who have no families to rely on. Collins includes an implicit criticism of the Church for

reinforcing the status quo. During a service Anne attends early in her story. "The

clergyman said ... that all things were ordered for the best. and we are all put into the

stations in life that are properest for us:· Anne·s wry comment highlights her awareness

of her own social status: .. I suppose he was right. being a very clever gentleman who fills

the church to crowding: but [think [should have understood him better if I had not been

very hungry at the time. in consequence of my own station in life being nothing but Plain

Needlewoman" (200).

When Mary is carried home by the police late one night. dying from a blow to the

temple, the doctor surmises that she has fainted, fallen in the street. and struck her head

on the curb. Anne records her reaction at discovering the tom end of a man • s cravat

13

clutched in Mary's hand: "[It] seemed to be saying to me, as though it had been in plain

words, 'If she dies, she has come to her death by foul means, and I am the witness of it"'

(205). Despite Anne's belief that Mary has been murdered. the coroner's inquest. lacking

any positive evidence. results in a verdict of accidental death. With nothing further to

assist them. the police are unwilling to conduct an investigation.

Anne determines to unravel the mystery of her friend's death and follo\VS up

every lead. braving the ·'mean streets" ofher neighborhood to trace Mary's killer. Once

she unearths the other half of the tom cravat. Anne· s quest becomes an obsession: ··A

kind of fever got possession of me-a vehement yearning to go on from this tirst

discovery and tind out more. no matter what the risk might be .. (114). Her intelligence

and perseverance. combined with a shrewd capacity for dissembling. enable her to trace

and question witnesses without revealing her purpose. These qualities. essential for a

detective. enablP. Anne to elicit details that will identity the o\\'ner of the tom cravat.

Overcoming her loathing, she confronts the obnoxious hunchbacked man who eventually

leads to the man who struck Mary down. Robert's fortuitous arrival from America

provides assistance in gathering the tinal information needed to bring the perpetrator to

trial; but it is Anne. alone and unaided. who discovers the clue and stubbornly follows

through.

In "Anne Rodway" Collins emphasizes the benevolence of doctors, lawyers. and

civil servants; but his opinion of the police is more critical as he sketches their

ineffectiveness and indifference. The descriptions of the hearing and trial also retlect

14

Collins's interest in the British legal system, which appears in a favorable light in this

instance. a position reversed in some of his later works.

The poverty that pervades Anne Rodway's life does not stitle the generosity of

her nature. She pawns some personal items to help pay for Mary· s funeral. and records

that the coroner and the doctor. ··a poor man himself. or he would not be living in our

neighbourhood'' (209) also contribute towards the expenses. Even the crusty Beadle

returns his tee for the funeral. Although not a rebellious person. Anne· s simple belief in

the essential fairness of the justice system lends her the courage to resist her landlord's

bullying attempt to extort Mary's back rent by threatening to send her body to the

workhouse. Despite her lack of money or power. Anne does not allow herself to be

victimized by the venal landlord (the prototype for a similar despicable character in Nu

Name): "[ ... answer[edl that I did not believe the law gave him any such wicked power

over the dead" (210). She appeals to the Beadle. who warns the landlord: "If you say

another word to the young woman. I'll pull you up before the authorities of this

metropolitan parish!'' (21 0).

Anne suffers the ordeal of giving evidence twice. as Collins brietly guides the

reader through court procedure. Her diary records the magistrate· s hearing. where she

finally sees Mary's killer. and her dismay when "the prisoner was committed for trial on a

charge of manslaughter" (219). In her eyes. her friend's death "is murder in the sight of

God. Why not murder in the sight of the law also?" Her desire for retribution demands

stronger punishment, but ·•Robert explained the law to me ... I accepted the explanation.

but it did not satisfy me" (219). The subsequent trial at the Old Bailey culminates in a

15

guilty verdict for the man who struck Mary in a drunken rage, carrying the sentence of

transportation for life. Anne's respect for the law is renewed when the hunchbacked man

who witnessed the crime but did not intervene is charged and punished for past criminal

offenses.

Although she is poor and alone. Anne is far from being a victim: she is wise

enough to tum to the law tor assistance. and canny enough to resort to bribery and deceit

to obtain intormation. Nor is she a pattern of submissive womanhood. as her touch of

bloodthirsty desire for revenge hints. She is a kind. moral. literate and confident young

woman; yet her aspirations for the future center on marriage and family. which echo

middle-class values. By placing Anne among the working class and endowing her with

intelligence and humanity. Collins disparages class prejudices and criticizes popular

preconceptions. He will continue to do so throughout his career.

Charles Dickens. who shared Collins· s concern tor the condition of London· s

poor. praised his young contributor on 13 July 1856: "[ cannot tell you what a high

opinion [ have of· Anne Rod way.· ... Apart from the genuine torce and beauty of the

little narrative. and the admirable personation of the girl's identity and point of view. it is

done with an amount of honest pains and devotion to the work .... I think it excellent ...

and know of no one else who could have done it. "1 Later in that year. Collins joined the

staff of Household Words and was soon collaborating with Dickens on numerous pieces:

he continued a close friendship with Dickens that had begun tive years earlier and that

ended only with Dickens's death in 1870.

16

Challenges to conventions and gender boundaries abound in Collins·s fiction.

··Anne Rodway .. is a ··very early example ... of[his] sympathy ... with the woman·s

point of view:· m·ites Norman Page ... especially when confronted by an oppressive male

enjoying superior social and economic power" (Mad Alonkton xviii). ln such novels as

No Name and The Law and the Lm(v. the heroines are members of the middle class or the

gentry. These characters. whose achievements are as dramatic as Anne Rod way· s.

arguably shake the foundations of propriety even more because the customs of society

circumscribe their lives far more stringently than tor someone of Anne·s working-class

status. Collins explores this subject in his next novel. The Dead Secret. and adds several

others into the mix as he experiments further with the notion of a woman who undertakes

the role of sleuth.

17

CHAPTER TWO

THE DEAD SECRET

Encouraged by Dickens·s praise of ··Anne Rodway:· Collins continued

presenting his heroines as intelligent and effective. and he combined his admiration for

multi-dimensional women with his interest in highlighting social and legal inequities.

The Dead Secret. 1 his tirst novel to appear in serialized form. ran in Houselw/d Words

beginning in January 1857 and was published in book form in June of that year (Nayder

53). Although the protagonist. Rosamond Treverton. performs successfully as an amateur

detective in this story. there is no criminal to bring to justice. but rather a buried secret

that might cataclysmically affect her life.

Class hierarchies. gender difterences. illegitimacy. women· s property rights-The

Dead Secret questions all these topics with varying degrees of subtlety and social

criticism. Emphasized throughout are the mysterious bond between mistress and servant

and the investigative efforts of the protagonist. Unlike Anne Rodway. a working-class

heroine. Rosamond Treverton enjoys a notably different social status: her comfortable life

in Cornwall and the Midlands retlects an environment as dissimilar and distant from the

London slums as it is possible to tind in England.

18

Rosamond's induction into detective work also begins under far less sinister

circumstances than Anne Rod way' s-there is no known murder to solve or brutal

criminal to receive his punishment. But once she learns that her birthplace in Cornwall.

Porthgenna Tower. harbors a secret. she is determined to uncover it. disregarding all

warnings. Her tenacity. however. results in a calamitous reversal of fortune when she

finds that she is not entitled either to her name or the money she has inherited.

Collins was generally acknowledged as master of the suspenseful and labyrinthint:

plot by contemporary critics such as Harry Quilter. \'vTiting for Ccntemporm:v Re,·iew.:

He balanced this \Vith careful attention to characterization. seldom as emphatically as

with Sarah Leeson. whose life is controlled by her superstitious tear of Mrs. Treverton · s

.. ghost.'" Events in the narrative are linked to Sarah's obsessive concern with insuring

that the secret she guards \Vill never be discovered. Although she is a major character in

the novel. Sarah is too repressed to oppose any tyranny. and as Peter Thoms remarks. she

.. passes through lite as a victim·· ( 44 ). If Sarah Leeson is a victim of gender and class

hierarchies. Rosamond Treverton embodies transgression of another sort-a woman who

becomes an amateur sleuth to trace a buried secret concerning her family ... In so doing:·

Lillian Nayder argues. ··[she] undermines the concepts of womanly subordination and

class identity·· (52). A sense of Victorian ambivalence toward women is evident also in

Rosarnond"s .. punishment" for undertaking an endeavor not deemed suitable for a

woman: the loss of her legal identity.

Unlike other Collins heroines who embark on their investigations in order either

to solve a shocking crime (Anne Rodway). to correct an unjust trial verdict (Valeria

19

Macallan in The Law and The Lady). or to obtain crucial information in order to avert

danger (Marian Halcombe in The Woman in White). Rosamond Frankland does not begin

her sleuthing with any similar crisis. Curiosity. intensified by the inexplicable fright

engendered by Mrs. Jazeph's bizarre warning. is the sensation that sparks her interest. As

a detective Rosamond is guided by her conviction that the mysterious secret of the Myrtle

Room is somehow connected with her parents. tor she has heard from her father about the

peculiar letter left by Sarah Leeson when she lett Porthgenna.

Resolved to unravel the mystery behind Mrs. Jazeph · s nearly incomprehensible

warning. Rosamond asks Leonard ... how can you doubt what will happen next'? Am I not

a woman'? And have I not been torbidden to enter the Myrtle Room'?" ( 135 ). \Vith the

same determination that drives Collins's later detective-heroines. Rosamond pursues her

quest as soon as possible atler giving birth to her son while en route to her tamily home.

Healthy and active. she refuses to play the role of invalid and tests the bounds of

propriety by resisting the attempts of the doctor and her husband to extend her

convalescence. She has already decided that she and Leonard will restore the north

section of the mansion tor Captain Treverton·s use. and the months of delay necessitated

by the unexpected death of her father and the birth of her child have stretched the limits

of her patience. Although she acts as her husband's eyes and guide. she defers to his

more considered logic in trying to understand the purpose behind Mrs. Jazeph"s anxiety

to prevent anyone from discovering the Myrtle Room and the secret it conceals.

Perceived merely as an inquisitive. independent and assertive woman. Rosamond

would not be regarded as the ideal role model tor genteel Victorian girls. but Collins

20

endows her with dimension and qualities worthy of any heroine. Her deep love for

Leonard Frankland does not permit her to consider breaking their engagement when

Leonard loses his sight shortly before their marriage. Commenting approvingly about her

self-confidence and honesty. the vicar. Dr. Chennery. tells a friend: .. Rosamond

Treverton is not one of the puling. sentimental sort. l can tell you. A tine. buxom. warm­

hearted. quick-tempered girl. who looks what she means when she tells a man she is

going to marry him·· {47). The vicar further observes that Leonard ··is a little given to

overrate the advantages of birth and the importance of rank-but that is really the only

noticeable detect in his character''(60). As is the case with many Collins heroines.

Rosamond proves more than a match for the mate she chooses: she not only unravels the

mystery of her O\vn background and matures in the process. but as Sue Lonoff points out.

she guides Leonard both emotionally and physically ( 139).

Collins delights in shattering stereotypes in his female characterizations by

combining ··transgressive·· qualities with those more conventionally ··feminine:· He

frequently reverses the practice of depicting the heroine as blonde. blue-eyed. slender and

gentle. and the villainess as assertive. dark and voluptuous. This was not only a

··sensational"' device intended to increase the element of surprise. but may also retlect his

close ties to the world of art. Catherine Peters \Hites in The King of Jm·entors that

several of Collins's artist friends (including John Millais and Holman Hunt) were

affiliated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (85. 104). who also idealized a more

dramatic notion of feminine beauty than the golden-haired and delicately proportioned

ladies of most popular fiction.3

21

In The Dead Secret. Collins takes pains to point out that his heroine is not

modeled according to prevailing standards of ideal feminine beauty. by using a fairly

detailed description of her physical appearance to disclose particular character traits

(O'Fallon 227). Each feature catalogued would have specific meaning for readers from

the 1850s through the 1870s. who. according to Jeanne Fahnestock. were well acquainted

with the popular "science" of physiognomy. or reading character in the face (325). Not

only is Rosamond's generous but somewhat temperamental nature revealed through her

actions. but Collins provides a word-picture that also suggests her loving relationship

with her blind husband. During their honeymoon at a seaside town. Rosamond lovingly

teases a memory-portrait from Leonard:

"What does my hair look like in your portrait?" "It is dark brown-there is a great deal of it-and it grows rather

too low on your forehead for the taste of some people ... I like it to gro\v lmv: [ like all those little natural \vaves that it makes against your forehead: ( like it taken back. as you wear it. in plain bands. which leave your ears and your cheeks visible: and above all things. I like that big glossy knot that it makes where it is all gathered up together at the back of your head .... They are very nicely shaped eyebrows in my picture-"

"Yes. but they have a fault. Come! tell me what the fault is ... "They are not quite so strongly marked as they might be." "Right again! And my eyes?" "Bro\\jn eyes. large eyes. wakeful eyes. that are always looking

about them ... capable. on very slight provocation. of opening rather too widely. and looking rather too brilliantly resolute:· (66)

Rosamond's eyes are especially signiticant. What they observe is conscientiously

described for Leonard so that he may form a mental image. and they clearly indicate that

her personality is assertive and alert. While these are necessary attributes for a detective.

they suggest that Rosamond does not conform to the stereotype of demure Victorian lady.

22

Furthermore. Rosamond's ability to see places her in a unique position of power over her

husband that reinforces any authority she might othenvise have assumed: a slight trace of

discomfort is discernible in Leonard's comments that his wife·s eyes can open .. rather too

widely:· and look .. rather too brilliantly resolute:·

Leonard continues the catechism. remarking that Rosamond·s nose is .. not quite

big enough to be in proper proportion .. with her eyes and has a .. slight tendency to be-:·

at which point Rosamond hastily insists that he spare her feelings and use the French

retrous.w! .. and skip over my nose as fast as possible .. (67). Fahnestock asserts that the

nose is seldom featured in heroine description. with the eyes and mouth receiving more

attention as indicators of feminine nature: the turned-up nose was considered a sign of

weakness in a man. but was generally admired in a woman as an indication of

vivaciousness (344-45). Rosamond·s mouth is deemed .. as near perfection as possible ..

by Leonard ... lovely in shape. fresh in color. and irresistible in expression··: his wife

rounds out the portrait \Vith amusing. self-deprecating comments about her complt:xion

( .. dusky [with] never red enough in iC). her figure ( .. dangerously inclined to be fat"") and

her style of dressing ( .. not soberly enough .. ) (67).

Collins .. deal[s] sympathetically and fully with disadvantaged \Vomen .. such as

governesses. servants and .. work-girls(" Anne Rodway").". observes Julian Thompson (ix).

This is also evident in The Dead Secret. Sarah Leeson is a credulous. timid character

whose life has been devoted to her mistress and whose past suffering is inscribed on her

face. '·Not tall. not handsome·· (8). she appears to be not quite thirty years old. except for

the startling and .. unnatural change that had passed over the color of her hair. [twas as

., ... _ _,

thick and soft. it grew as gracefully. as the hair of a young girl: but it was as gray as the

hair of an old woman" (9).

Sarah is apparently an accomplice in a burdensome secret that her mistress. a

former actress. lacks the courage to reveal. On her deathbed in the summer of 1829. Mrs.

Treverton dictates a letter of confession intended for her beloved husband. a respected

naval captain. She demands that Sarah swear not to destroy or remove the confession

from Porthgenna Tower under the melodramatic threat of being haunted by Mrs.

Treverton·s ghost. but she dies before Sarah"s tina! oath (to deliver the letter to Captain

Treverton) is given. Sarah rationalizes that she will not be violating her mistresses·s last

wishes if she merely hides it in the dilapidated north wing of the mansion. Alter adding

her o\\'n brief postscript. Sarah secretes the confession in the Myrtle Room: she then

leaves a farewell note for Captain Treverton and steals mvay. Before departing. she visits

the grave of Hugh Pohvheal. a young miner killed six years earlier.

Victorian fiction is replete with stories of buried documents of every type. and

this is a recurring theme in Collins· s work. as well. ln The Dead Secrel the motif of the

concealed confession is woven through the author·s underlying commentary on social

customs and mores.

The question ofwomen·s legal status and identity. especially regarding the

unfairness of marriage laws and property rights. was already becoming an important issue

in England by the middle of the nineteenth century. supported by several prominent

figures such as John Stuart Mill. Collins takes up these subjects in increasingly

outspoken and critical terms in his tiction. He makes it plain that Victorian society

24

demands submission from women. and Sarah represents their pm.verlessness. particularly

of working-class women. to assume a measure of control over their O\\TI lives. She has

not only buried the document she was ordered to deliver. but she submerges her own

identity on several occasions throughout the novel.

Explaining how she has allowed herself to be bullied into a miserable marriage

with Mr. Jazeph. she tells her Uncle Joseph:

[ was too weak to persist in saying No! ... The curse of weakness and tear has followed me all the days of my lite! ... [H]e took away from me all the little \Viii of my O\Vn that [ had. He made me speak as he wished me to speak. and go where he wished me to go.""(!49)

Living her lite in quiet resignation and acceptance. Sarah springs into action only

when she believes that the safety of her dreadful secret is threatened: she. of course.

precipitates such a crisis when her path and Rosamond· s cross. After blurting out the

warning to Rosamond to stay out of the Myrtle Room. Sarah panics and attempts to

relocate the confession. The failure of that mission impels her to leave Cornwall once

again ... to hide herself in the empty bigness of the great city. London. which swallows up

all people and all things that pour into it"" (295). Further erasing her own identity. she

adopts an alias to avoid being traced by the Franklands. fearing that disclosure of the

secret would be disastrous for them.

No such onerous burden darkens the life of Rosamond. raised in gentility and

accustomed to exerting her powers of persuasion in order to have her O\\TI way. especially

with her doting husband. Rosamond's energy and independence position her as the

opposite of Sarah, and Collins makes the point that any submission to Leonard's \\ishes

25

derives solely from Rosamond's love for him and her desire to please him. although she

is also undeniably constrained by convention. Leonard's dignity serves to subdue his

wife's exuberance when she tends to forget her station and her lineage. which is even

more ancient than that ofhis own family. He has inherited his father's class

consciousness as well as the Porthgenna estate. purchased by the senior Frankland hoping

to erase what he considered the stigma of having made his fortune in trade and "to leave

his son to succeed him in the character of a squire of large estate and great county

intluence" (55).

Leonard's spirited bride. however. is ingenuously democratic despite her elevated

rank. Socially secure and unselfconscious. she claims to be like her father. "\vho never

troubles his head (dear old man!) about differences of station·· (70). Leonard's

disapproval is implicit as he reminds his wife of her lineage: "You ought to be the last

person in the world to confuse those distinctions in rank on which the whole well-being

of society depends" (71 ). Protective of Leonard and sensitive to his feelings. Rosamond

rarely unleashes the sharp side of her tongue on servants. and then only when she feels

they display a lack of respect for her husband. She chastises the steward at Porthgenna.

whom she deems "want[ing] the delicacy of feeling which ought to have restrained him

from staring curiously at his blind master in her presence" (240).

[n The Dead Secret Collins combines his interest in the illegitimacy and

inheritance laws with his disapproval of strict class hierarchies. Sarah Leeson· s plight

provides the perfect vehicle for the scheme devised by Mrs. Treverton. \Vho desperately

\vants to produce an heir. believing this will tie her husband closer to home. She is also

26

anxious to ensure that the captain· s long-estranged younger brother will not inherit the

estate.

The reading public presumably would not be surprised that the novel" s central

deception is conceived by a woman with a theatrical background rather than a

··respectable·· Victorian lady. Acting was not considered an acceptable profession for

well-bred young vvomen. This attitude is expressed in the reviews of shocked critics

(Mrs. Oliphant and Henry Mansel. for example) who castigated Collins for :Vo .Vame

( 1862). in which the heroine chooses a career on the stage as a means of earning a living.

[t is certain. however. that Collins does not share this opinion. expressed by Andrew

Treverton to his brother when he ··spoke the vilest of all vile words of [Mrs. Treverton!.

when she \Vas married. because she was an artist on the stage .. (322). Rather. he satirizes

Victorian prudery and hypocrisy by having such condemnation come from the lips of the

once dissolute. now reclusive misanthrope. Collins·s own mother once contemplated a

theatrical career. but instead turned to teaching to support herself and was employed as a

governess at the time she married the conservative William Collins (Peters ... [m·ite .. 298).

Tacit admiration for assertive women underlies the description of Mrs. Treverton

as .. a grand. big woman. and a handsome: with a life and a spirit and a will in her that is

not often seen ... who can say. We will do this thing. or that thing-and do it in the spite

and face of all the scruples. all the obstacles. all the oppositions in the \Vorld"" (320).

While not the protagonist of The Dead Secret, her actions before the narrative begins set

the forces in motion that transform the lives of the primary characters. This suggestion of

determinism is a recurring motif in Collins (in No Name. for example. Mr. Vanstone·s

27

first marriage). which he counterbalances in some novels with themes of providence

(Magdalen·s close call with suicide in No Name).

Throughout The Dead Secret Collins derides traditional class prejudices.

beginning with the marriage of the actress to the aristocrat who places little importance

on social status. More explicitly. the bond of friendship and affection that develops

between mistress and servant implies a blurring of class boundaries. Their transgression.

which according to Tamar Heller .. attacks both patriarchal privilege and class hierarchies ..

(2). is based on their conspiracy to exchange identities in order to facilitate a fraud. The

reluctant Sarah is persuaded to participate in the scheme. but is psychologically unsuited

to maintaining the deceit. She spends the rest of her life as a self-imposed exile.

becoming increasingly more paranoid about the safety of the hidden document.

Ironically. her misguided behavior motivates Rosamond to undertake the role of

detective. becoming as determined to solve the mystery as Sarah is to keep it hidden.

Inclined by nature to act decisively. Rosamond embarks on tracing Mrs. Jazeph:

learning that the strange and enigmatic woman is headed for Cornwall. she deduces that

Mrs. Jazeph will attempt entry to Porthgenna. Rosamond alerts the staff to permit this

and to follow her when she leaves. Her instincts prove valid. but the visitor faints before

gaining access to any of the north wing rooms and she leaves with her elderly companion.

again thwarting attempts to track her. After arriving at the estate. the Franklands review

the baffling conduct of Mrs. Jazeph and her unusual interest in Rosamond: recalling the

story of the housemaid's disappearance sixteen years earlier. they conclude that Mrs.

Jazeph and Sarah Leeson may be the same person.

28

Rosamond launches into exploring the decaying north wing. but realizes that

without a plan of the house. her efforts to identitY the Myrtle Room among so many

decaying rooms will be futile. Although Andrew Treverton might assist in this regard.

his hatred for his brother·s wife and anyone connected with her ensures his non­

cooperation. Through the intercession of Dr. Chennery, they learn that a sketch ofthe

rooms may be purchased from Shrowl. Andrew Treverton·s surly manservant. who has

covertly made a copy from an old book of Andrew·s.

Collins· s characterization of Rosamond retlects his admiration for dynamic and

unconventional women: he rewards them for refusing to compromise their honesty.

Leonard has shared Rosamond·s enthusiasm in conducting the search. but he balks at

acquiring this crucial clue because by his standards the information is stolen: high­

mindedness is coupled \Vith embedded class-consciousness as he asserts that .. it is out of

the question to traffic with a servant tor intormation that has been surreptitiously obtained

from his master·s library .. (252 ). Rosamond has no such qualms and passionately tries to

overcome her husband·s scruples with .. transparent sophistries:· but can o.1ly persuade

him to buy the plan on condition that they later return it to Andrew with a full explanation

of how they obtained it. Ironically. while Leonard refuses to buy the purloined plan from

a servant. he seems oblivious to his equivocal position by making use of the information

betore returning it. Collins subtly ridicules the self-serving hypocrisy of the privileged

classes.

Integrity is not exclusive to Leonard. however: although Rosamond has a habit of

.. looking. womanlike. straight on to the purpose she had in view. without wasting a

29

thought on the means by which it was to be achieved"' (252). and can easily take

advantage of Leonard"s blindness by manipulating any situation to suit herself. she

conceals nothing from him:

It is some comfort to hear you say ... that you see with my eyes. They shall ahvays serve you-oh. ahvays! always!-as faithfully as if they were your O\vn .... I might have had my O\Vn little harmless secrets. dear. with another husband: but with you to have even so much as a thought in secret seems like taking the basest. cruelest advantage of your blindness. I do love you so. Lenny! (248)

The blurring of gender roles in the novel is apparent as Rosamond tinally

identifies the Myrtle Room. As she wonders \Vhere to begin. Leonard relinquishes power

to his wife: .. 1 am but a helpless adviser at such a crisis as this. I must leave the

responsibilities of decision. after all. to rest on your shoulders .. (263 ). Nevertheless. she

denies any exceptional status. although she has asserted her authority in the past. Both

seeing and speaking for her husband when she \Vas angered by the nosy Miss Mo\vlem

during their seaside honeymoon. Rosamond had demanded. ··fetch the bill! We give you

warning. Mr. Frankland gives you waming-don"t you. Lenny? ... Mr. Frankland says

he won "t have his rooms burst into. and his doors listened at by inquisitive women-and I

say so too .. (68).

Sensitive to her husband"s total reliance on her accuracy in relating what she sees.

Rosamond guides Leonard to the Myrtle Room and faithfully describes every detail to

him .. with the marvelous minuteness of a \Voman · s observation·· (248). Discovering the

hidden letter. she learns \\'ith terrible shock that she is the illegitimate child of Sarah

Leeson and Hugh Pol wheal. born after the miner's fatal accident: she is not Rosmnond

30

Treverton of the ancient bloodline valued so highly by her husband. but the bastard

offspring of working-class parents. Rosamond"s first instinct is to re-bury the damning

paper that can destroy her marriage and change her life forever. She knows that under the

laws regarding illegitimacy she has no identity and that in the eyes of society she does not

legally exist.

Rosamond has the power to remain silent and continue in her privileged position

without fear of detection: instead. she bravely resists temptation and. asserting that

"There are no mysteries between us two .... There never have been any. love: there never

shall be·· (282). reads the letter to her husband. Leonard. equally shaken by the startling

revelation. admits that his pride. ··born and bred in me·· (287). makes him want to doubt

the truthfulness of the document: he nonetheless transcends all cultural and inherited bias

as he assures Rosamond ofhis love: ··High as I have always held the \Vorth of rank in my

estimation. I have learned. even before the event of yesterday. to hold the worth of my

\vite. let her parentage be what it may. higher still"" (287). Both characters not only acquit

themselves honorably when put to the test. but have strengthened the bonds of trust

between them.

Collins challenges class prejudices by suggesting that the noble traits of

Rosamond. no longer an heiress. are not exclusive to the higher levels of society. At the

same time. he critiques the English laws governing illegitimacy and inheritance. which he

attacks more strenuously later in No Name. In The Dead Secret. Captain Treverton

received £40.000 for the sale of Porthgenna, which sum comprised all his assets. Since

he died intestate. his daughter. as next of kin. inherits the entire amount. As Leonard

31

reminds Rosamond. however, there are legal and moral reasons why they cannot conceal

the facts of her parentage: once the authenticity of the letter is confirmed. he says ... If you

are not Captain Treverton's daughter. you have no right to one farthing of the fortune that

you possess: and it must be restored at once to the person who is Captain Treverton·s

next of kin-or. in other words. to his brother·· (288-89).

Rejecting Rosamond· s protests that Andrew despised them. Leonard appropriates

the dominant role in the relationship. retlecting the Victorian tradition of masculine

assumption of authority over women as he takes the moral high ground:

l believe. Rosamond. that my consent. as your husband. is necessary. according to the law. to effect this restitution. lf Mr. Andrew Treverton was the bitterest enemy l had on earth. and if the restoring of this money utterly mined us both in our worldly circumstances. l \vould give it back of my own accord to the last farthing-and so would you~ (289)

Underlining the moral imperative of Leonard's decision is the reminder of

Rosamond's legal status as a married woman. which parallds her identity as an

illegitimate child: nil. In other words. Rosamond is doubly non-existent in the eyes of

Victorian England. for once a woman marries. she relinquishes control over any property

she may have owned. unless a marriage settlement has been previously executed. Even if

she wanted to return her inheritance to her hostile uncle. the law prohibits her from

disposing of any of her own property without her husband· s consent.

Collins's familiarity with the shortcomings of the la\v is expressed subtly in this

noveL anticipating more overt critiques in later novels. as Leonard discusses finding

Sarah Leeson and obtaining her testimony: ··1 want nothing but evidence that is morally

conclusive. however legally imperfect it may be-·· (289).

Rosamond's acquiescence to her husband's assertion of authority restores the

.. proper .. balance of power in the home. as Nayder suggests. satist~·ing the conventions

and reestablishing the gender roles that had been inverted earlier in the novel (58). Had

their relationship been founded on anything other than mutual love and trust. however.

Leonard would still be legally empowered to dispose of his \Vife's tortune. The only

legal possession a wife retains is any real property (land) that she brought to her

marriage: her husband cannot dispose of it without her consent.~ Sinct: Rosamond· s

inheritance consists solely of the money. her husband has complett: control of it.

Consequently. notwithstanding Leonard's tactful observation that his ··consent ... is

necessary .. in order tor Rosamond to restore the inheritance to Andrew. under English

common law he can. in fact. do so even without her consent.

The heroine of The Dead Secret never has to suffer from a husband's evil

machinations. having endured enough adversity in discovering her own bastardy and

having to surrender her fortune to the antisocial uncle who \Vants nothing to do with her.

Collins bmvs to novelistic convention and Rosamond's honorable actions are rewarded

when Andrew Treverton returns the money after learning that she is not the daughter of

his detested sister-in-law. She pursues her search for her biological mother. aided by

Uncle Joseph. and finds her terminally ill in London. Sarah Leeson finally is able to clear

her conscience by confessing her complicity in the deception. Rosamond acknowledges

her as .. Mother:· and Sarah recovers at last the identity she has submerged for sixteen

33

years. As she is released from the burden of the secret which has shaped her life. she

realizes that the terrifying vision of her mistress· s ghost has vanished. and she dies in

peace. to be buried at Porthgenna next to Hugh Polwheal.

Rosamond is reassured that Leonard's excessive regard for ancestry does not

cause him to regret having "married a wife who has no claim of her O\\n to the honors of

a family name" (359). Class boundaries are transcended and legal status eschew·ed at the

novel's end. as Leonard admits having learned the lesson from his \Vite that ··The highest

honors ... are those which no accident can take away-the honors that are conterred

by Love and Truth'' (359).

Although Collins restores traditional gender roles in a burst of sentimentality

expected by his readers. he has amply demonstrated the absurdity of class prejudice and

the inequity of the illegitimacy and marriage laws. His abiding interest in correcting legal

discrimination will inform his future work to an ever-stronger degree.

34

CHAPTER THREE

THE WOJL4N IN WHITE

Married Women and the Law

Married women· s lack of economic and legal identity was an important subject in

mid-nineteenth century England. In much ofCollins·s tiction tollowing The Dead

Secret. notably the wildly popular The Woman in White and .Vo ;Vwne. he demonstrat~o:s

how the law encouraged the victimization of women. His friend and mentor. Charles

Dickens. was primarily concerned with alleviating some of the miseries of the working

class through fiction that was romantic and often melodramatic. Collins. on the other

hand. almost invariably gathered his materials from among the middle classes: according

to Walter C. Phillips. he was less .. perturbed ... about the social or political future of the

masses ... than either Dickens or [Charles) Reade .. ( 122). and his novels dealing with

social retorm usually involved questions oflaw.

A tangential element in The Dead Secret-the laws affecting married women· s

property-becomes a prominent theme in Collins·s next novel. and his O\\TI favorite: The

Woman in White. In England during the decades ofthe 1850s and 1860s .. the woman

question .. provided considerable debate. especially about the prejudicial marriage and

divorce laws: but as Kieran Dolin maintains. the process of altering the status quo was

35

painfully slow and "intensely political ... [and] the legal status of women ... for many

legislators was of minor importance'' (30). The whole legal system. Graham Law points

out. from the electorate to the judiciary to the assembly. was an entirely male institution

until after the end of the Victorian era ( 13 ). Consequently. in 1856 Parliament failed to

pass the tirst married women's property bill submitted by liberal Members who were

attempting to revise the common-law doctrine of coverture (Nayder 73 ).

Under English common law until 1870. a married woman had no legal idt!ntity:

the husband exercised almost complete control of the wife and her property and earnings

(MacEachen 134 ). In Commentaries on the Laws of England ( 1765-69). William

Blackstone expressed the doctrine of coverture: ··the very being or legal existence of a

\Voman is suspended. or at least it is incorporated or consolidated in that of the husband.

under whose \ving. protection and cover she performs everything. and she is therefore

called in our law afeme covert" (qtd. in Nayder 73). In theory as well as in practice.

upon marriage a nineteenth-century woman exchanged all her rights as an individual tor

the "cover" provided by her husband: the t\VO parties become "one:· and that one is the

husband.

John Reed. while acknowledging that "not until 1882 were married women

declared mistresses of their own property" ( l 06), disputes the claim of total oppression of

Victorian women once they married. arguing that marriage settlements. "in actual fact ...

much modi tied the operations of the Jaw ... [and] were designed to protect a woman· s

rights. which the law denied'' (501 n.4). A limited group. however. was in a position to

avail itself of this shield. Although a marriage settlement provided some measure of

36

protection for a wife's property, the requirement of knowledge about this safeguard and

the expense of obtaining legal assistance to achieve it effectively placed it beyond the

reach of any but the wealthy. Accordingly. as Dougald MacEachen points out. ··wives of

the upper classes enjoyed rights that wives of the lower classes were entirely ignorant of.

Here. as in other cases. there was one law for the rich and another for the poor·· ( 134 ).

In much of his tiction. Collins seamlessly combines his fascination with the la\V

and his sincere advocacy for the measures married women were seeking. In The Woman

in White he demonstrates the inequalities of the laws that purport to grant protection to

women by showing how coverture and the marriage settlement are two areas of the law

that Nayder claims ··work against each other. and thus discredit the authority and logic of

the law·· (80). Coverture was an established doctrine of common law. \vhercas a properly

drawn (and costly) marriage settlement was based on the law of equity. which provided

for certain stipulated properties (real or personal) of the wife being held separately under

the management of a trustee and overseen by the Court of Chancery.

Parliament added to the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 a clause

which granted "feme sole·· status to wives who were legally separated from their

husbands: in other words. they could now enjoy the same property rights enjoyed by

single women. This gain. however. as Nayder notes. did not include any degree of

financial autonomy to women who \Vere living with their husbands: such progress would

not occur until the passage ofthe first Married Women·s Property Act in 1870 (73). One

of the most intluential forces behind this achievement was John Stuart Mill. in 1865 ··the

first eminent feminist" to be elected to Parliament (Basch 14 ). His most famous

37

argument for legal and political equality for women. The Subjection of JVomen. was

published in 1869-eight years after The Woman in White appeared with its implicit

attack on the justification for coverture-although Mill had been wTiting it since 1861.

Meanwhile. still subject to common law. ··the \vife"s personal chattels vested

absolutely in her husband on marriage and any personalty which she acquired during

marriage (such as money earned by or bequeathed to her) followed the same course··

(Reed 106).

From Maid Marian to Detective in Petticoats

Most Victorians by the beginning of the 1860s were aware of the increasingly

charged atmosphere surrounding women·s demands for economic and legal autonomy.

In addition. Jenny Bourne Taylor asserts. the ··middle-class cultural crisis·· experienced as

a ··sense of continuous and rapid change. of shocks. thrills. intensity. excitement"" (Secret

Theatre 1-3) led to the period being described as the ··age of sensation:· This was the

state of affairs that existed at the time Wilkie Collins was \\Tiling what has become

generally acknowledged as the novel that inaugurated the decade of sensation tiction. The

Woman in White.'

Skillfully incorporated into the novel are issues that intrigued people of the day.

including questions of identity. false incarceration in lunatic asylums. fraud. illegitimacy

and the status of married women. Equally impressive is the range of characters. together

38

with the interplay of relationships. validating Collins· s literary principle as expressed in

his Preface to the second edition ( 1861) of The Woman in White:

[ have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of a work of tiction should be to tell a story ... [t may be possible in novel-writing to present characters successfully without telling a story: but it is not possible to tell a story successfully without presenting characters: their existence. as recognizable realities. being the sole condition on which the story can be effectively told. (xiv)

Serialized in Dickens. s weekly ..1// the rear Round between November 26. 1859

and August 25. 1860. the novel \Vas an instantaneous success. and circulation of the

magazine surpassed even the high ligures generated by Dickens· s well-received A Tale of

Two Cities (Peterson 40). Crowds mobbed the magazine·s oftices to snatch up each new

issue. and parlor games were developed in which players tried to guess the content of the

next installment (Beetz 9). The Woman in White was equally popular in America with its

simultaneous serialization in Harper ·s Magazine. When published in book form in

August 1860. it enjoyed a similar triumph. The Woman in White had perfumes. waltzes.

quadrilles. bonnets and assorted other items named for her. and Edward FitzGerald

named his sailing lugger the Marian Halcomhe. The novel was enjoyed by Prince Albert.

Gladstone. Thackeray. and scullery maids. With The Woman in White. as William

Marshall observes ... Collins was able for the tirst time to attain close to full synthesis

bet\veen the qualities demanded by artistic integrity and by his readers .. (56).

Maners involving criminal justice fascinated Collins and he often drew upon real

criminal cases for inspiration in devising his complex plots. His two greatest novels. The

39

Woman in White and The AJoonstone. are tales of mystery and detection. heightened by

the structural device of using multiple narrators. Following Collins. Robert Browning

also relied on an actual trial from an old book he found in Florence for his verse narrative.

The Ring and the Book ( 1868-69). in which a crime is discussed from various viewpoints

(Wynne-Davies 373). There is no question that an actual French law case was Collins·s

primary source for the scheme to deprive Laura Fairlie of her fortune and her identity in

The Woman in White. Traveling with Dickens in 1856. Collins picked up an old volume

of criminal trials. Maurice Me jan. s Rec:ueil des Causes C elehres (1808 ). at a Paris

bookstall. lt detailed the conspiracy by the brother of Madame de Douhault. daughter of

a marquise. to steal the money she had inherited from her father. Contined in 1788 under

a false name in the Salpetriere. a Parisian lunatic asylum. she was presumed dead and her

brother and nephe\v inherited her estate. Although she escaped in 1789 with the hdp of a

friend. Madame de Douhault never succeeded in proving her legal identity or regaining

her property. 2

Collins adapted the blueprint of this case to fashion the central theme of The

Woman in White. He dramatized the ease with which unscrupulous relatives could

imprison sane people by incorporating his technique of pairing identities: Fosco· s

perfidious scheme to incarcerate Laura Fairlie is possible only because of the astonishing

resemblance between Laura and Anne Catherick. the \Voman in white who had escaped

from the private insane asylum.

Collins·s legal training certainly contributed to his ability to weave a complicated

plot: Dougald MacEachen asserts that this and his .. passion for orderly structure ... make

40

his romantic sensationalism different from that of Reade or Dickens·· ( 121 ). His

predilection for championing legal reforms is mingled with elements of the Gothic in The

Woman in White. acclaimed over a century later as "the finest mystery-thriller in the

language ... just as his other masterpiece. The A1oonstone. remains the tinest detective

story" (Richardson v). Praise for The Woman in White was especially generous from

critics who were themselves novelists. including Mrs. Margaret Oliphant. whose review

in Blackwood's Alagazine astutely applauds Collins's novel as

a most striking and original effort. sufficiently individual to be capable of originating a ne\v school in fiction .... His effects are produced by common human acts ... everything is legitimate. natural. and possible: all the exaggerations of excitement are carefully eschewed. and there is almost as little that is objectionable in this highly-\Hought sensation-novel. as if it had been a domestic history of the most gentle and unexciting kind.3

Far from "unexciting." however. is the effect of the adroit adaptation of the

Gothic and the romantic with the modern and familiar. abandoning the weird and

supernatural. and empowering the reader as judge and jury. The overall ingenuity of the

complex plot and its numerous interconnected mysteries: the technique of recreating the

courtroom experience by eliciting "testimony" from multiple narrators: and the creation

of a dynamic detective heroine in Marian and an urbane. charming villain in Count Fosco

place the novel far ahead of its numerous imitators.

Collins. like Dickens, was interested in the criminal trials of the day. all reported

in lurid detail by the press. Some became sources for his novels. if not in plot at least in

some details: for example. the incriminating nightgov.n in the Constance Kent case was

directly adapted for Tl1c ~\!oonstor:c. He also attended at least one celebrated trial in

41

1856, presumably that of notorious surgeon, William Palmer. the Rugeley poisoner. This

was the crime sensation of the decade. writes John Sutherland. and after twelve days of

testimony and brilliant prosecutorial presentation of purely circumstantial evidence.

Palmer was hanged (34).

For Collins. as Sutherland posits. the importance of this case to The Woman in

White was the legal precedent set by the trial. lt has been suggested that watching the

trial provided Collins with the inspiration for the narrative method he chose for the novd

(33-34. 40). For the future of detective tiction. however. the trial was signiticant in that

the forensic technique resulted in the then-unheard of ··fair play rule" of sharing with the

reader all information and clues as soon as they become known to the detective or

protagonist of the story.

By structuring the novel like the procedure followed in a court of la\v. Collins

draws the reader into the labyrinthine plot and establishes a sense of credibility. The

totality of the story emerges gradually. as each narrator relates his or her own distincti\·e

perspective of events. just as the myriad pieces of a jigsaw puzzle yield an image when

titted together. The tirst narrator and collector of evidence. Walter Hartright. explains the

process in the Preamble to The Woman in White:

As the Judge might once have heard it. so the Reader shall hear it now. No circumstance of importance. from the beginning to the end of the disclosure. shall be related on hearsay evidence .... Thus. the story here presented will be told by more than one pen. as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness-with the same object. in both cases. to present the truth always in its most direct and most intelligible aspect: and to trace the course of one complete series of events. by making the persons who have been most closely connected \\ith them. at each successi\'e stage._ relate their C\\11 experience. \Vord for \Vord. ( 1)

42

Although Hartright's narrative opens and closes the novel. and it is he who has

solicited the statements of the various contributors and acted as editor. linking the sundry

accounts into a cohesive chronicle. his is not the most authoritative voice heard. That

distinction must be accorded to Marian Halcombe. not merely because of her

extraordinary performance as a detective. but because her portion of the chain of

testimony is the most reliably accurate. Every other narrator·s contribution is ex post

facto. and therefore subject to individual bias and normal distortions of memory. Even

Walter. as editor. may not be exempt from a bit of unconscious self-gloritication in his

presentation of what he calls ··the tmth alw·ays in its most direct and most intelligible

aspect .. (I). Marian·s narrative. hmvever. comes directly from her diary. in which she

records events almost daily. And because of her special faculty for remembering minute

details. her entries prove invaluable in her investigations.

Despite the overwhelming commercial success of the novel. critical reception was

not all favorable. and the epithet ··sensational .. was applied in a derogatory sense by

moralistic reviewers (lonoff 55-57). Something of a corrective to these hostile reviews

appeared in 1865. when Henry James asserted in The Nation that Mary Elizabeth

Braddon. author of Lac(v Audley 's Secret ( 1862). not Collins. was the ··founder of the

sensation nover· despite her work having followed The Woman in White. James argued

that ··Mr. Collins·s productions deserve a more respectable name .... To read The

Woman in White requires ... intellectual effort:· Earlier in the same essay. James

observes:

43

To Mr. Collins belongs the credit of having introduced into fiction those most mysterious of mysteries. the mysteries which are at our own doors. This innovation gave a new impetus to the literature of horrors. It was fatal to the authority of Mrs. Radcliffe and her everlasting castle in the Apennines. What are the Apennines to us. or we to the Apennines? Instead of the terrors of Udolpho. we were treated to the terrors of the cheerful country-house and the busy London lodgings. And there is no doubt that these were infinitely the more terrible. Mrs. Radcliffe· s mysteries were romances pure and simple: while those of Mr. Wilkie Collins were stern reality. (Pagel22-24)

[n The Woman in White. Limmeridge House-the Cumberland home of Marian

and Laura-may qualify as ··cheerful"" in that the country setting is beautiful and serene.

the residents are well-bred and wealthy. and the only .. terror·· in its vicinity seems to exist

in the disturbed mind of a fugitive from an Asylum. In accordance with Collins·s

penchant for using the technique of doubling in his tiction. its opposite. geographically

and atmospherically. is the Hampshire estate of Sir Percival Glyde. Blackwater Park is

suffocatingly surrounded by forest. and its very name conjures up intimations of Mrs.

Radcliffe· s sinister castles. But one of the least Gothic yet most sensational scenes in the

novel. and arguably in the century·s literature. occurs in a very open. mundane setting at

the beginning of the story. Walter Hartright describes his tirst meeting with Anne

Catherick the night before leaving for Limmeridge. after visiting his mother and sister in

Hampstead. Strolling along the lonely road to London late at night. lost in thought.

in one moment. every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop by the touch of a hand laid lightly and suddenly on my shoulder from behind me .... There. in the middle of the broad. bright high-road-there. as if it had that moment sprung out ofthe earth or dropped from the heaven-stood the figure of a solitary Woman. dressed from head to foot in white garments. her face bent

44

in grave inquiry on mine. her hand pointing to the dark cloud over London. as [ faced her. ( 14)

Consensus is that Caroline Graves. Collins's mistress from about 1858 until his

death. was the original woman in white. According to John Guille Millais in his

biography of his father. artist John Millais. the story told to him by his father began \Vith

Charles and Wilkie Collins walking Millais home late one summer's night through the

semi-rurallanes of North London. They heard a woman· s scream of distress and then

saw a beautiful young woman dressed in white robes rush from a nearby garden ... tloaC

up to them. and suddenly move away into the shadows. Wilkie dashed after her and told

his friends the next day that he had caught up with the woman. who explained she had

been kept prisoner in a villa for many months by a brutal man: she tinally tled when her

captor threatened to dash her brains out. Millais concluded with tht! ambiguous

comment. ··Her subsequent history. interesting as it is. is not for these pages ... 5

Certainly as significant as his originating what would become a new literary genre

is Collins's portrayal of women. which Tamar Heller claims is .. particularly sympathetic

and unconventional for a Victorian male novelist" (3). One of his most effective

characters. Marian Halcombe. has been greatly admired since her tirst appearance in print

despite (or perhaps because ot) her nontraditional role as detective. Dark-haired and

.. ugly:· she is the diametrical opposite of her half-sister Laura Fairlie. in character as well

as in looks: she possesses qualities traditionally considered masculine along with those

considered feminine. Like other strong Collins heroines. however. she never becomes

completely .. mannish'' because. O'Fallon argues. she has been endowed with a very

45

womanly figure (229). Marian lingers in memory as one ofCollins·s most sensual.

subtly erotic characters partly because she is first presented through the eyes of a male

who is also an artist. but whose notion of feminine beauty is circumscribed by prevailing

Victorian standards. Paradoxically. he soon comes to respect her forthrightness and

intelligence and to value her friendship. but he never perceives her as sexually attractive

because of her irregular appearance.

When Walter Hartright arrives from London to take up his position as dra\ving­

master at Limmeridge House on the northern coast near Scotland. his tirst view of Marian

Halcombe is as she stands at a window with her back towards him. Covertly admiring

··the rare beauty of her form.'" his artist" s eye notes her tall. well-developed tigure and

graceful attitude: as a healthy twenty-eight year old male he practically salivates when

gazing at her waist: ··perfection in the eyes of a man. for it occupied its natural place. it

filled out its natural circle. it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by stays .. (24 ).

Obviously Collins is addressing this passage to his male readers. going as far as he can to

titillate them without scandalizing the critics. Assuming that such pulchritude would be

totalized in the lady when he observes the .. easy elegance of every movement of her limbs

and body.'" Walter was ··in a flutter of expectation to see her face clearly"" as she moved

toward him. His shock is palpable and comical as he observes. ""The lady is dark .... The

lady is young .... The lady is ugly!"" (24).

Initially ··almost repelled" by the inappropriate contradiction of the

voluptuousness ofMarian"s body and her strikingly unfeminine face. Walter deems it a

flagrant error of Nature that

46

The lady· s complexion was almost swarthy. and the dark down on her upper lip was almost a moustache. She had a large. firm, masculine mouth and jaw: prominent. piercing. resolute brown eyes; and thick. coal-black hair. growing unusually low down on her forehead. Her expression-bright. frank. and intelligent-appeared. while she was silent to be altogether wanting in those feminine attractions of gentleness and pliability. without which the beauty of the handsomest woman alive is beauty incomplete. (24-25)

Walter's disappointment that Marian fails to meet his criterion of ideal beauty is

counterbalanced by his appreciation that Marian's body is ··undeformed by stays" (or

restraints). His ambivalent teelings epitomize the Victorian cultural attitude regarding the

"natural place" women were expected to occupy. and the tear of female independence.

Collins need go no further than sketch a physiognomical description in order tor

his readers to inter various aspects of Marian· s personality: a large. mobile mouth was a

sign of sensuality. and a high or broad forehead an indication of intelligence. Although

Walter sees Marian· s "firm" mouth and jaw as "masculine ... her secret attraction to Count

Fosco betrays her sensual nature. Like Rosamond Frankland of The Dead Secret. Marian

has "piercing. resolute brown eyes ... an intimation of alertness and determination.

invaluable assets for someone who will soon be thrust into the role of detective. A

heroine with a strong. square chin would be understood to be more \Villful and energetic

than Victorian women were expected to be. By contrast. the lower part of Laura Fairlie's

face is "too delicately refined ... to be in full and fair proportion \Vith the upper part"

( 40). suggesting a lack of forcefulness (Fahnestock 339-41 ).

Marian· s welcoming smile and "clear. ringing. pleasant voice" cause her face to

47

introduction. ''Shall we shake hands? I suppose we must come to it sooner or later-and

why not sooner?'' (25). hints at an unfeminine straightforwardness that adds to his

confusion. This fusion of masculine and feminine qualities. however. enables her to

occupy the role of detective and. as Kimberley Reynolds and Nicola Humble claim. ··to

reject some ... of the constraints of her feminine role without being compromised in the

novel's terms .. (54).

The duality of Marian· s nature continually crops up throughout the novel. tirst as

noticed through Walter's eyes: he accurately recognizes her .. easy. unaffected self­

reliance .. as the quality of .. a highly-bred woman .. \vhose .. naturalness and an easy inborn

confidence in herself and her position ... would have secured her the respect of the most

audacious man breathing .. (25. 26). This judgment is manifested in the unequivocal

admiration directed at Marian by the novel's most intriguing and multi-faceted male

character. the cosmopolitan villain Count Fosco. Hartrighfs conventionally English

concept of ideal femininity is in marked contrast to that of the urbane. worldly Fosco.

who has no such inbred prejudice. The discerning foreigner bases his estimation not on

superticial qualities. but is impressed with Marian· s intelligence and self-contidence.

On the other hand. Marian is selt:deprecating and frequently disparages women in

general: .. You see I don't think much of my own sex. Mr. Hartright ... no woman does

think much of her own sex. although few of them confess it as freely as I do:· She and

her sister are inseparable. she explains. and although she professes no talent for drawing

( .. Women can't draw-their minds are too flighty. and their eyes are too inattentive .. ). she

makes the attempt because Laura enjoys it. With a refreshing absence of false modesty.

48

Marian then admits to other skills at games involving intelligence and logic: .. [ can match

you at chess. backgammon. ecarte ... even billiards as well .. (27).

Briefly explaining her family history and relationships. she tells Walter that she

and Laura had the same mother: that her O\vn father. ··a poor man:· was the late Mrs.

Fairlie·s first husband. and that Laura·s rich father. Philip Fairlie. was her second: his

younger brother Frederick is Laura·s uncle and her legal guardian until she reaches the

age of twenty-one. She concludes her sketch with a droll comparison. extolling Laura

and ironically positioning herself as a devil:

Except that we are both orphans. we are in every respect as unlikt.! each other as possible .... l have got nothing. and she has a fortune. I am dark and ugly. and she is fair and pretty. Everybody thinks me crabbed and odd ... everybody thinks her sweet-tempered and charming .... ln short. she is an angel: and I am-Try some ofthat marmalade. Mr. Hartright. and tinish the sentence. in the name of female propriety. for yourself. (26)

Thus prepared by Marian. it is not surprising that the parochial Walter falls in love with

Laura Fairlie at tirst sight. She is the embodiment of his feminine ideal: pretty. fair

haired. blue eyed. with a slender body and delicate features. Decidedly demure. she

represents no threat to Walter·s masculinity.

Possessing the vaunted womanly virtues-kindness. passivity. innocence and self-

abnegation-Laura is the model for Collins·s expression of disapproval of the subservient

status into which custom and the law forced women. and ofthe destructive results of such

unwholesome tradition. Jeanne Bedell suggests this is doubly effective since the only

defense ofwoman·s traditional role is given by Fosco (16). lt is these very qualities that

49

Marian·s divergence from the stereotype fostered by the Victorian patriarchal culture

positions her among the ranks of other transgressive Collins heroines. Not only are her

innate characteristics of independence and forthrightness .. unladylike:· but her physical

exploits represent an undeniable threat to the concept of male superiority.

Although Marian casually dismisses women as having .. inattentive .. eyes. she is

herself an exception. She shares with Rosamond Frankland the sharp eye and strong

sense of curiosity necessary for detective work. But Marian· s effectivt:ness as a sleuth is

due to much more than curiosity. She demonstrates an ability to make reasoned decisions

and to function sensibly and swiftly when circumstances demand immediate action.

Equally important. she has a particularly accurate memory and records daily events and

observations in her diary. which plays a signiticant role in the novel. While Anne

Rod way· s diary simply serves as a memoir. Collins elevates Marian· s journal to an

essential tool in the contest against Glyde and Fosco. Her detailed entries serve as

references for locating witnesses and as important clues to pre\·iously overlooked

connections between characters and events.

After hearing ofWalter·s extraordinary and unsettling encounter \vith the

mysterious woman in white and of the woman·s connection with Limmeridge. Marian

declares ... , am all atlame with curiosity. and I devote my whole energies to the business

of discovery from this momenC (29). She is also circumspect. suggesting that they

refrain from speaking of it to anyone else until they can clear up the mystery. which task

she bel!ins bv lookinl! over her mother·s old letters. Contradictinl! her own comments ~ - ~ ~

about the foolishness of women. she assures Walter ... This is a matter of curiosity: and

50

you have got a woman for your ally. Under such conditions success is certain. sooner or

later·· (39).

Marian's ··penetrating eyes·· alert her to the as-yet unacknowledged love

developing between Laura and the agreeable drawing-master. Her decisiveness coupled

with "hearty kindness" prompt her to confront Walter in her own ··blunt. downright

language" and ask him to leave Limmeridge ··before more harm is done:· not because of

··social inequalities" but because of Laura· s impending marriage. Sensitive to his shock

and pain. Marian urges. "Crush it! ... Don·t shrink under it like a woman. Tear it out:

trample it under toot like a man!·· (59).

Laura has passively acquiesced to her engagement to Sir Percival Glyde. approved

by her father betore his death. Although her feelings tor Hartright have nO\v created

misgivings about marrying the much older baronet. she yields to her sense of tilial

obligation and consents to the wedding. Frankly assessing the common practice of

arranged marriages. the pragmatic Marian remarks to Walter that Laura is ··in the position

of hundreds of other women. who marry men without being greatly attracted to them or

greatly repelled by them. and \Vho learn to love them (when they don·t learn to hate!)

after marriage. instead of before" (60).

Marian is relieved not to have to invoke "matters of rank and station" in

discussing the unsuitability of any liaison between Walter and Laura. but her mere

allusion to the subject suggests that the question would have arisen had the romance

progressed. Walter comes from a genteel but far from wealthy family. and as a working

professionaL his station is considerably below that of his students. Well aware of the

51

system of class hierarchies by which he must abide. he nonetheless resents the

humiliating and emasculating restrictions it imposes upon him: .. 1 had long since learnt

... that my situation in life was considered a guarantee against any of my female pupils

feeling more than the most ordinary interest in me. and that l \Vas admitted among

beautiful and captivating women much as a harmless domestic animal is admitted among

them .. (53).

In fact. Hartright does seem as mild and unassuming as the watercolor paintings

studiously daubed by his beloved Laura. He exhibits almost as many feminine character

traits as Marian does masculine ones: as the practical but kindly Mr. Gilmore comments

the day before Walter leaves Limmeridge ... You are a young man. and you take the

romantic view .. (102). lt is only in the latter part ofthe novel that Walter is saved from

appearing weak and ineffective. when he returns from his adventures in Central America

\Vith survival skills that equip him to help Marian oppose the \vily and dangerous Count

Fosco.

Collins's knowledge of wills and marriage settlements provides authenticity for

the main plotline of The Woman in While. Mr. Gilmore's narrative outlines the history of

the Fairlie fortune. from the entailed succession of the Limmeridge estate. to details of

various trusts and bequests. Under the terms of her father's will. Laura is to inherit the

sum of £20.000 absolutely on attaining the age oft\venty-one. plus a life interest in

another £10.000. the principal ofv.:hich will then go to her aunt Eleanor (Count Fosco's

wife). Upon her uncle's death. Laura will also have the £3.000 annual income from the

real property for life. Should she predecease her husband. he will receive that income for

-., )_

his life. but the estate itself will be inherited by any son she may produce. To Gilmore·s

horror and indignation. the settlement he is instructed to prepare stipulates that Percival

Glyde will be entitled to the £20.000 outright in the event Laura should die childless.

thereby debarring Marian or other legatees from inheriting any money under Laura·s will.

which she may execute only after she turns twenty-one. Thus. the legal document

intended to protect Laura· s inheritance has become the instrument for a ruthless plot to

deny her of all economic autonomy and legal identity.

Marian·s investigative competence is called upon when her suspicions are aroused

by a mysterious letter from Anne Catherick: she inquires into Sir Percival"s background.

but has been cleverly anticipated. She is forced to admit that the courteous and charming

suitor appears to be above reproach and is reassured that Laura will be treated \Vith love

and respect.

lnvited to live with the newlyweds. Marian moves to Blackwater Park bdore they

return from their six-month honeymoon in Italy. accompanied by Count Fosco and his

wife. Upon her arrival at the estate. Marian retlects on the cultural expectations tor

spinsters of good family and resigns herself to .. [b ]eing ... nothing but a woman.

condemned to patience. propriety. and petticoats tor life·· (174). Almost immediately.

however. she must discard that role as she places herself in direct opposition to Sir

Percival" s physical and psychological abuse of Laura. The impeccable manners and

loving attentiveness he exhibited while courting Laura have been replaced with contempt

and harshness. Laura·s plea to Marian. ··promise you will never marry. and leave me. lt

is selfish to say so. but you are so much better off as a single woman-unless-unless you

53

are very fond of your husband" ( 188) not only reveals her o\\n unhappiness. but

represents a pc,werful argument against the totally dependent status of married women

generally.

Financially embarrassed. Glyde attempts to coerce Laura into signing a legal

document that he refuses to allow her to read. With unexpected resolution. Laura

declines to sign: Mr. Gilmore had always explained any papers before she signed.

Perfectly pinpointing a wife· s subservient position. Glyde aggressively declares that the

lav,ryer "was your servant. and was obliged to explain. I am your husband. and am nvr

obliged" {217).

Marian determines to renew her investigation of Sir Percival. seeking any weapon

to shield her sister from his intimidation. She \Hites to Mr. Kyrle. Gilmore· s partner. tor

legal advice. and angrily warns Glyde. "There are laws in England to protect women from

cruelty and outrage. If you hurt a hair of Laura's head. if you dare to interfere with my

freedom. come what may. to those laws I will appeal" (262). Gradually relinquishing her

··proper·· conduct in order to obtain as much infonnation as possible. Marian even stoops

to eavesdropping on Glyde and his lawyer in the hallway. As her suspicions grow that

Glyde and Fosco are concealing some important secret. she recognizes the need to devise

some strategy of her O\vn to uncover it. She resolves to conceal her feelings from the

Foscos and to appear conciliatory. while detesting the role: .. [. \Vho once mercilessly

despised deceit in other women. was as false as the \vorst of them .. (274).

The one person with any moderating influence on Sir Percival is his closest

friend. Count Fosco. a massive. sixty-year old Italian who resembles Napoleon. Marian

54

finds herself beguiled by him even as she mistrusts him: ··1 am almost afraid to confess it.

even to these secret pages. The man has interested me. has attracted me. has forced me to

like him'' ( 192). Her feelings toward him have a distinct sexual overtone. as she

describes "the most unfathomable grey eyes [ ever saw ... they have at times a cold.

clear. beautifuL irresistible glitter in them which forces me to look at him. and yet causes

me sensations. when [ do look. which I would rather not feel" ( 193 ). She exhibits her

kinship with the women she had been fond of disparaging. as she admits to being

charmed by "that secret gentleness in his voice in speaking to a wom1n. which ... we can

none of us resist" ( 194 ).

[t is the intrepid Marian who first suspects that Glyde and Fosco have concocted a

sinister plan involving her sister. and who then endangers her O\Vn lite in uncovering it.

months before Walter returns to England. [n the first days at Blackwater Park. she

analyzes her ambivalent feelings about the engaging. kno\vledgeable Count. who "t1atters

my vanity by talking to me as seriously and sensibly as if I \Vas a man .... He can

manage me as he manages his wife and Laura ... [and] Sir Percival himself' ( 197). Yet.

as her words suggest. she also discerns the calculation behind his wit and degance. and

observes. "I certainly never saw a man. in all my experience. \vhom [should be so sorry

to have for an enemy. ls this because I like him. or because I am afraid of him?" ( 198).

The suggestion is that the latter condition applies. as Marian observes the powerful

influence Fosco has on Glyde. She cautions Laura. ··Whatever you do. don't make an

enemy of the Count!" (220).

55

Collins suggests that an Englishman might view a woman with a decisive nature

and intelligent mind as a threat. whereas the more sophisticated Fosco would value such

qualities. Furthennore. Marian has been away .. completing my education at a school in

Paris" (47). presumably giving her a more cosmopolitan world-view than the insular

perspective commonly dispensed in England. Yet the count has managed to repress in his

own wife that which he so admires in Marian. Echoing the heart of English marriage

laws. he comments that he and his wife .. have but one opinion between us. and that

opinion is mine·· (216). Collins portrays the metamorphosis of the vain. flirtatious

Eleanor Fairlie into a caricature of the modest. subservient w·ife. When single. she had

··advocated the Rights of Women:· which. Marian remarks. included .. freedom of female

opinion .. : as the icy Madame Fosco. she ··wait[sJ to be instructed .. before ··ventur[ing her!

opinion in the presence of w·ell-infonned men .. (207). and often gazes at her husband

.. with the look of mute submissive inquiry which we are all familiar with in the eyes of a

faithful dog .. ( 191 ).

Marian· s forays into the field of detection become more urgent as she realizes that

she and Laura are under surveillance and their correspondence is being intercepted. She

also discovers that Sir Percival dreads exposure of a secret that will ruin him. which he

knows the elusive Anne Catherick possesses and will reveal if not prevented. Marian

conceals from Laura her urge to kill Glyde \vhen she sees the bruises on her sister·s arm.

but she tries to put the compliant Laura on her guard ... because our endurance must end.

and our resistance must begin to-day'· (268). Marian· s resourcefulness and bravery are

tested many times before Walter's reappearance. As the only protector of her sister. she

56

at tirst tries to counteract the machinations of the two greedy conspirators by invoking the

law. Finding that she is virtually powerless to obtain such intervention. she meets every

challenge independently. without legal or familial support.

When Marian overhears Fosco and Glyde arrange to hold a secret meeting in the

library late at night. she casts scruples aside in order to spy on them. She realizes the

gravity of the situation when she learns that Fosco has delayed the talk until Marian has

gone to bed because "She is sharp enough to suspect something. and bold enough to

come downstairs and listen" (285). Marian's reaction emphasizes her courage. and

typifies Collins· s practice of blurring gender roles by casting an unconventional heroine

in the traditionally masculine role of detective.

Aware of Fosco's power and ofGiyde's vicious temper. Marian nevertheless

determines to eavesdrop on their meeting. in one of the novel's most memorable and

stereotype-shattering scenes. In a resourceful and decidedly masculine maneuver. she

climbs out her window and along the narrow roof of the verandah in order to spy on the

conspirators who are sitting at the open doors of the library below. She strips off her

cumbersome evening clothing. dons a dark flannel petticoat and hooded black cloak. and

stealthily crouches for an hour in a cold midnight rain. listening as the men review their

problems. Fosco extracts from Percival full authority to handle the situation. assuring his

friend that he can locate Anne Catherick and protect Glyde · s oppressive secret. as \veil as

gain possession of Lady Glyde's money. Territied. Marian returns to her room. soaked

but undetected. and before collapsing in a fever records the conversation in her journal.

including Fosco· s chastising of Glyde for not appreciating that

57

Miss Halcombe ... has the foresight and the resolution of a man. With that woman for my enemy. I. with all my brains and experience-[. Fosco. cunning as the devil himself ... [walk. in your English phrase. upon egg-shells! And this grand creature. who stands in the strength of her love and her courage. firm as a rock. between us two and that poor. tlimsy. pretty blonde wife of yours-this magnificent woman ... [ admire with all my soul. though [ oppose her in your interests and in mine. (291)

Marian's nocturnal act of espionage in the chilling rain results in typhus fever.

defeating her intention to get Laura away from Blackwater Park or even to warn her of

imminent danger. Signiticantly. no sooner does Marian identify the danger than she is

stricken helpless. delirious with fever and unable to communicate. Her journal entry

fades into meaningless scribbles. and she is reduced to the more conventional role of

dependent invalid. Collins suggests that Marian· s acts of deception are so contrary to her

character that her physical and mental health must suffer. Her debilitating illness not

only functions as a plot device to strip Laura of protection. but also foreshadov.;s the

devastating effects on mind and body suffered by Laura after her kidnapping and

incarceration. Magdalen Vanstone. the even more rebellious protagonist of .Vo :'lame. is

similarly stricken with a life-threatening illness following her detiance of society· s code

of propriety. Both Marian and Magdalen must be "purged" of their transgressive

identities through the catharsis of a physical breakdown (as former feminist crusader

Madame Fosco has been tamed by the count's dominating personality) in order to restore

the gender norms.

During the an.xious weeks of Marian· s nearly fatal illness. the exhausted Laura is

tricked into going to London. where she is drugged and substituted for Anne Catherick in

58

the same private Asylum from which Anne has previously escaped. Similarly duped.

Anne dies suddenly in Fosco ·s house on July 25. 1850. and is buried as Lady Glyde in

her •·mother" s .. grave at Limmeridge. When Marian. recuperating at Blackwater. is

informed of her sister" s ··death:· she has a relapse and three weeks elapse before she can

travel to London to investigate the circumstances of the death. There she consults with

Mr. Kyrle. whose discreet inquiries fail to uncover any discrepancies. and he writes to her

at Limmeridge that her .. shocking suspicion .. has not .. the smallest fragment of

foundation in truth .. (374).

Marian is familiar with Count Fosco· s expertise as a chemist and his cynical

opinion of the law and society·s conventional \visdom. however. and cannot dismiss her

feelings of distrust. [n a general discussion about crime. Fosco has sneered at

how easily Society can console itself for the worst of its shortcomings with a little bit of clap-trap. The machinery it has set up for the detection of crime is miserably ineffective .... [T]here are foolish criminals who are discovered. and wise criminals who escape. The hiding of a crime. or the detection of a crime ... [is] a trial of skill between the police on one side. and the individual on the other .... When the criminal is a resolute. educated. highly­intelligent man. the police in nine cases out of ten lose. (207)

Marian· s weakened condition requires a month-long convalescence at

Limmeridge, but she never abandons her conviction that Laura's death was the result of

foul play. [n the days before the establishment of a professional police detective force.

Marian has no recourse but to retain the services of private investigators. She arranges to

have the Foscos and their associates. the Rubelles (Mrs. Rubelle had nursed Marian at

Blackwater). secretly watched in London. The surveillance reveals nothing doubtful in

59

each instance. and Marian also learns that Sir Percival Glyde is now living quietly in

Paris.

Refusing to accept the realistic advice of experienced professionals. Marian

pursues her detective efforts on her own. Clues gleaned from her journal entries and

curiosity about Anne Catherick lead Marian to the Asylum to learn why the poor.

delusional woman insisted. as Fosco·s letter to Mr. Fairlie had warned. that she was really

Lady Glyde. When the patient turns out to be the true Laura. physically and mentally

weakened from her ordeal. Marian realizes that only an immediate rescue will save her

sister· s fragile sanity: even if an appeal to the law were successful. the delay would result

in Laura· s further deterioration. Marian bribes the nurse to assist in effecting the escape:

her presence of mind insures that any pursuers will be set on a false trail. and she tkes

with Laura to the safety of Limmeridge.

It is when Mr. Fairlie. believing Count Fosco·s clever \Hitten caution. refuses to

recognize Laura as his niece and orders them from the house that Marian comprehends

that the scheme to convince the world of Laura· s death has succeeded. The sisters visit

the cemetery before quitting the area. and in an extraordinarily .. sensational"" episode at

the grave where Anne Catherick is buried and the name .. Laura. Lady Glyde .. is inscribed

on the tombstone. they encounter Walter Hartright. freshly returned from his own

adventures.

The reunion marks the beginning of the Third Epoch of the novel. in which the

three fugitives conceal themselves in the working-class anonymity of London· s populous

East End. With her characteristic common sense. Marian performs household chores

60

herself rather than risk hiring a servant. and she and Walter work to restore Laura· s

shattered health. Walter supports them all on his modest earnings and continues the

detective work begun by Marian: together they overstep legal and moral boundaries in

order to restore to Laura what is rightfully hers.

In the Preamble. Walter Hartright suggests a dissatisfaction with the legal system

in England as it existed at the time the novel is set. between 1849 and 1850. Before the

passage of the Police Act of 1856. which established a professional detective force to deal

with increasingly clever criminals. only those who could aftord to provide what Hartright

dubs ··the lubricating intluences of oil of golu·· could expect assistance. as ··the Law is

still. in certain inevitable cases. the pre-engaged servant of the long purse·· (I). Whereas

Glyde and Fosco can utilize their wealth and position to manipulate the lav.· and protect

their secrets. Walter and Marian learn. paradoxically. that the only way they can

accomplish their mission of exposing the criminals is to work outside legal boundaries.

By circumventing the law. however. they are themselves drawn into the ··vital

·countenvorld" that is asocial and amorar· that. U. C. Knoeptlmacher asserts. ··lurks··

beneath the ··ordered. civilized world of conventional beliefs·· of Victorian society (352-

53).

As Walter observes in his concluding narrative. when all obstacles have been

overcome ... It was strange to look back and to see, now. that the poverty which had

denied us all hope of assistance had been the indirect means of our success. by torcing me

to act for myself. If we had been rich enough to find legal help. what would have been

the result?'" (563). He cites instances in which the law would have been no help

61

whatsoever in obtaining vital information about Glyde's secret and in achieving

retribution. Interestingly, however. Walter does not "act for himself' without the

collaboration and urging of Marian Halcombe. whose desire for revenge puts the steel in

his backbone.

By dramatizing the necessity for proof in order to expose the criminals. Collins

implicitly criticizes the way the law was manipulated in the Palmer murder trial by

reversing the situation in The Woman in White. In the Palmer case. a conviction was

obtained solely on the basis of circumstantial evidence. whereas the protagonists of his

novel must deal with legal requisites as they were meant to be administered. Mr. Kyrle

informs Walter that without proof he has no case: nothing but hard evidence presented in

a court of law will prove the fraud perpetrated against Laura: ··When an English jury has

to choose between a plain fact on the surface and a long explanation under the surface. it

always takes the fact in preference to the explanation" (399). Walter realizes that with

regard to the villains. "the justice that sits in tribunals is powerless to pursue them" and

that "the legal remedy lies ... beyond our means. We cannot produce the la\v proof. and

we are not rich enough to pay the law expenses" (40 I).

Walter is intrigued by the ominous secret whose revelation Sir Percival will go to

any lengths to prevent. but desire for revenge against the mastermind of the conspiracy

impels Marian to urge Walter. "if ever those two men are at your mercy. and if you are

obliged to spare one of them. don't let it be the Count" (404). Her hatred for Fosco is

intensified because he has not only read her private diary during her illness at Blackwater.

but in a humiliating act of patriarchal authority. "Tote a postscript after her own

62

handwriting trailed off into illegibility and then returned it to her. D. A. Miller regards

this act of Fosco ·s as ··virtual rape·· and .. the most shocking moment .. for the reader (162-

63). Marian not only feels personally violated by this invasion of privacy but is repelled

by his regarding her as ·•a person of similar sensibility .. to himself (304 ).

When Fosco. during Walter·s absence. appears at the secret London refuge ofthe

beleaguered menage a trois after Percival Glyde. s fiery death. Marian again demonstrates

her quick wit and sound judgment. What she seems to take tor granted is a rare attribute

in Victorian heroines: .. If one can think at all. in serious difficulties. one thinks quick:·

she tells Walter after her confrontation with Fosco ( 495). She wisely chooses to conceal

her loathing and find out what he wants. rather than remain in the dark and worry about

what further insidious action he might take. But her abhorrence for the instigator of

Laura·s incarceration is so strong. she tells Walter. that ··My hands tingled to strike him.

as ifl had been a man!"" (495).

The count makes it clear that his sincere admiration for Marian and sympathy for

her feelings restrains him from forcing Laura back to the Asylum. but his generosity

includes a veiled threat. He \vams her that Hartright should proceed no further in his

campaign against Fosco because ··He has a man of brains to deal with. a man who snaps

his big fingers at the laws and conventions of society. when he measures himself with

ME"' (497). Distrusting his assurances. l\larian instantly resolves to move to new quarters

in a distant. quiet neighborhood. and informs Walter of their new address.

The protagonists also have to maneuver around ··the lmvs and conventions of

society" and rely on their own cleverness and guile in order to vanquish the brilliant and

63

impenetrable defenses designed by the count's Machiavellian mind. Walter·s friend.

Professor Pesca. is the link to Fosco"s O\\TI deadly secret. his connection with a powerful

Italian secret society known as the Brotherhood. This revelation gives Walter the

leverage enabling him to blackmail the count into tumishing the proofs necessary to

reinstall Laura to her rightful position in society. Fosco· s betrayal of the Brotherhood

results in his assassination in Paris.

Collins was fond of creating strong-willed. resourcetul heroines who succeed by

dint of perseverance against all advice. Prior to The Woman in White. never has a

heroine in sensation fiction overcome such daunting odds. acting independently and

audaciously. as Marian Halcombe. Unable to conquer obstacles by means of traditional

legal remedies. she staunchly turns away from the conventions of a society that has failed

to protect her sister and unhesitatingly enters the ··counterworld"" of transgression.

Although the Preamble of The Woman in White professes to present ··the story of

what a Woman·s patience can endure. and \Vhat a Man·s resolution can achieve·· ( 1 ). the

greatest achievements in the story are those accomplished because of Marian· s resolution.

Walter has indeed been transformed into a tenacious and successful investigator. but he

reappears after Marian· s successful sleuthing and rescue of Laura. Contrary to acting

alone. he has had the benefit of Marian· s advice and help: even his crucial weapon

against the brilliant Fosco is supplied by Pesca. Furthermore. Percival Glyde accidentally

causes his own death in the church tire while attempting to destroy evidence of his

illegitimacy. and Fosco's murder results from events unconnected with the protagonists.

Marian. on the other hand. undertakes a horrendous challenge w·ithout the support of the

64

law or any family member. As a detective she identifies danger. meets cunning with

cunning, bravely faces threats head-on. literally risks life and limb. and single-handedly

rescues her sister from the mad-house.

After presenting a tale that captured the breathless interest of the public with its

melding of mystery. suspense. detection and the uncanny. Collins steps back inside the

boundaries of social customs and mores. The novel ends conventionally with .. proper ..

roles restored: Walter and Laura are happily married and Marian is metamorphosed from

merciless avenger to .. good angel:· contentedly occupying a subsidiary role as aunt to

their son. the .. Heir ofLimmeridge .. (569).

65

CHAPTER FOUR

:VONAl!E

Wilkie Collins was one of the most vigorous Victorian champions of those

oppressed by unjust laws. especially those regarding illegitimacy. This topic is central to

The Dead Secret and is an important sub-plot in The Woman in JVhite. affecting both

Percival Glyde and Anne Catherick. It is in No .Vame. howt!ver. that Collins most overtly

criticizes the legal system that declares that an illegitimate child is officially a nonentity.

It is reasonable to assume that his O\\TI irregular domestic arrangements were ont! reason

he advocated reform of the egregious laws. and he was careful to amend his own will to

insure that his illegitimate children were provided for.

Nv Name 1 was published in weekly installments in All the Year Rvuncl from

March 1862 to January 1863: it also appeared in Harper ·s Weekly in the United States.

Although Collins was suffering from the rheumatic gout \vhich plagued him with

increasing severity for the rest of his life. he tinished the novel by Christmas: it was

published on December 31. 1862. with nearly four thousand copies sold on the tirst day

(Peters. King of Inventors 247).

As Collins·s editor. Dickens praised the novel. but it did not take long for such

reviewers as H. F. Chorley in The Athenaeum to express indignation that Magdalen

Vanstone. "the perverse heroine ... is let off with a punishment gentle in proportion to

66

the unscrupulous selfishness of her character ... 1 In a similar vein. Margaret Oliphant

deplored that Collins had

thrown [Magdalen] into a career of vulgar and aimless trickery and wickedness. with which it is impossible to have a shadow of sympathy .... [She] does not go astray after the usual tashion of erring maidens in romance. Her pollution is decorous. and justified by law: and after all her endless deceptions and horrible marriage. it seems quite right to the author that she should be restored to society. and have a good husband and a happy home.'

Magdalen· s transgressions were objectionable to contemporary readers because

they undermined prescribed class and gender roles. while simultaneously exploiting

sexual themes. As a protagonist who embarks on a series of adventun:s in an attempt to

regain her name and fortune. lost through a tangle of legal technicalities and tragedy. she

demolishes .. feminine .. stereotypes. Among the variety of roles she undertakes in her

quest for justice is that of detective. as she single-mindedly seeks to track down the

.. Secret Trust" referred to in her husband's will.

In 1\io Name. what is initially an assault on the untair laws that render an

illegitimate child nullius filius (literally .. nobody's child .. ) develops into a critique of

hypocritical middle-class pretensions. Collins's sympathetic treatment of .. fallen

women .. is a hallmark of his fiction that extends in this case to Magdalen· s parents. who

for many years have maintained the fac;ade of a respectable and loving tamily without

having the benefit of clergy.

Britain's statutes regarding bastardy had been virtually unchanged since the

Middle Ages. since under the principle of primogeniture the question of legitimate

succession necessarily had to be indisputable. Percival Glyde must conceal the forgery in

67

the church marriage records that protect his baronetcy and incidentally confers

··respectability .. on his mother. The illegitimacy laws were as entrenched in the British

psyche as those regarding marriage. to which they were obviously connected. By the

middle of the nineteenth century. argues Jenny Bourne Taylor. the legal restrictions

regarding illegitimate children had become even more onerous as .. women [became]

increasingly economically and socially marginalised·· and the perception of shame

attached to both mother and child. This stigmatization and other social conditions

surrounded the Bastardy Clauses of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. which placed

the burden of raising an illegitimate child on the mother; massive protest led to their

defeat in 1844 ("'Representing lllegitimacy·· 126-32).

By calling attention in many of his novels to specitic legal injustices. Collins

sought to change the English legal system. Despite the more enlightened practice of most

other European countries. English law denied the illegitimate child any claim on the

estate of his parents or the right to be legitimated after the parents· subsequent marriage.

Only by a special act of Parliament could legitimate status be granted to a child. and such

bills were rarities. As Audrey Peterson points out. a crucial provision in the law

provides. as exemplified in ;Vo Name. that any will executed prior to marriage is

invalidated upon marriage: in order to insure that the children will inherit. a new will

must be executed after the marriage has taken place (51). Despite the advocacy for legal

reform presented in the works of such novelists as Collins and Dickens. however. it was

not until 1926 that Parliament enacted the Legitimacy Act. \vhich conferred rights of

68

inheritance on children born out of wedlock, upon the marriage of the parents. with

certain provisos (MacEachen 125).

Collins recognizes the adversarial nature of the legal system and the institution of

marriage and family, and he utilizes this insight forcefully in No ;\fame. In their

collaborative work. Corrupt Relations. Richard Barickman. Susan MacDonald. and Myra

Stark argue that Collins· s interest in the controversies between the two systems is valid.

because .. the law is an instrument of patriarchal will"' ( 148). By focusing on the

disinheritance of the Vanstone daughters and their subsequent tribulations. he addn:sses

the inadequacy of the laws pertaining to illegitimacy. as well as the common law of

coverture. The title of the novel refers not only to the marginalized social position of

Magdalen and Norah. who as illegitimate children have ··no name:· but also rdlects the

status of women. who incur the loss of legal identity when they marry.

Collins distances himself from the sensation novel category in the Pretace to .Vo

Name: ··The only Secret contained in this book is revealed midway in the tirst volume.

From that point. all the main events of the story are purposely foreshadowed. before they

take place·· {10). In this sense. he has again created one of the standards for what is to

become the genre of detective tiction: instead of structuring the plot around the

unearthing of secrets. he creates suspense through the increasingly daring attempts of the

heroine to recover her inheritance.

Rather than chastising his critics or defending his position. this Preface gently

piques the reader's interest by ending with the simple comment. ··What I might otherwise

have wished to say in this place, I have endeavored to make the book itself say for me ..

69

( 1 0). As good as his word, he condemns the illegitimacy laws by illustrating the

hardships endured by Magdalen and Norah Vanstone as a result of their catastrophic

change in social and economic status.

The one necessary instance of explanation of the law and its ramifications is

presented through the family lawyer. Mr. Pendril. who informs the governess. Miss

Garth. that the sisters are

Nobody·s Children: and the law leaves them helpless at their uncle·s mercy .... I think it a disgrace to the nation. It visits the sins of the parents on the children .... The more merciful and Christian law of other countries. which allows the marriage of the parents to make the children legitimate. has no mercy on these children. The accident of their father having been married. when he first met with their mother. has made them the outcasts of the whole social community: it has placed them out of the pale of the Civil Law of Europe. ( 121)

In a situation similar to that of The Dead Secret. because the Vanstone parents

technically have died intestate. Mr. Vanstone·s entire estate of £80.000 goes to the legal

next of kin. his estranged elder brother. Michael. Still nursing an old animosity. Michael

insultingly oftcrs his nieces £100 each. which they refuse. Evicted from the sheltered

felicity of Combe-Raven. their comfortable Somersetshire home. the penniless sisters

must make their own way in an unforgiving world.

Norah. quiet and attractive but a spinster at age twenty-six. accepts her lot

stoically and. under the aegis of Miss Garth. becomes a governess. The spirited eighteen-

year old Magdalen. however. determines to find a way to regain her identity and fortune.

and disdains the conventional path to which her sister has resigned herself. As Miss

Garth observes. Magdalen is .. resolute and impetuous. clever and domineering: she is not

70

one of those model women who want a man to look up to, and to protect them'' (69).

The novel resembles the Bildungsroman in its portrayal of Magdalen· s rebellion and

painful transition to maturity as she tights tor acceptance into society. Collins solicits

sympathy for his protagonist in the Preface. explaining that the novel .. depicts the

struggle of a human creature. under those opposing intluences of Good and Evil. which

we have all telt. which we have all known'' (9).

The most transgressive and resourceful of Collins· s heroines discussed in this

thesis. Magdalen deties propriety in her quest tor justice. deliberately resorting to

deception to attain her goals. Like Marian Halcombe. she discovers that she must rely on

her own intelligence and ingenuity \Vhen recourse to the law is not an option. although

she becomes a detective later in the novel. Her metamorphosis from cosseted darling of a

wealthy family to bold schemer verging on criminality is chronicled as she gradually

descends into an asocial Victorian counterworld. Collins strives tor verisimilitude as he

explores the complexities of Magdalen· s emotions through each phase of her increasingly

desperate intrigues. claiming in the Preface to present .. the truth as it is in Nature .. (9). In

No Name. observes William Marshall. Collins achieved .. a significant degree of

intellectual integrity without sacrificing its popular appeal .. (67).

Magdalen flouts Victorian mores by becoming a professional actress. having

demonstrated an impressive natural acting ability and talent tor mimicry in an amateur

production of Sheridan· s The Rivals. This decision strengthens the connotation of the

··fallen woman .. or reformed prostitute associated with her name. Calling attention to the

.. mournful'' Biblical ideas of''penitence and seclusion .. associated with the name

71

Magdalen, the narrator foreshadows the difficulties yet to come by emphasizing the

inappropriateness of so naming this "sett:contradictory girl" \Vho has developed into ··a

character which was out of all harmony with her o\vn Christian name!"" ( 17). But the

name harmonizes well. Lewis Home observes. as Magdalen's ··guileless trust in

existence·· at the beginning of the novel gradually changes and circumstances threaten the

··corrosion of her good qualities·· (282).

Running away to York. Magdalen forms a partnership \Vith Captain Wragge. an

accomplished swindler and distant relative who guides her in successful theatrical

performances. The worldly and quick-witted Wragge remarks. ··[I]t's not a resp~ctable

man you want in your present predicament. It's a Rogue-like me" ( 173 ). As Miss

Garth later points out. however. an acting career ""is a suspicious way oflife to all

respectable people"' (262). causing Norah to lose her position when her employers learn

how Magdalen earns a living. The equation of actress with prostitute is strong in

Victorian culture. as Miss Garth suggests: ··the sense of Propriety. in nine Englishwomen

out often. makes no allowances and teels no pity" (262).

Even more audacious than other notable Collins heroines. Magdalt:n is far

removed from the stereotype of patient. submissive womanhood: the acerbic Mr. Clare

observes that "she· s not made for the ordinary jog-trot of a woman· s life"' ( 14 7). Like

Rosamond Treverton. she takes the initiative in her love tor the lazy but charming Frank

Clare: she is blind to his weak character and unsuitability as a husband.

ln addition to her blooming with ··exuberant vitality" and "matchless health and

strength.·· the surprising contradictions in Magdalen· s looks are also at variance \Vith the

72

ideal of harmonious beauty. as .. her mouth \Vas too large and firm. the chin too square and

massive for her sex and age ... although her .. lips had the true feminine delicacy of form:·

Her graceful. taller than average tigure has .. a seductive. serpentine suppleness ... that

suggest[ s 1 ... the movements of a young cat" ( 16). She is quite aware of her sexual

attractiveness. saying ... 1 can twist any man alive round my tinger ... as long as I keep

my looks! .. ( 256). and she devises an elaborate scheme to marry her insipid. miserly

cousin Noel Vanstone and regain the fortune rightfully belonging to her and Norah.

Having lost her own legal identity. Magdalen assumes numerous others in her

single-minded pursuit of justice. employing her acting. as well as her feminine. skills to

the fullest and braving ne\v and strange environments. She negotiates a course between

different cultural and social worlds. contident in her seemingly limitless source of

.. overflowing physical health which strengthened every muscle [and] braced every nerve ..

( 17) to see her through each obstacle. She suppresses her own sense of sd f \Vith multiple

impersonations and suffers dark periods of remorse and self-disgust as she retlects on her

course. but each failure goads her to undertake more daring and inventive plots. each

involving a counterfeit identity.

Magdalen investigates her callous uncle with an eye to S\Vindling him. but her

plan is foiled when he dies. Undeterred. she switches her attention to his son Noel. whom

she has never met. but finds that she must contend with the calculating Mrs. Lecount in a

complicated duel of wits. With the aid ofWragge's knowledge of human nature and his

.. Skins to Jump Into:· a carefully constructed set of false names and backgrounds.

Magdalen entraps her repulsive cousin into marriage. Constantly torn between resolve

73

and fear despite her success. she seeks courage by rationalizing ... Thousands of women

marry for money ... Why shouldn't IT (409). On the eve of her wedding. however. she

feels so degraded that she contemplates suicide. another taboo topic in Victorian England

that Collins treats with considerable sympathy in his fiction. viewing it as ··the ultimate

test of character·· (Gates 304-306).

ln despair but unable to take the final step. Magdalen thinks. --oh. my life! my

life! ... what is my life w·orth. that ( should cling to it like this?"" ( 416). ln a dramatic

scene. she decides to leave her fate to the element of chance: if an even number of

coasting-vessels passes before her within thirty minutes. she \vill take it as a sign to live.

and an odd number will mean she must drink the laudanum. The slO\v appearance of an

even number of boats causes her to ponder a subject Collins frequently raises in his

novels. the question of whether certain major events are the result of Providence or

chance.

When she tinally marries Noel under an assumed name. Magdalen triumphantly

\\Tites to Miss Garth.

(have made the general sense of propriety my accomplice this time .... ( am a respectable married woman ... ( have got a place in the world. and a name in the world. at last. Even the lmv. w·hich is the friend of all you respectable people. has recognized my existence. and has become my friend too! ... You forget what wonders my wickedness has done for me. It has made Nobody"s Child Somebody" s Wife. ( 492)

Victory for Magdalen is short-lived. however. as the invidious Mrs. Lecount. in a

cunning counterplot. induces Noel to execute a new \\ill according to a model she

provides. Noel complies. then succumbs to his congenitally weak heart. Because

74

Magdalen has married without a marriage settlement. she is disinherited a second time.

Nayder explains that under Scottish law this injustice could not occur. but under English

common law her husband is empowered to rewrite his will and leave her penniless (90).

Collins again demonstrates his familiarity with the law. especially as it applies to

wills and probate matters. With obvious relish. he has Magdalen· s lav.yer explain the

implications of the second will in careful detail. Mr. Loscombe believes that a peculiarly

worded clause devising Noel's estate to Admiral Bartram points to the existence of a

separate letter of instruction. known as a Secret Trust. Acting on the lmvyer· s opinion

that this document. if discovered. could t~lVorably alter her position. Magdalen turns

detective.

Her collaboration with Captain Wragge having terminated on her wedding day.

and with no hope of locating him. Magdalen must no\v rely entirely on her own wit and

resourcefulness in locating the document that can restore her fortune. Her youthful

resilience sloughs off despair and self-torment. and she informs Mr. Loscombe ... [am

determined to find the means of secretly and certainly making [the discover)·j ... .

Whatever danger there may be. I will risk it. ... If that Secret Trust is in Admiral

Bartram· s possession-\vhen you next see me. you shall see me with it in my O\\TI hands ..

(498).

Confident in her expertise at disguise and dissimulation. Magdalen conceives a

careful plan to gain access to Admiral Bartram's Essex estate. In collusion with her

maid. Louisa. she exchanges identities and cleverly transforms herself from lady into

industrious parlor-maid. In this latest role she is employed by the Admiral and promptly

75

initiates an investigation to discover the hidden document. Her spying discloses the

Admiral's habit of hiding his private papers while sleepwalking and her desperate

attempts to locate the Secret Trust are finally successful-momentarily. Caught in the act

of reading it by old Mazey. a retired sailor who guards the Admiral. Magdalen is forced

to quit the field without her prize.

Defeated and exhausted physically and mentally. Magdalen is notitied by Mr.

Loscombe that the Admiral has died but that the Secret Trust she discovered has not been

found. Using yet another assumed name. she moves to shabby lodgings in London. \Vhere

she suffers a nearly fatal nervous breakdo\vn and tever. Destitute and on the point of

being evicted. she is rescued and nursed to health through the intercession of Captain

Kirke (Scottish for "church") of the merchant vessel Delil'erance. who was smitten with

her the year be tore in Aldborough.

Collins treats Magdalen with compassion. casting her as a twotold victim of

unjust and cruel laws: the bastardy laws strip her and her sister of their legal identity and

just inheritance. and the doctrine of coverture. allows her husband to disinherit her under

his will. Her daring exploits are motivated by a quest for justice unavailable through

legal channels. Collins refuses to inflict further punishment on his transgressive heroine

beyond the remorse and self-degradation she suffers and the life-threatening illness from

w·hich she emerges purged of destructive emotions. Although Magdalen fails in her

primary endeavor. conventional Norah accidentally uncovers the Secret Trust after she

marries George Bartram. the principal beneficiary ofNoel Vanstone's estate. Learning

that the Trust entitles her to half the fortune because its provisions were not met.

76

Magdalen tears it up. telling Norah. "I will owe nothing to my past life ... I will take

from you what I would never have taken if that letter had given it to me" (606).

The refusal of Magdalen. as the protagonist in the novel. to accept the social role

demanded by law and custom. represents a threat to the status quo. Although she is more

victim than victimizer. her excesses of independence. duplicity and rebellion position her

as the ··antithesis of the respectable feminine ideal" (Pykett. Sensation Nove/24 ). In .Vo

Name. Collins challenges propriety by rewarding Magdalen with her share of her father's

fortune. Yet he simultaneously reinforces convention by reintegrating his heroine into

society and stability through her marriage to the worthy Captain Kirke.

77

CHAPTER FIVE

THE LA WAND THE LADY

In The Law and the Lcu(r. 1 Wilkie Collins devises one of his most complex plots

of mystery and detection. interwoven with a critique of gender roles and advocating

retonn of an ambiguous law. He consistently portrayed teminine strength and

intelligence in his central tigures: but outstanding among his representations of

.. conventional women in unconventional situations .. (Barickman et al. Ill) is Valeria

tvlacallan. the detennined young bride who turns detective in order to save her marriage.

The novel was serialized in the Graphic newspaper between September 1874 and

March 1875. and published as a book in February of 1875 by Chatto & Windus. who

acquired the rights to publish most of Collins· s subsequent novels. This is \Viddy

considered not only the best of Collins· s later works. but also the tirst full-length novel in

English featuring a woman as both detective and protagonist.

By 1874 Collins. intrigued by several scandalous divorce cases involving both

Scottish and Irish marriage laws. had already addressed the inconsistencies among the

marriage laws of the United Kingdom in .\Ian cmd Wife ( 1870): inspired by a widely

publicized murder trial. he was now ready to attack the anomalous Scottish law that

pennits a jury to render a verdict of··Not Proven.'·

78

Collins's legal training inclined him to rely on the technical provisions of the law

as the basis of his narratives. This method succeeds. observes William Marshall. since

.. the law imposes a kind of logic·· that enables Collins to remove .. much of the cause­

effect sequence in a given plot ... from dependence upon the coincidental and the

gratuitous .. (132).

The Law and the Lac(v is a multi-layered tale of suspense reminiscent of The

Aloonstone and The Woman in White. \Vith the added interest of a murder to be solved.

One of Collins· s sources for the plot of poisoning by arsenic was the 1857 Scottish case

of Madeleine Smith. daughter of a wealthy Glasgow architect. accused of murdering her

secret lover. Pierre Emile L 'Angelier. a shipping-clerk from Jersey.~ The sensational trial

lasted nine days and introduced into evidence many passionate and indiscreet letters the

twenty-one year old defendant had \Hitten to L · Angelier. as well as documenting her

purchase of large amounts of arsenic. Many people refused to believe the lady-like Smith

was capable of murder; the verdict of .. Not Proven .. was rendered. Under Scottish law

this protected her from being tried again for the crime. but indicated the jury· s doubt as to

her complete innocence.

Collins critiques the jury system that permits such an ambiguous verdict in

criminal cases. illustrating its damaging consequences. In one respect. the novel parallels

the defense used in the Madeleine Smith case with regard to the fairly common practice

among women of ingesting arsenic for cosmetic purposes (Altick 182-83). Collins also

adapts the use of damaging written evidence from the real criminal case to the novel by

79

having Eustace Macallan"s private diary and correspondence read. humiliatingly. in

public at his trial.

In The Law and the Lady. Collins indulges his fascination with juridical

peculiarities to craft a complex and compelling novel that integrates themes of detection

and the macabre with his trademark subversion of gender stereotypes. This novel comes

closer than The Moonstone to what is recognized as modem detective fiction. in that it

satisfies the threefold requirements demanded by Ellery Queen (cf. p.l2). except that in

this instance the .. criminal .. to be overcome is an ambiguous verdict unique to the

Scottish legal system.

Collins· s \Villingness .. to endow women with intellect. passion and strength-of­

will .. (Stewart 9-10) is abundantly embodied in Valeria Woodville Macallan. the lady

who challenges the law. While not the .. founding sister .. ofthe detective genre. Valeria

has had the .. most profound effect upon if" as the .. tirst woman detective whose

investigative exploits are built on step-by-step deduction .. (Craig and Cadogan 20. 22).

Like Marian Halcombe. she succeeds where lawyers have failed.

In addition to a healthy dose of common sense and determination. faculties

usually considered .. unfeminine:· Valeria shares with other female detectives. including

Rosamond Frankland and Marian Halcombe. physical qualities that set her apart from

many Victorian heroines. For example. Collins's detectives are taller than average

(Valeria is taller than her husband). and they do not conform to the popular conception of

ideal beauty. Scrutinizing herself in the mirror after her simple wedding to Eustace

80

Woodville. Valeria. although the first-person narrator as well as the protagonist of the

novel. describes her reflection objectively. in the third person:

The glass shows a tall and slender young woman of three-and­twenty years of age. She is not at all the sort of person who attracts attention in the street. seeing that she fails to exhibit the popular yellow hair and the popular painted cheeks. Her hair is black ... drawn back from the forehead. and gathered into a simple knot behind .... Her complexion is pale .... Her eyes are of so dark a blue that they are generally mistaken for black .... The whole picture ... represents a woman of some elegance. rather too pale ... In short. a person who fails to strike the ordinary observer at tirst sight. ( 10-11 )

Like Rosamond·s. her eyebrows are .. too dark. and too strongly marked:· but this is offset

by her mouth. which is .. very delicately shaped .. and very expressive. In contrast \Vith

Rosamond·s retrousse nose. hO\vever. Valeria·s ··just inclines toward the aquiline bend

and is considered a little too large by persons difficult to please in the matter of noses··

( 10). This description is an important signal to readers that Valeria is a woman of quiet

beauty who is endowed with energy and determination. her Roman nose ··as clear an

indication of [her] character as her Roman name·· (Fahnestock 344 ). Her cool. third-

person analysis of her O\\TI reflection is also signi tic ant. anticipating the critical

observation she brings to bear as a detective seeking the truth.

Secrets abound in The Law and the Lac(v from the beginning. when Valeria

Brinton· s protective uncle. a north-country vicar. is blocked from contacting Eustace

Woodville·s mother. whose opposition to the marriage is even stronger than that of

Valeria· s aunt and uncle. Love prevails. but Valeria discovers during her honeymoon at

Ramsgate that Eustace has married her under an assumed name: his real surname is

81

Macallan. An accidental meeting with the senior Mrs. Macallan suggests further secrets:

and caught in the web of implausible lies he has woven. Eustace is remorseful and self­

pitying, declaring himself unworthy of Valeria· s love. In London shortly afterward.

however. confronted by Valeria about the invented name (which makes the marriage no

less valid). he angrily remonstrates with her: .. 1 thought I had married a woman who was

superior to the vulgar failings of her sex. A good wife should know better than to pry

into affairs of her husband's with which she has no concern .. (54). Despite the gravity of

the secret and the threat that maintaining it poses to the marriage. Eustace clearly expects

Valeria to be satistied with his silence: responding to her argument that his affairs are

also hers. he refuses to enlighten her ... For your 0\Vn good."" Stung by his lack of trust in

her. Valeria thinks ... He was treating me like a child .. (54).

Eustace· s warning of dire consequences unless she drops the subject only deepens

the mystery. Valeria relates. and produces .. no deterrent effect on my mind: it only

stimulated my resolution to discover what he was hiding from me .. (55). Curiosity turns

to urgency as Valeria guesses that there is some terrible mystery that could destroy her

brief marriage. Without hesitation she becomes unswerving sleuth.

As a detective story. The Law and the Lac(v expands motifs and devices that

Collins originated in his t\VO earlier masterpieces. and includes others that would become

standard fare in the genre. Like The .Hoonstone and The Woman in ~Vhite. there are many

layers of mystery. each stratum leading to another: similarly. suspicion is shifted from

one person to another as alibis are offered and clues traced. Courtroom scenes are

practically de rigeur in modem detective fiction. largely because of Collins· s dramatic

82

depiction of the criminal justice system at work. In The Law and the Lac~v. the Trial

Report becomes the linchpin of the narrative. as a record of the miserable earlier marriage

as well as the trial itself. and concurrently as a commentary on the way circumstantial

evidence can be manipulated. as had occurred in the famous 1856 Palmer triaL mentioned

earlier.

Valeria's campaign to uncover the truth begins \Vith a deception to counter her

husband's. as she conceals from him her decision to visit his old friend. Major Fitz­

David. hoping to learn about Eustace's mysterious past. Compounding this unbecoming

behavior. she defiantly enhances her appearance with cosmetics: she seems ··to have lost

my ordinary identity"( 57). In fact. she has already twice lost her legal identity in the

space of a week: once when she marries. exchanging her surname for her husband's. and

again when she discovers that her new name was an alias.

The Major. an elderly roue. is sympathetic. and although sworn not to divulge

Eustace's secret. he permits Valeria to search his library tor clues. Her curiosity is

aroused when she tinds a photograph of Eustace and an ugly. hard-featured woman. "\vith

the marking lines of strong passions and resolute self-will plainly \Hitten" on her face

(88). But she represses her suspicions and continues searching tor the elusive key to the

secret.

As with Rosamond Frankland's "punishment" tor uncovering the secret

confession. Valeria· s disobedience of her husband· s command has more devastating

results than she could have imagined. suggesting Collins's ultimate validation of

traditional gender roles. He subverts them, however. \~ith Valeria· s transgressive forays

83

into the exclusively male purlieus of the law and detecting. \Vbile other Collins heroines

have self-deprecatingly remarked ··1 am only a woman:· as they prove their effectiveness

where men have failed. none does so as often as Valeria. and none. with the exception of

Marian Halcombe. turns that phrase on its head as convincingly as she.

When Valeria finds a published volume containing the record of Eustace

Macallan·s trial three years earlier in Edinburgh for the alleged poisoning of his wife.

Eustace abruptly leaves her. His farewell letter protesses his love. but claims that only by

separating from her will Valeria be protected from the taint of the verdict ··Not Proven.··

Major Fitz-David explains why the verdict carries a stigma:

There is a verdict allowed by the Scotch la\v. \Vhich (so far as I know) is not permitted by the laws of any other civilized country on the face of the earth .... If there is not evidence enough. on the one hand. to justify [the jury] in finding a prisoner guilty. and not evidence enough. on the other hand. to thoroughly convince them that a prisoner is innocent. they extricate themselves from the difficulty by tinding a verdict of Not Proven. ( 101)

The revelation of the secret that has tortured Eustace strengthens Valeria"s resolve

to tight tor her marriage: she wTites to Eustace that with the help of Ogilvie· s Imperial

Dictionary. ··the Law and the Lady have begun by understanding one another. ... What

the Law has failed to do for you. your Wife must do tor you.·· She vo\vs ··to change that

underhand Scotch Verdict ofNot Proven. into an honest English verdict ofNot Guilty""

( 116). Valeria now assumes the dominant role in the marriage. acting as protector and

de tender of her absent husband: she tells Eustace that she wants him back ··in the

character of a penitent and loving husband."" Even before reading the .. Trial."" she is

84

confident that she will find a way to vindicate Eustace ... with or without assistance ..

(116). and she wants it clearly understood that it will happen .. thanks to his Wife .. (117).

As a married woman with a small private income. Valeria has considerable

autonomy and is free to reject her uncle· s offer that she return to her former home at his

north-country vicarage. She elects to remain in London with Benjamin. her father·s old

clerk. in order to pursue her investigations. The mild. fatherly Benjamin is dismayed and

confused at the audacity of the .. new generation·· ( 117). but Dr. Starkweather is furious at

his niece· s resolution to reopen the case. accusing her of being

conceited enough to think that you can succeed where the greatest la\vyers in Scotland have failed .... May a plain country parson. who isn "t used to lawyers in petticoats. be permitted to ask how you mean to do it? ( 121)

Valeria"s intention to begin ··by reading the Triar· is seen as unladylike as reading

.. a batch of nasty French novels:· but her plan to interview the witnesses who testitied

and ask ··questions \Vhich grave la\\'-yers might think it beneath their dignity to puC ( 121)

is much more audacious: as Miserrimus Dexter remarks. ··Ladies are not generally in the

habit oftroubling their heads about dry questions of law .. (239). The vicar·s indignation

that she insists on invading a male-dominated milieu retlects the conservative Victorian

views of women· s place.

Collins satirizes anti-feminist sentiments by having them argued by the legless.

outrageous and half-mad Miserrimus Dexter:

As a rule. women are incapable of absolutely concentrating their attention on any one occupation. for any given time .... The one obstacle to your rising equal to the men ... is not ... the defective institutions of the age they live in. Not The obstacle is in

85

themselves .... What does it matter? Women are infinitely superior to men in the moral qualities which are the true adornments of humanity. Be content-oh. my mistaken sisters. be content with that! (246-47)

lt is ironic that Dexter is. himself. a bizarre blend of feminine and masculine qualities.

He dresses in extravagant silks and velvets. wears ostentatious je\velry. cooks. paints.

embroiders and frequently expresses himself in a wildly emotional and irrational manner.

Yet. relying on his long friendship with Eustace. Valeria contides in him and solicits his

assistance in untangling the mystery of Sara Macallan · s death.

Reading the Report of the Trial raises three signiticant questions in Valeria"s

mind: did the \Voman die poisoned'?-who poisoned her'?-what was his motive'? The

evidence is incontrovertible that Sara Macallan was poisoned by arsenic that Eustace

purchased. Testimony reveals her unrequited infatuation for Eustace: he married her in an

act of chivalry and pity. to avoid the scandal that her rash visit to his chambers would

cause. The damning evidence of his diary and letters contirms his repugnance for his

wife and his passion for a beautiful widow. Helena Beauly.

Valeria embarks on a course of investigation that she reasons must begin \vith

interviev,:ing those present at Gleninch. the Macallan country estate near Edinburgh. at

the time of Sara· s death. She ignores the advice of friends and family \Vho attempt to

dissuade her; even her mother-in-law. although she commends Valeria· s devotion and

courage. disparages her ··notion of turning yourself into a Court of Appeal for a new Trial

of Eustace·· (198). Unlike Eustace and his mother. however. Valeria ··refuse[s] to submit

to the Scotch Verdict"" (240). Her unshakable love for her husband recalls Collins·s

86

reminder in his prefatory Note Addressed to the Reader ""that we are by no means always

in the habit (especially when \Ve happen to be women) of bestowing our love on the

objects which are the most deserving of it. in the opinions of our friends"" (3). Mrs.

Macallan is more objective about her son than Valeria. deploring that he ran away in

humiliation: ··You deserve to be the wife of a hero-and you have married one of the

weakest ofliving mortals ... She tells Valeria that Eustace has gone to Spain to work with

the Red Cross in the war instead of remaining and ··asking his wife to forgive him. I say

that is the conduct of a weak man. Some people might call it by a harder name·· ( 196 ).

In The Law and the Lac(v. Collins creates a range of intriguing characters

interacting in a complex tale of detection. \Vhile raising the legal issue of circumstantial

evidence and what John Kucich calls ··the law's affinity for deception·· (97). When

Valeria begins to read the transcript of the triaL she credulously assumes its veracity

because the compiler· s Note at the beginning attests to its ··absolute correctness ... She

fails to comprehend the implication in the statement that

The compiler described himself as having enjoyed certain privileges. Thus. the presiding Judge had himself revised his charge to the Jury. And. again. the chief lawyers for the prosecution and the defence. following the Judge· s example. had revised their speeches. for. and against. the prisoner. Lastly. particular care had been taken to secure a literally correct report of the evidence given by the various witnesses. ( 124)

Valeria represents the ordinary layperson in her naivete. and expresses relief that

··the Story of the Trial was. in every particular. fully and truly told"" ( 124). She believes

that careful re-examination of the evidence will guide her to some overlooked fact that

will exonerate Eustace. but she soon perceives that the way intormation is elicited from

87

witnesses carries more weight. in the absence of actual facts. than what is being testified

to: .. Ignorant as I was of the law. I could see what impression the evidence (so far) was

intended to produce on the minds ofthe Jury·· (139). She becomes mvare of a

.. supplementary meaning beyond the mere facts testified to ... the relationship of

circumstantial evidence to the fact at issue·· (Maynard 191-92 ). Valeria notices the

inherent contradiction in the ··charge of the Judge to the Jury:· warning them that they

must ··find no conjectures-but only irresistible and just inferences:· and she wonders.

··who is to decide what is a just in terence'? And what does circumstantial ~!vidence rest

on. hw conjecture?"" ( 181 ).

Neverthelt!ss. Valeria falls prey to the same sort of bias and formulates her own

suspicion of the murderer. Based on the trial report. she believes her most credible and

intelligent ally to be Miserrimus Dexter. whose ··clear and reasonablt! .. ~!vidence for the

detense has impressed her. She finds out that the transcript is itself unreliable. however.

when Mrs. Macallan informs her that Dexter·s testimony has been revised:

The shorthand writers and reporters put his evidence into presentable language. before they printed it. If you had ht!ard what he really said. as I did. you would have been either very much disgusted with him. or very much amused ... He mixed up sense and nonsense ... he was even threatened with tine and imprisonment for contempt of Court. ( 199)

Heedless of the warnings of family and friends. Valeria pursues her detective

efforts. following leads and tracing witnesses. She resorts to deception and dissimulation

to elicit information. and bravely endures meetings. at times terricying. with the mentally

unbalanced Dexter. In Edinburgh, she consults Mr. Playmore. the warm and capable

88

solicitor who helped defend Eustace. and she visits Gleninch in an attempt to reconstruct

the circumstances of Sara's death. As Valeria struggles to arrive at answers. she slowly

acquires an educJtion about the law. even as she is foiled by the cunning Dexter's

misleading clues. Gradually her systematic and persistent probing yields results.

The eventual revelation that Sara Macallan committed suicide is more shocking

than if she had been the victim of murder. The subject was seldom discussed by

Victorian novelists. Barbara Gates asserts. because of the religious stigma and

implications of insanity that attached to the family of a felo-de-se. the legal term.

Consequently. until the suicide law was liberalized in the 1880s. permitting suicides to be

buried in consecrated ground. concealment was a prime concern of middle-class families

(304-05). Although Collins attributed difterent motives to Miserrimus Dexter for hiding

Sara· s letter. it is likely that his readers \vould have appreciated these other. unspoken.

considerations.

Collins's oft-used device of"doubling" is also a feature of The Law and the Lcu~r.

not only in the physical resemblance of Valeria's body to that of her predecessor. but in

the two marriages: the rescue of the second is contingent upon excavating the secrets of

the tirst. as the metaphorical sifting through the detritus of the dust-heap at Gleninch

yields the shreds of the letter that exonerates Eustace and indicts Dexter tor providing

Sara with the motive to kill herself.

In her courage. intelligence. and common-sense approach to her sleuthing. Valeria

invites comparison with the "magniticent" Marian Halcombe as one of Collins's most

forceful detective heroines. In his novels foregrounding \Vomen. as Keith Reierstad

89

notes, Collins examines the moral complexities faced by a woman "who tried, or was

forced, to be independent in a male-dominated'' society (58). Although Valeria is as self­

directed and persevering as Magdalen Vanstone in her quest tor justice. she is more

restrained and her crusade is more unseltishly motivated. Besides resolving to save her

marriage. she learns that she is pregnant and is doubly determined that Eustace should

pass an unsullied name on to his heir. When her victory is won. however. Valeria does

not passively fade into the wallpaper. despite the fact that she becomes a mother and her

"penitent husband" returns to resume their marriage. After unraveling the secrets

surrounding Sara Macallan · s death. she suppresses the information.

ln fact. there is a role reversal as Valeria. assuming a parental authority. decides

that her husband would be better off not knowing the truth about Sara· s suicide letter. and

that it should not be disclosed even to establish his innocence. Valt!ria still retains a

measure of control in the marriage. guiding Eustace to the decision not to read Sara· s

final. contessional letter that would legally and detinitively remove the cloud on his

innocence. As she admits to reveling in Eustace· s gratitude that "( owe it entirely to the

courage and the devotion of my wife!" ( 411 ). it is tacitly understood that Valeria will

never be the inferior or subordinate partner in this marriage.

90

CONCLUSION

'The Diary of Anne Rodway:· The Dead Secret. The Woman in fVhite . .\'o .Vame.

and The Law and the Lac(v all exemplify Wilkie Collins's innovations in mid-Victorian

fiction in several important respects. Because of his sincere interest in social and legal

reforms. especially of the laws relating to marriage and family. his carefully plotted

mystery tales address the problems faced by women in a male-dominated culture. Instead

of portraying his heroines as pretty. insipid and dependent victims-Collins introduces as

central tigures \vomen who exhibit courage. intelligence and perseverance. "They arc not

the reward or the beings about whom or tor \vhom others undergo struggles of

conscience ... as Susan Morgan asserts. "They undergo those struggles [and take] the

consequences of their actions" (4).

The incursions of these heroines into the masculine purlieus of law and detection

occasionally place them beyond the pale of respectable society. Although they are not

the murderers or amoral villainesses of some of the other novels \vritten by Collins (tor

example. Lydia Gwilt in Armada/e). in many respects they are even more subversive

because they have minds of their own and do not shrink from exercising them. t1outing

propriety in the pursuit of their own missions.

These protagonists were sometimes viewed by critics as "unnatural" because they

possessed qualities not usually attributed to Victorian heroines. and performed functions

91

regarded as belonging within the male province. They reject the advice of professional

men and experts, and still achieve their goals. In these works. Collins addresses social

issues. questions class hierarchies and challenges the inferior status endured by women

and illegitimate children. He captures readers· interest with his suspenseful. \Vell-crafted

plots and employs ingenious narrative devices that lay the foundation for what would

become standard techniques of the genre of detective tiction.

The rebellious heroines created by Collins obstinately refuse to submit to unjust

laws or situations that rob them of their identity or rightful place in society. In \\Titing of

Collins. George Bernard Shaw observed ... though \ve may not all care to say so. yet it is

the rebel against society who interests us: and we want to see the rebel triumphant rather

than crushed or reconciled ... 1

Female detectives in Victorian literature are especially transgressive because. as

Dennis Denisoff notes. their accomplishments result from intellectual talents deemed ··not

only unlikely. but inappropriate in women .. (8). Collins's detective heroines are

exceptional because. although each of them modestly claims to be .. only a woman:· they

are as effective as any man could be. as they maneuver successfully around obstacles to

achieve their goals: they prove capable of rising to challenges and braving what they

anticipate may be dangerous situations. Collins retlects his lack of confidence in the still

unskilled and poorly trained detective police torce. and demonstrates his admiration tor

independent women. by creating situations where a female is obliged to become an

amateur detective to solve a crime or unearth a secret that has baffled professionals

(0usby134-35).

92

After the unqualified success of The ,'vfoonstone in 1868. Collins suffered from

rheumatic gout and began to rely increasingly on laudanum. a variant of opium. for relief

from the pain. He suffered another blow with the death of his close friend. Charles

Dickens. in 1870. but continued to tum out novels. plays and stories tor the next two

decades. Despite waning enthusiasm on the part of reviewers. he maintained his

popularity with not only the middle classes that essentially comprised his target audience.

but also with what he called the .. UnknO\m Public:· a \vider readership that cut across

class boundaries. ln his later years. there was a perceived decline in the quality of his

work (with the notable exception of The Law and the Lac(v). which has been attributed

partly to the hugt: amounts of laudanum he required. as well as to the fact that his

crusading tor various social retorms became more strident. Reviewers grew more critical

as Collins became more didactic in his tiction. Even A. C. Swinburne. in an essay that

praised Collins as .. a genuine artist:· could not resist adding a parody on a couplet of

Pope·s. in commenting on the increasingly polemical tiction Collins produced:

What brought good Wilkie· s genius nigh perdition'? Some demon whispered-· Wilkie! Have a mission:l

Collins nevertheless changed the direction of English fiction during his own

lifetime and created the prototype tor a new and lasting genre. Underlying his

labyrinthine tales of buried secrets. murder. mystery and fraud. are overt protests against

arcane and unjust laws. His fiction satirizes the hypocrisy of Victorian values and mores.

and challenges the sexual stereotyping of a male-dominated culture. As Robert Ashley

asserts ... He deserves particular credit for his resolute heroines. unique among Victorian

93

fictional females ... In his audacity in creating women with minds of their own as well as

strong physical charm, Collins was ahead of his time. "'3

Wilkie Collins called attention to a range of social and legal injustices. such as the

illegitimacy laws and married women· s property rights. domestic violence and divorce

laws: a number oflegal reforms were undoubtedly moved forward because of these

themes in his work. At the same time he explored the way cultural codes affect gender

roles. especially for women. and he consistently undermined the prevailing social

constructions by portraying feminine strength and intelligence.

94

NOTES

Introduction

1 See Peters. King of lnvemors 26-27. and Clarke 16-17.

1 Phillips 89. and Lonoff94.

; Peters. King of /nvemors 84.

~ Peters, King of lnvemors 68. and Clarke 4 7.

s In this. Collins was unlike his literary hero. Sir Walter Scott. who successfully balanced careers in both law and literature. Collins admired Balzac and Fenimore Cooper above other writers. but for him. Peter Caracciolo asserts. Scott has always been ''the Prince. the King. the Emperor. the God Almighty of novelists" (Caracciolo 165).

n See Nayder 9-1 0. and Peters. King of lnvemors 296-97.

7 Quoted in Routley 19 and elsewhere.

8 Sayers. introduction to The Aloonstone. London: Dent, 1944. viii. Qtd. in Lonoff 138.

Chapter One

"The Diary of Anne Rodway"

1 Wilkie Collins: The Complete Shorter Fiction. Ed. Julian Thompson. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1995. ( 199-222). All parenthetical references to the novel are to this edition.

1 Charles Dickens, letter to Collins 13 July 1856. Rpt. in Wilkie Collins: The Critical Heritage. Norman Page. ed. (73).

95

Chapter Two

The Dead Secrel

1 Wilkie Collins. The Dead Secrer. [1857]. Repub. of the New York ( 1873) edition. New York: Dover, 1979. All textual references to the novel are to this edition.

2 Harry Quilter, .. A Living Story-teller." Conremporary Review. April 1888. lv. (572-93). Rpt. in Page, 229-47.

3 See Peters. King of lnvenrors 85. 104.

~ My thanks to Professor Oliver Buckton for bringing this relevant point to my attention.

5 See Nayder 73. The subject of married women· s property rights is discussed in Chapter Three of this thesis.

Chapter Three

The Woman in While

1 Wilkie Collins. The Woman in While. [1860]. New York: Dutton. 1974. All references to the novel wilt be to this edition.

2 See Peters, King of lnvenrors 207, and Nayder 74.

3 Mrs. Margaret Oliphant. ''Sensation Novels." Unsigned review. Blackwood's Alaga:ine. May 1862, xci. (565-74). Rpt. in Page, 110-21.

~Henry James ... Miss Braddon.'' Unsigned review. The Nalion. 9 November 1865. (593-95). Rpt. in Page. 122-24.

5 See Clarke 89. 90 and Peters, King of lnvemors 191.

Chapter Four

No Name

1 Wilkie Collins. No Name. [1862]. New York. Dover. 1978. Repub. of American (1873) edition. All textual references are to this edition.

96

2 H. F. Chorley. Unsigned review. Athenaeum. 3 January 1863. ( 10-11 ). Rpt. in Page, 131-34.

3 Margaret Oliphant. Unsigned review. Blackwood's Mag,dne. August 1863. xciv (170). Rpt. in Page, 143.

Chapter Five

The Law and the Lac~v

1 Wilkie Collins. The Law and the La~v. [1875]. Oxford: Oxford UP. 1992. All references to the novel are to this edition.

2 For fuller discussion of this case. see Hartman 52-54. and Altick 175-78.

Condusion

1 George Bernard Shaw. "The New Magdalen and the Old ... Dramatic Opinions and Essays. New York: Brentano's. 1907. 223. Qtd. in Kucich 83.

2 A. C. Swinburne. "Wilkie Collins." Formight(v Review I Nov. 1889: 589-99. Rpt. in Page. 262.

3 Robert Ashley. "Wilkie Collins Reconsidered." Qtd. in Barickman et at. 259.

97

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102