The Woman in White ends with Laura Walter and Marian all living together at Limmerage without scandal. William Greg would likely argue that Marian is the “redundant” woman in this relationship as she is single and the other two characters are married to each other. This essay will attempt to refute the argument of Marian’s redundancy in the story though the examination of how Wilkie Collins deals with the three issues proposed by Greg regarding women’s redundancy and Marian’s complex role in the narrative that makes her appear both “redundant” and not redundant in comparison with other female characters.
Greg argues that English women remain “redundant” because of three factors: the lack of women who immigrated during the colonization period, men’s preoccupation with prostitutes, and women never being asked by a man to get married. Wilkie Collins deals with two of the three problems Greg proposes through the characters of Madame Fosco and Laura. Madame Fosco immigrates to Italy to marry the Count, solving issue one. Laura, in her marriage to both Sir Percival and Walter deals with men’s fascination with prostitutes. Sir Percival has an obsession with Anne before and after his marriage to Laura. Anne, while not a prostitute, becomes similar to a prostitute in the sense that she is a woman who distracts men from their marriage. This problem is fixed by his death and Laura’s remarriage to Walter. The third issue which Gregg points out is an issue, and potentially holds weight when we consider Marian’s status as a single woman.
Marian is one of the few, if not the only, female to remain single (and alive), throughout the entirety of the novel. No one asks Marian to marry her. However, there a few sentences on page 621 when Walter clumsily asks whether Marian intents to get married and she responds that, “…there can be no parting between [the three of] us” and “I will teach the children to speak for me in their language; and the first lesson they will say to their mother and father is – we can’t spare our aunt.” (621). In this case, Greg might argue that Marian takes on a role of governess for her sister and Walter and “while a noble profession” should still obtain a husband. Carolyn Dever would likely argue back that Marian does find a husband in Walter and a wife in Laura, but its likely Greg would not accept this. However, Marian also falls into the category which Greg allotted for, a woman who chooses to remain single rather than is forced to be single by circumstance.
Marian is redundant because she is a single woman but is also not because she chooses to be single. We can take on alternative perspectives like Dever, or call Marian a proto-feminist because she’d rather have children speak for her rather than a husband. Marian’s complex character complicates Greg’s overly deconstructed reasons as to why Victorian women were single.
I also wonder how Marian fits into Greg’s concept of the redundant woman. Though, as you say, she remains single and functions as a governess for the Hartwright children, I think Greg might still see her as a threat to the heteronormative social structure he so desperately wants to protect. Despite her new domestic occupations, I think we are left to wonder whether caring for her sister’s children will really satisfy the intellectual Marian. For Greg, an unmarried, unemployed woman of a higher economic status are at risk for projecting their desires onto an inappropriate object (Greg 159). In the case of Marian, a single, domestic, quiet life could be—by Greg’s standards—dangerous.
I agree with you that Marian is a proto-feminist and a woman who fights the “ideal” Greg describes in his article. However, although Marian wishes to let the children speak for her rather than a husband, there is an issue – Laura and Walter’s first child is a boy, and aptly named Walter. Therefore, Marian’s cause will be told through a man after all. Additionally, considering Walter (Sr.) is the editor of the novel, and has therefore possibly edited Marian’s narration in the novel, naming the child Walter as well suggests that Marian’s cause may be “edited” as well.