John Ruskin, who was read about in Richard Altich’s “Victorian People and Ideas: A Companion for the Modern Reader of Victorian Literature” is an English art critic. He believes that ‘the quality of man’s inner life was determined by the presence or absence of beauty in his everyday surroundings” (281). By examining Ruskin’s conviction in relation to the language that Collins uses to describe certain environments, and people in his story, readers are exposed to what men, (and in this post, specifically what Walter’s) ‘inner life’ may be like.
Walter’s love interest, Miss Laura Fairlie, is a character who is most evidently seen as beautiful. Collins writes in the beginning of the story about Laura’s appearances saying that she is, “ the woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty. […] Take her as the visionary nursling of your own fancy” (52). Using this lense, and assuming that Collins agrees with Ruskin’s opinion (which I don’t totally think he does, but that isn’t exactly important right now), the reader can see that when Walter is with Laura, because she is the one who, ‘first gives life’ and is so visually pleasing, he is most content; he finds her the most beautiful. Though this quote is so early in the story, it is important as it shows that there is attraction between Walter and Laura.
Because we know that the state of a man is based on the presence and absence of beauty in his life, when Laura seemingly passes, the reader can conclude that Walter is not quite at peace inside. Her death brings him into hysterics. When Walter’s mother approaches him to bring him the news of Laura’s death Collins writes, “I saw something in my mother’s face which told me that a secret oppression lay heavy on her heart. […] You have something to tell me” (407). At this point in the story, because of knowing the great significance of the visual appearances of Collins’ characters, one realizes that Walter’s ‘inner life’ is disturbed immediately when he sees his mother’s contorted face. Walter’s newly conflicted state of mind, is a result of Laura, the most beautiful, her death. Supposing man’s inner well-being is mostly dictated by visual cues, Walter’s internal, rapidly growing, feeling of strife is more directly a result of his mother’s reaction. His strife just gets worse after actually hearing the news.
This conflict that Walter is experiencing leads him to dramatics. Shown as Walter’s inner dialogue and as his actions, Collins writes, “Oh death, thou hast thy sting! […] I laid my head, on the broad white stone, and closed my weary eyes on the earth around […] Oh, my love! my love! my heart may speak to you now!” (409). These extreme internal declarations of exasperation make me ask that, had Walter been a woman, would he have been subjected to an asylum due to his extreme emotions, and seemingly hysterical character? At this point in the story, his emotions and actions do not seem all that different than those of Anne Catherick’s. The difference between the two is that Walter does not externally express his thoughts and feelings whereas Anne, many times, seemingly cannot help but wear her heart on her sleeve.
There are many ways to apply Ruskin’s idea of beauty dictating man’s emotional state to The Woman in White. This examination of Walter’s inner self does not even begin to scratch the surface of all that could potentially be uncovered using this lense. But even these small insights learned from applying Ruskin’s belief help to develop a better understanding of the male characters in this story, and how their minds may work.
Walter’s character is also strongly connected to the visual in that he is an art teacher, and makes a living based on creating beauty to be sold and then consumed (by selling his drawings). It makes me wonder about his relationship with Laura, which was based from the beginning on his visual appreciation of her. The idea that Laura is the physical manifestation of the abstract concept of beauty, then, suggests that in Walter’s mind she is tied in with his profession and societal purpose.
This all makes me wonder about the various ways characters reacted to Laura’s beauty– Walter loved her because of it, while Count Fosco saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of her, as a representation of tender and innocent beauty. Marian sees it as tied in with her inner character, as when Laura’s recovery is described and both Marian and Walter are relieved to see her looking more like her old self. In general, the novel plays a lot with deceptive images, such as the mirrored girls Anne and Laura or Count Fosco’s deliberate alterations to his appearance to escape detection. Each of these instance stems from a man’s moral crimes; Anne and Laura look the same because Laura’s father impregnated Mrs. Catherick out of wedlock. Count Fosco as a man presents an image of sophistication, with a theatrical beauty of language, which also shows the deceptive nature of outward appearances.
This connection you made is really interesting–maybe I should check it out! I can’t help but think about two things: first, Count Fosco. Talking about beauty and its relation to male characters, we just can’t leave him out. He’s really into fancy clothes and things like that–what would that indicate about his character and emotional state? The second thing is whether this applies only to male characters. I remember Marian to have also dedicated many paragraphs to Laura’s beauty, to such an alarming rate that the relationship between the two is… has some indications, or at least feels like it. It would be super interesting to see if her engagements with beauty in her text has some similar emotional backgrounds as the male characters.
Ruskin’s quote about beauty lending meaning to a man’s life is intriguing. Similarly, I believe that Walter’s selection of Laura Fairlie is akin to finding a decorative vase to place upon a mantel. However much the search for loveliness gives life a purpose, the pursuit of beauty seems to be greater than the experience with the beautiful “possession” and once the decorative vase cracks after being sent to an asylum, its worth diminishes. Walter describes Laura through his accounts and writes: “Think of her as you thought of the first woman who quickened the pulses within you that the rest of her sex had no art to stir (Collins,41).” The idea of exceptionalism between Laura and “the rest of her sex” comes into play here and I am painfully reminded of present-day Romantic Comedy clichés in which the cheeseball-male lead turns to the quirky girl and says, “You’re not like the other girls.” I have nothing against the pursuit of art, but if any one wants to marry me because of the genes that my parents gave me instead of for my personality that I have worked 19 years to cultivate, I will dismantle them.