The basic assumption of Denver’s article is that in The Woman in White Collins aims at deconstructing one of the fundamental values of patriarchal societies: heterosexual marriage. According to Denver, while doing so, Collins’ novel is the celebration, on the other hand, of the purity and the depth of another form of love: the one between Laura and Marian, the same-sex sibling love.
On many occasions, the bond between Marian and Laura is described with all the traits of a lovers’ union, rather than as fraternal love. As such, it is both a sweet and a subtly erotic tie, of which we get a sense all throughout the novel, for example when Marian is looking at her sister one night while she is sleeping, or when she says that:”I heard her [Laura] speaking, and I knew by the tone of their voice that she was comforting me- I, who deserved nothing but the reproach of her silence![…]I was first conscious that she was kissing me[…]” (262). Just like the other dichotomies which permeate the novel (white-Laura and dark-Marianne or men’s active social role versus women’s subordination), marriage too is presented in the contrasting binary of legal marriage versus non-marital bonds. “He [Collins] often presents legal marriage as a sinkhole of deception, hostility, abuse and grubby materialism at worst, and at best a site of placid, jog-trot boredom” (Denver, 114) while, on the other hand, “the same-sex bond embodies a positive and constant emotional continuum”(Denver, 122). All the marital bonds in the novel are, in fact, presented as inspired by everything except love, or are rather not presented. In the case of Laura and Marian, for example, their parents are dead, as in the case of Walter’s father. Sir Percival’s marriage to Laura is inspired by the only desire to get her inheritance and even Count Fosco clearly asserts that his marriage is just a legal agreement , in which his wife performs “marriage obligations” (610), nothing to do with the love he feels for Marian, “the first and the last weakness of Fosco’s life”(611).
Such reflections lead the reader to believe that Collins’ novel is innovating in denouncing marital marriage as one of the miserable social conventions of the time and in proposing same-sex bonds as a more sincere and authentic form of love. Following this point of view, however, the conclusion of the novel seems incoherent with all the rest. Despite the fact that the classic marital dyad is replaced by the triad Laura-Walter-Marian, in fact, Collins “concludes invariably at the altar of convention” (Denver, 123), not only marrying Laura to Walter, but also and especially bringing everything back to the question of inheritance.
I completely agree. I also thought the article we read for class on Friday explained this very well. Wilkie Collins tries to undermine the standard view of a ‘relationship’ by depicting and celebrating other forms of relationships in the novel. I thought this was a very intriguing approach.
I really enjoyed reading your response, especially because the same-sex, sibling relationship really interested me. I understood Marian and Laura’s bond to be exceptionally strong because marriage during this time period served the sole purpose to a transferring of property. Thus, because people did not marry for love or intimacy, Laura and Marian held onto each other even tighter so they could have a friend to confide in. Husband’s were not required to care for their wive’s feelings for marital love consists of female obedience and the male ability to provide comfort and safety. Because of this harsh reality Marian and Laura must stay close to each other so that Marian will be taken care of and so that Laura will not be physically abused by Sir Percival.
I think it is very perceptive of you to draw in Count Fosco’s marriage in conjunction with Dever’s article– I didn’t read that article as thoroughly so I’m not sure if it is something she discusses, but I had not thought about this connection myself. I’m curious about the same-sex sibling love in the novel, because Laura is characterized as feminine and Marian as masculine– I wonder how things would differ if both fit a more traditional version of woman, and if their love would be as accepted in the text as it is by Walter, Mr. Fairlie, and others if Marian was not in some ways “like a man.”
Do you think Collins is perhaps undermining marriage by putting forth unconventional couples that work and conventional couples that don’t work? Also, what significance do the couples have that are not presented at all—i.e. widowers, widows, or completely dead couples and such.
That’s what I thought..That conventional bonds are predestined not to last. At least this is the overall impression that I got, considering that all the couples who are married in the novel are not inspired by true love but instead by economic interests or other reasons which are not clearly described (as in the case of Count Fosco and her wife). Following this point of view, it comes natural to think that even in the case of Walter and Laura, who finally “surrender” to the conventionality of wedlock , they are doomed to be somehow unhappy. For what concerns the other couples, the ones not mentioned at all, my idea is that they are not important for the narration, but they are hinted at as to give the reader other examples of unsuccessful marriages.
I enjoyed how you underlined Collins’ dismantling of the conventional marriage plot in this novel, and I found the dichotomy legal marriage and non-marital bonds you analyzed especially interesting . The situations you examined, to which we could also add the love relationship between Sir Percival’s parents, are very revealing , thus helping illustrate Denver’s statement that there are “different meanings of “marriage” itself – as a legal contract, as a means of regulating sexual desire, as a method of property transmission, as a set of emotional bonds” (112). Although all these meanings are portrayed in the novel, it seems to me that the transmission of property is the key factor in the development of the marriage plot.
You definitely address some very relevant points. As I read through the novel, I was constantly questioning what exactly Collins motives were behind these failed marriages. I liked your description of Count Fosco’s marriage as an arrangement and I think it would definitely be interesting to look back at this period of time (if it would be possible) and see if this was a common practice, either for the purpose of inheritance, safety, or homosexuality. Great insights and connections.