Author: littlemisssunshine

In class, we discussed the idea of the “Victorian Doppelgänger” and how it connects to The Woman in White. In the article we read it says, “Specifically, doppelgänger narratives involve a duality of the main character who is either duplicated in the figure of an identical second self or divided into polar opposite selves.” The original concept of the Victorian doppelganger was from the superstition that seeing one’s double was an omen of death. There are many doppelgängers or doubles in this novel that reflect the difference in the characters.

The clear double in the novel is between Laura Fairlie and Anne Catherick. They are close enough in appearance that Anne is mistaken for Laura even after her death. While their physical similarity allows for the novel’s biggest deception, their different lives show where they differ. Laura is a wealthy woman of high status meaning she is protected, but her life is in the hands of the men who surround her. Anne is poor, but her perceived knowledge gives her a certain power against the people who try to bring her harm.

Another double that I recognized in the novel is between Walter Hartright and Sir Percival Glyde. Walter is seen, as recognized from his telling last name, as the “good guy” who is driven by his morality and pursues justice when others have been wronged. He is honest, passionate, and loyal to Marian and Laura. In contrast, Sir Percival is deceptive and relies on lies to maintain his status. He experiences his downfall from his lies and secrets. Their relationships with Laura highlight their differences and show the difference between virtue and villainy.

Another double I found interesting was between Mrs. Catherick and Mrs. Clements. Although Mrs. Catherick is Anne’s biological mom, she is cold and self-interested. She is more focused on keeping her status and reputation than protecting her own daughter. Mrs. Clements is not Anne’s biological mom, but she is nurturing and protective towards Anne. She raises Anne as her own and steps into the role of her mother. Mrs. Clements is genuinely kind and seeks out the best for Anne. They represent motherhood in the Victorian era and the reader sees how their care influenced Anne. Despite their significantly different roles, I find it interesting that Mrs. Clements ends up being part of the reason for Anne’s demise. She brings Anne to Count Fosco, thinking she was helping Anne, but she was deceived by him, and he is the cause of Anne’s untimely death.

The use of doubles in this novel reinforces the themes of the novel. By mirroring characters and contrasting them against each other, Collins highlights the differences between good and evil, truth and deceit, and justice and corruption. It also reflects morality and choice. The doubles show how the characters can be so similar but take vastly different paths. The doubles not only drive the plot but show human nature.

“Does my poor portrait of her, my fond, patient labour of long and happy days, show me these things? Ah, how few of them are in the dim mechanical drawing, and how many in the mind with which I regard it! A fair, delicate girl, in a pretty light dress, trifling with the leaves of a sketch-book, while she looks up from it with truthful, innocent blue eyes—that is all the drawing can say; all, perhaps, that even the deeper reach of thought and pen can say in their language, either. The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared. Sympathies that lie too deep for words, too deep almost for thoughts, are touched, at such times, by other charms than those which the senses feel and which the resources of expression can realise. The mystery which underlies the beauty of women is never raised above the reach of all expression until it has claimed kindred with the deeper mystery in our own souls. Then, and then only, has it passed beyond the narrow region on which light falls, in this world, from the pencil and the pen” (Collins). 

This passage highlights the stark difference in the way Mr. Hartright describes Laura Farlie versus his original description of the woman in white, Anne Catherck. I find this passage interesting in sensing this connection because this is before Miss Halcomb reveals to him that they look so similar. He describes Miss Farlie as, “A fair, delicate girl, in a pretty light dress…with truthful, innocent blue eyes” (Collins). In his first description of the woman in white he says, “ All I could discern distinctly by the moonlight was a colourless, youthful face, meagre and sharp to look at about the cheeks and chin; large, grave, wistfully attentive eyes; nervous, uncertain lips; and light hair of a pale, brownish-yellow hue….and her dress—bonnet, shawl, and gown all of white” (Collins). He describes the two women so similarly: their fair skin, their youth, their light/white garments, but differs when describing their eyes. Laura’s are truthful, while Anne’s are attentive.

Despite highlighting their similarities, Laura is idealized by Mr. Hartright and he sees her as passive, etheral, and pure, while Anne is seen as mysterious and almost uncanny. Laura represents perfection, while Anne represents the unknown. I find this description interesting when we think of the way Mr. Hartright perceives women throughout this novel. Until this point, Anne has had more agency than Laura. She was the one that approached Mr. Hartright and asked for directions and denied his requests for more information about her. Her ability to approach a man shows her independence, whilst Laura has been more passive, and reflects innocence and what Mr. Hartright might see as what should be the expected nature and norms from women at the time. Anne’s agency reflects her mysterious nature, while Laura’s passive nature shows her dependence on others. Mr. Hartright’s contrasting views of Laura and Anne reflect the way he typically romantacizes women and his reflection on women as a whole throughout the novel.