After mildly scrubbing Mrs. Fairlie’s tombstone, Anne Catherick transforms from a peaceful, innocent girl to a ferocious creature at Walter Hartright’s insinuation that she may belong in an insane asylum after all. The change is witnessed on her face, which before was characterized by “nervous sensitiveness, weakness and uncertainty” (Collins 104). These descriptions paint Anne as harmless and helpless, as a Victorian woman is expected to be. However, this softness morphs into “an expression of maniacally intense hatred and fear” (104). Both feelings alter the woman’s passive emotional state in an unfeminine way, making her dangerous. The word “wild” is used twice, as well as “unnatural,” emphasizing Anne’s departure from traditional feminine nature (104). She is specifically described as a “wild animal,” separating her from humanity entirely (104). This description is especially notable since animals are typically associated with the masculine, perhaps suggesting a subversion of gender roles. Lastly, Anne uses her “convulsive strength” to “crush” the cloth she had been using to clean the tombstone, “as if it had been a living creature she could kill” (104). The ferocious violence of this action is emphasized by each descriptor, once again comparing Anne Catherick to an animalistic predator. I think this passage shows a dark side of Anne Catherick lurking beneath her meek demeanor, which is agitated by Hartright’s insult to her mental stability. With this scene, Collins subtly aligns unfemininity with insanity, or mental illness at the least. Here is also an image of a woman overcome by sensations—dark sensations of fear and anger—who is thus transformed into something unnatural, masculine, and frighteningly powerful.