From the very beginning of the novel, Wilkie Collins sets up a unique narration that sets the reader at the edge of page, quick to discover what comes next.\u00a0 But what I find most intriguing about Collins\u2019 narrative style is its strategic characterization of Marian Halcombe.<\/p>\n
Our first impressions of Marian are relayed to us by Walter Hartright, \u201cthe lady is dark\u2026the lady is young\u2026 the lady is ugly!\u201d (34).\u00a0 He continues to elaborate on Miss Halcombe\u2019s bold, masculine features which include a strong jaw, facial hair, resolution, and strong will, concluding she is altogether wanting femininity in her physical appearance and demeanor (35).\u00a0 Though, Walter does admit to a certain charm to her \u201cmodest graces of action through which the symmetrical limbs betrayed their beauty when they moved,\u201d it is made explicit that Marian is more man than woman (35).\u00a0 She is described as level-headed, intelligent, and analytical, a stark contrast to both Laura and Mrs. Vesey who project feminine passivity.<\/p>\n
Not only does Walter divorce Marian from his schema of femininity, but Marian also reinforces this instinct by rejecting female-gender-roles and removing herself from the stereotype \u2018Victorian woman.\u2019\u00a0 During Walter\u2019s narration she repeatedly generalizes woman in a very negative light and explicitly admits, \u201cI don\u2019t think much of my own sex, Mr. Hartright\u201d (36). This attitude towards Marian continues through the end of Walter\u2019s narration and into Mr. Gilmore\u2019s narration.<\/p>\n
There is a shift however, when Marian begins her narration.\u00a0 From this point on, Marian\u2019s gender established in the first two sections is contradicted and blurred.\u00a0 For one, we witness Marian accept her role as a woman when she coddles and protects Laura.\u00a0 She laments the pain that all women suffer at the hands of men with \u201cmiserable, weak, women\u2019s tears.\u201d\u00a0 And her narration produces a less rational, level-headed voice than Mr. Hartright suggested.\u00a0 She narrates like a school girl might gossip, impulsively and indulgently.\u00a0 She frequently relates one idea, only to contradict it later.\u00a0 For example, when Marian tries to decide her feelings towards Sir Percival she is at first uneasy, though in her journal entry on December 2 she writes, \u201c on looking back I find myself aways referring to Sir Percival in disparaging terms. In the turn affairs have now taken, I must and will root out my prejudice against him\u201d (186).\u00a0 She continues of the next few days to praise his handsome looks and respectable behaviors as his \u201cpure charity, his conduct\u2026.deserves extraordinary praise!\u201d (190).\u00a0 But on December 20 she writes, \u201cI hate Sir Percival! I flatly deny his good looks.\u00a0 I consider him to be eminently ill tempered and disagreeable, and totally wanting in kindness and good feeling\u201d (191).\u00a0 Therefore Marian is now seen as fickle and easily swayed, more like a woman than a man.\u00a0 Even later Marian\u2019s voice suggests hysteria in her jealousy and paranoia combined with her impulsive nature.\u00a0 This shift in characterization of Marian is directly linked to Collin\u2019s narrative style.\u00a0 Mr. Hartright and Mr. Gilmore write their passage after the written events have already ended, giving them ample time to reflect on and analyze them.\u00a0 However, Marian\u2019s narration takes place as the events take place which therefore leads the reader to think that she is less rational than the men, more like a woman, and therefore less reliable as a narrator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the very beginning of the novel, Wilkie Collins sets up a unique narration that sets the reader at the edge of page, quick to discover what comes next.\u00a0 But what I find most intriguing about Collins\u2019 narrative style is its strategic characterization of Marian Halcombe. Our first impressions of Marian are relayed to us … Continue reading Collin’s Narration and Marian’s Womanhood<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2035,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111380,108029],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-360-victorian-sexualities","category-spring-2015"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2035"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}