{"id":336,"date":"2015-02-24T02:52:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T02:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/?p=336"},"modified":"2016-08-24T15:51:38","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T15:51:38","slug":"marian-and-walters-profound-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/2015\/02\/24\/marian-and-walters-profound-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"Marian and Walter’s Profound Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we have discussed extensively in class, Wilkie Collins narrative presents ambiguities and blurred lines in every aspect of the text (i.e. characters\u2019 motives, narrative structure, plot twists and elements). One element that Dever addresses in her critique of Collins\u2019 works is the nature of his consistent derivation from the traditional marriage plot. In discussing The Woman in White <\/em>specifically, he focalizes on the most significant ambiguity of the novel: the relationship between Marian, Walter, and Laura and their \u201clove-triangle,\u201d as we would call it today. She describes that, \u201cCollins produces erotically pluralist novels under the protective, authorizing cover of the conventional marriage plot. He uses the form against itself, turning the marriage plot inside out to feature affirmative, loving, nonmarital bonds\u201d (114). Although only broadly concentrating the relationships in The Woman in White<\/em>, Dever correctly establishes a main reason behind the \u201cpluralist\u201d nature of Collins narrative. I was interested in this pluralism, though, and what exactly contributed to this in the text through the character developments specifically. One major factor to this triangular romance lies in the deeper relationship between Marian and Walter.<\/p>\n

Although Walter and Laura do ultimately end up together, the friendship that grows between Walter and Marian remains a profound and intellectual bond. Nowhere else over the course of the narrative do we see these two characters talk to other characters in the manner that they talk to one another. Of course, the idea that Marian and Walter could ever be a couple is one that has been completely discarded from the very start of the text, since her introduction as a very masculine female character, something that continues to be emphasized throughout the narrative.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Marian and Walter engage in a very marital-like discourse in many instances. For example, after Marian has been ill and weak for a period of time, yet she and Walter must decide on a new course of action for the two of them and Laura, the two of them share a discourse as Marian cleans the house: \u201cShe dashed [the tears] away with a touch of her old energy, and smiled with a faint reflexion of her good spirits. \u2018Don\u2019t doubt my courage, Walter,\u2019 she pleaded, \u2018it\u2019s my weakness that cries, not me<\/em>. The house work shall conquer it if I<\/em> can\u2019t.\u2019 And she kept her word \u2013 the victory was won when we met in the evening, and she sat down to rest. Her large steady black eyes looked at me with a flash of their bright firmness of bygone days\u201d (433). The first component of how the reader views this relationship rests in the manner in which Walter describes Marian\u2019s actions and her appearance. He remains very endearing towards her, almost to a point of pity in this passage, as he consistently addresses her \u201cfirmness of bygone days\u201d or the \u201ctouch of her old energy.\u201d Furthermore, he once again addresses her \u201cblack eyes,\u201d a reminder as to how incompatible Marian is as a woman for not just Walter but for any man. Marian\u2019s dialogue to Walter is then the next important element to their relationship. She very assertively says to him \u201cdon\u2019t doubt my courage.\u201d This shows how much Marian can not only read Walter but also respond so honestly to what she knows him to be thinking. This reflects the nature of, if not a married couple, then a very close pair, and the intuitions that each could have about the other. Marian and Walter\u2019s relationship still remains the most interesting to me in the novel and going in depth to explore then Walter and Laura and Marian and Laura\u2019s relationships would be fascinating to bring together and how they all prove so directly Dever\u2019s statement about Collins\u2019 works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we have discussed extensively in class, Wilkie Collins narrative presents ambiguities and blurred lines in every aspect of the text (i.e. characters\u2019 motives, narrative structure, plot twists and elements). One element that Dever addresses in her critique of Collins\u2019 works is the nature of his consistent derivation from the traditional marriage plot. In discussing … Continue reading Marian and Walter’s Profound Relationship<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1493,"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-336","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\/336","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\/1493"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/victorianlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}