...The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, published in 1860, is a Victorian sensationalistst fiction novel. Collins might be considered the father of the modern mystery thriller and detective novel genres. Collins, like his friend Charles Dickens, uses the novel to expose social injustices of his time, in particular, the lack of legal rights afforded married women. Collins presents this story as if holding a trial in which characters present their perspective on the events through narrative, diary excerpts and eye-witness accounts. The main story takes place between July, 1849, and August, 1852. Much of the story is told through the narrative of Walter Hartright, an art tutor who falls in love with a student, Laura Fairlie, who is engaged to Sir Percival Glyde. Percival marries for Laura's inheritance, which he seeks to gain through her written consent or her death. Working with him are the Count and Countess Fosco. An unwitting accomplice in the downfall of Laura is her ineffective guardian, her uncle Frederick Fairlie. Laura has few allies, but they are fiercely loyal to her. Marian Halcombe, her half-sister, and Walter Hartright face terrific odds against formidable men of power to protect Laura. The title character, The Woman in White, is also an ally of Laura's and a look-alike half sister. The good people eventually prevail with the aid of decent servants, honest solicitors (lawyers) and some luck. The story includes spies, secret societies, identity theft, mistaken identity...
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...Chapter 1: One night Walter meets a strange woman dressed all in white. They talk together and Walter is very much surprised to hear the woman talking about the place and the family he is on his way to see. Before he can ask her any questions, she disappears. Chapter 2: Walter goes to Cumberland. At Limmeridge House he meets his pupils, Marian and Laura, who are half-sisters. Walter notices that Laura resembles the ‘woman in white’ very much. He tells Marian about the strange woman. She is keen to help him solve the mystery. Chapter 3: Walter enjoys his life at Limmeridge House. He falls in love with Laura and makes friends with Marian. But Marian advises him to leave Limmeridge House, because Laura is engaged to baronet Sir Percival Glyde, who is coming soon. Laura receives an anonymous warning against her future marriage, and Walter remembers the ‘woman in white’ talking about some wicked and cruel baronet. He thinks the warning letter is from that woman. Chapter 4: Walter goes to the churchyard to see the strange woman who was seen there. They meet and she gives him her name, Anne Catherick, and that she has escaped from the asylum where Sir Percival shut her up. Then she gets frightened and runs away. Chapter 5: Before Walter goes away, he and Marian go to the village to find Anne Catherick to talk to her. When they arrive, they find that Anne has already gone. Chapter 6: Mr Gilmore, the family lawyer, comes to draw up the marriage settlement. He...
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...The Woman in White – Chosen extract Elyssia Leeman 6.2 20th November 2014 In this particular section Collins uses the theme of crime and criminals and this is associated with the sensational genre and the theme of criminality. Throughout this extract there is a specific word choice based around crime and the theme of gothic horror. The theme of secrets also fits in well with this section as the by being the reader we can question the language used by Collins in Walters perspective. Collins in this extract shows Walters devout love for Laura from his perspective. Collins shows how much Walter is hurting and missing Laura. ‘My heart turns faint’ which enhances the theme of romance however this theme suddenly changes to a gothic horror theme ‘My mind sinks in darkness and confusion’ the choice of language here shows different meanings of the chosen words, ‘sinks’ becoming death and the death of Laura, and his ‘confusion’ of where she is. Walter knows Laura is alive and he is confused to how he is going to catch out Fosco and Glyde. ‘Darkness’ has an effect of gothic horror and a negative sense to it and it is used to make us feel the dark place where Walter is and Collins wants the reader to feel Walter’s heart break and how his dark place is taking him in. Collins uses the theme of secrets when in the first opening line in Walters narrative ‘I advance my narrative by one week’ this makes us question where Walter...
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...Compare the openings of The Women in White and The Lady in the Lake In the opening passage of The Lady in the Lake the narrator, who is the main character, describes his background and personal life in detail. Whereas the opening passage of The Women in white is giving no information into the author of this section. The passage tells the reader how the book will be told by the part that each character plays when in front of a court. This is in contrast to the Lady in the Lake where the passage is revealing more of the main character, the reader then has a feeling of knowing more about what that character is like rather than the lost feeling with The Women in White. The theme linking the two extracts is crime. In the Lady in the Lake the writer talks about his links to crime; mainly being a private investigator also that he has been in jail “more than once” which gives an impression that he has served time on more than one occasion. Also in his professional status he “don’t do divorce business” which means he does not investigate couples who want a divorce. He describes to the reader his job which is linked with crime. However, The Women in White’s extract informs the reader that the book is linked to crime because each witness will be describing their involvement in a court case. As well as this, the passage refers to the law “an offence against the laws is told in court” which shows the reader that the theme of the story will also be crime similar to The Lady in...
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...foreign which gives us the nationality of the character and the intial setting of the story ' The sidewalk in front of it'. The Woman in White differs from this by having much more complex and archeic lexis 'The quiet twilight was still trembling on the topmost ridges of the heath'. This gives us the setting which in this case is Victorian England, a time when formaility and social class were very important. This contrasts with the much more informal Lady in the Lake. Phonological features are present in the Lady in the Lake 'Cream of the crop'. This shows that the text has been crafted and therefore to entertain readers. The Woman in White has a lot more phonological features, some however flow in a single sentance which makes it seem almost poetic ' seemed to be sinking in unison, languidly and more languidly, with the sinking sun'. This text has definately been much more finely crafted which paints a fine mental picture of the sceneary and of the feelings and emotions of the idividual in this section. Graphology is greatly different in these texts too. Lady in the Lake uses very short quick sentances at the beginning. 'Personal'. In the first scence protagonist Philip Marlowe is in The Gillerlain Company. A very rich business, being short and to the point is very important in business and this is being reflected here. In contrast The Woman in White has much longer and elaborate sentances. ' The evening, as I...
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...Extract Analysis In this extract from “The Lady in the Lake” we see Chandler depict Philip Marlowe’s first encounter with Bill Chess outside the remote setting of the log cabins by Puma lake. This scene develops into an interrogation-like scenario, as Marlowe pries subtly into, or rather allows for the personal life of Bill Chess to be stated outright, with the detective mentioning the occasional hint or question to allow for a fuller explanation and understanding of the recent occurrences involving the disappearance of Crystal Kingsley. We learn much about both characters in this extract, allowing us to form a good idea of their personalities and mannerisms. “The Lady in the Lake” is a detective fiction novel, and elements of this genre shine through within this extract alone, from the almost interrogation-like scenario by which Bill pours out his story to Marlowe. In this extract we find Marlowe taking almost a step back from the scenario and acting essentially as a pair of ears tuned in on the monologue presented from Bill - the kind of subtle yet acute manner you would expect from a detective, and this lends itself towards the confirmation of the genre of detective fiction. This confirmation is heightened through the organisation of the extract; secrets are subtly unearthed by the detective, with the possibility of a death having occurred with the discovery of Muriel Chess’ note reading “…I’d rather be dead than live with you any longer. Muriel.” This deepening in...
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...Compare how the writers of The Woman in White and The Lady in the Lake introduce their novels to the reader. The two books The Woman in White and The Lady in the Lake are very good examples of the detective genre which is only fictional and they are both from different time periods. The Woman in White is an earlier example of the detective genre as it uses Victorian characters whereas The Lady in the Lake comes from the 1940’s of America which is a hardboiled detective style. The context is established through mood, setting and atmosphere by Collins and introduces the novel by using this technique. The mood at the time is pointed out on the first line and it gives us a view of women and men in that era. We see this when it says ‘what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what a man’s resolution can achieve’. The word ‘endure’ when describing women shows that they had to go through tough times and lived a passive lifestyle. The word ‘achieve’ when describing men shows that they had success and had an active lifestyle which sums up the time period as men were the dominant gender. The context is shown again which again sums up the era when it says ‘pre-engaged servant of the long purse’ which I said when describing the law and the court which shows the richer you were the more likely you’d get away with committing a crime as they were helped and if you were poor you were looked down on and treated like a criminal for just being poor. Towards the end of the first page the context...
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...How is the theme of ‘secrets’ conveyed in your choice of extracts from “The Lady in the Lake” by Raymond Chandler and “The Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins? Both ‘The Lady in the Lake’ by Raymond Chandler and ‘The Woman in White’ by Wilkie Collins portray the theme of secrets in various ways. There is a repetitive theme of secrets created from beginning to end. Both authors triumphantly create secrecy and suspicion for both the characters and the readers. People keep secrets from one another throughout both of these books. E.g. In ‘The Woman in White’, Marian keeps it a secret from Laura that there is a woman (Anne Catherick) who looks exactly like her. These novels fit into the genre of crime fiction which automatically connects to secrets due to the style of the genre. Due to the fact that the authors have to keep information from the reader’s means that they do not deduce the mystery before the end of the book. As it is a crime fiction, the authors keep major plot points hidden from the readers. The main body of secrecy in both texts are presented via the characters interactions. Despite being introduced to a wider array of characters in ‘The Lady in The Lake’, the characters in ‘The Woman in White’ appear to conceal more from the reader. In ‘The Lady in The Lake’ extract, we are introduced to Muriel Chess who reveals that she is Mildred Haviland. Throughout ‘The Lady in The Lake’ extract, Chandler uses dialogue to present the theme of secrecy through the characters...
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...How is danger portrayed in the extracts I have chosen in the Lady in the Lake and the Woman in White? In the extracts I have chosen for Wilkie Collins’ sensational fiction novel “The Woman in White” and Raymond Chandler’s detective novel “The lady in the Lake”, the theme that is predominant is danger. Wilkie Collins uses a range of linguistic techniques in the extract that I have chosen to reveal the danger behind the secret that Pesca discloses to the main protagonist of the novel Walter Hartright. On the other hand Raymond Chandler portrays the theme of danger in the extract that I have chosen through the way that Detective Marlowe unfolds the puzzle of the novel by revealing to other characters the motives behind every murder that was committed by Muriel Chess. Furthermore linguistic techniques used to convey danger in The Woman in White are different to the linguistic devices used to portray danger in the Lady in the Lake due to the difference in the time periods in which both novels were published. This is evident through the way Wilkie Collins chooses to use compound sentences to reflect the colloquial language of the Victorian era , whilst Raymond Chandler chooses to use words related to the 1940 LA period such as “little pal”. In addition Raymond Chandler portrays danger in the extract I have chosen in the extract I have chosen through the way Detective Marlowe unfolds the fact that Muriel Chess impersonated Crystal Kingsley. In addition Muriel Chess’ impersonation...
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...a Somali woman sitting in a bus with her little daughter, with them in the bus there are sitting two elder white women. The two elder women are sitting in the pram space in the bus, and the white elder women are pretending that they haven’t seen the Somali woman and her child. In another seat there is sitting a woman with her child and the woman is the narrator of the story. The narrator tries to make the two white and elder women move away from their seats so the Somali woman can sit there with her babies, but the two elder women won’t move away from their seats and pretends that they did not see the Somali woman and her babies. The driver of the bus is a black man, and he starts to yell at the Somali woman because she is standing in the aisle and because she is not sitting on the seats. The two elder white women are saying a lot of racist words and express their racism towards the Somali woman. The Somali woman does not do anything or say something to the two elder white women, but the narrator is feeling a little bit guilty. She is feeling guilty because she did not help the Somali woman even thou she has taught her daughter to stand against such things in life. She is telling the Somali woman to report the bus driver but she does not want to report him, but instead call him a ‘slave’. The narrator of the story is kind towards the elder white women and she asks them to move to the empty seats so the Somali woman and her babies can be there, but the two elder white women pretends...
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...Little Snow-White Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Once upon a time in midwinter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven, a queen sat sewing at her window, which had a frame of black ebony wood. As she sewed she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful that she thought to herself, "If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood in this frame." Soon afterward she had a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Little Snow-White. And as soon as the child was born, the queen died. A year later the king took himself another wife. She was a beautiful woman, but she was proud and arrogant, and she could not stand it if anyone might surpass her in beauty. She had a magic mirror. Every morning she stood before it, looked at herself, and said: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all? To this the mirror answered: You, my queen, are fairest of all. Then she was satisfied, for she knew that the mirror spoke the truth. Snow-White grew up and became ever more beautiful. When she was seven years old she was as beautiful as the light of day, even more beautiful than the queen herself. One day when the queen asked her mirror: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all? It answered: You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But Snow-White...
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...Pollen is spread across the girl’s body as a way to represent fertility, which is the mark of a woman. She is then blessed, along with other sacred items such as her ceremonial dress and musical instruments before the physical tasks begin. A sunrise dance is preformed by the girl and her sponsor, with musicians providing music and chants. The chants retell the tale of the White Painted Woman’s life. This dance and chant is meant to evoke the spirit of the White Painted Woman and by doing the dance, the girl will take on her spiritual powers. Next, it can be seen why this rite of passage is considered a community event. She is covered with a sacred mixture of cornmeal and clay to represent the White Painted Woman (Yupanqui, 1999). After the girl receives the spiritual powers of the White Painted Woman, she is believed to have special healing powers. Those who are sick within the community are then blessed by her as a way to cure their illness. While the community supports the initiate on her journey to womanhood, she in turn helps heal the community. This ceremony is mutually beneficial for all...
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...they will fit and look cute in the clothes. Old vs. new ads shows consumers how far the product has come so they would want to try it because it’s been around for so long. The Coca-Cola ad featuring Marc Jacob’s clothing is more up to date and it is selling fashion and how slim you can be when drinking Diet Coke. The background is all white and the ad is a can of Diet Coke with a man and woman and at the bottom it’s a red heart with the name Marc Jacobs next to it, who is a fashion designer. The can of coke is gray with red dots and has a skinny woman on the can itself. Her body is turned half way while she is looking towards the man. She has on yellow and white leggings that are stripped horizontally with black and white star panties over it. Her shoes are blue and brown high heels with her shirt being horizontally stripped long sleeve black and white. It looks as if the shirt has a red collar and a red heart at the top right corner. The woman has no face expression. The words Diet Coke is written side-ways on the can, diet is written in black and coke is written in red and above it, it says Marc Jacobs. On top of the can sits a skinny woman leaning back a little and she is smiling. The...
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...their community and society. The African American community is currently experiencing a shortage of available men for African American women to choose from due to incarceration and unemployment. While the community as a whole is showing improvement in areas such as social status, education, decrease in poverty, and health, the rise can mainly be attributed to the African American woman. With the increased success of African American women at a rate higher than that of the African American man, women have started considering dating other races. The Family Dynamic of an African American Woman Interracial marriage is not entirely accepted amongst today’s society. Within the African American community, there remains a lot of resistance. The common scenario in the past has been African American male/Caucasian woman; nevertheless, we are starting to see a rise amongst, African American woman/Caucasian man. Consequently the expectations set by the African American family are set higher for an African American women to date and marry within her own race. Due to those expectations the African American woman places, a great deal of consideration when choosing whether or not she will date outside of her race. At the same time, there are many external and internal forces at work threating the African American community: low expectations set by adults within and outside the family; too few positive role models; incessant images of violence; excessive greed and materialism; and too few...
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...Deborah Gray White’s book Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South, she discusses how black men and women did not experience slavery the same way. White believes that the way different genders were treated due to slavery was more to it than what other historians have revealed. White based her title on Sojourner Truth’s address which stated, “I could work as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear de lash as well- and ar’n’t I a women? (White 14). White used her studies for slave narratives, travellers’ and former slave interviews to help her support her arguments in her book. Based on White’s argument in this book slavery was different for men and women because both genders had different responsibilities and expectations. One of White’s study was the myths of Jezebel. Jezebel was the opposite of a real women during the time period. The myths characteristics of a black women is one who is sensual and would want men to go to bed with her. According the White, “If she is rescued from the myth of the Negro, the...
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