Summary Woman in white
Wilkie Collins
Woman in white
The action takes place in England in 1850. The young London artist Walter Hartright, on the recommendation of his friend, the Italian professor Pesca, receives the place of a drawing teacher in Limmeridge in Cumberland, on the estate of Frederick Fairley, Esq. Before leaving, Walter comes to say goodbye to his mother and sister living in the suburbs of London. Returning home late on a hot evening, he unexpectedly meets on a deserted road a strange woman, dressed in white from head to foot. They continue the path together. The mention of Hartright about the places where he is going to go, causes unexpected emotion in the stranger. She lovingly talks about Mrs. Fairley, the late owner of Limmeridge. Then, with anger and fear, he remembers a baronet from Hampshire, without, however, naming his name. Walter helps a stranger to catch a cab and almost immediately after her departure sees a stroller with two riders asking about a “woman in white”.
Walter Hartright comes to Limmeridge, gets acquainted with its inhabitants. This is Marian Golcombe, daughter of the late Mrs. Farley from her first marriage, an ugly but charming and energetic brunette, her sister by mother Laura Fairley, a gentle and gentle blonde, and Mr. Frederick Fairley, their uncle, bachelor and a terrible egoist, the one who suggested Walter’s a job. Walter tells Marian about his meeting with a woman in white, and she, intrigued, finds in her mother’s letters the mention of the girl Anna Caterik. Mrs. Fairley became attached to the girl because of her resemblance to Laura, and the little Anna, answering his patron with fervent love, swore in honor of her to walk always only in white. Here William understands the strange feeling that he often appeared at the sight of Laura: a woman in white was surprisingly reminiscent of Laura, Only thinner and pale or worried grief. Marian and Walter keep their discovery secret. Meanwhile, as often happens, the teacher and student, Walter and Laura, fell in
Marian makes the lover of Laura, who came to Limmerage, give explanations about Anna, and he presents a letter from Mrs. Caterik, Anna’s mother, to prove that she acted with her consent and for the benefit of her daughter. Until the last minute, Marian and Laura hope that the wedding will prevent anything, but the miracle does not happen. Percival Glide and Laura Fairly are married in the church of Limmeridge and leave for a honeymoon in Italy. Six months later they return to England and settle in Blackwater Park, Glide’s estate, Marian Golcombe also arrives there. Together with Glide from Italy, another married couple arrives – Count and Countess of Fosco. Countess Fosco – Laura’s aunt, once absurd and vain, now is devoted to her husband and body, from which she literally keeps her eyes, as if hypnotized, catches every word of him and continuously twists small pachytoski for him. The graph of fosco is extremely thick, always polite, very polite, constantly giving signs of attention to his wife, adores the white mice that he carries with him in a large cage. But it has an unusual strength of spirit (“if instead of a woman he married a tigress, he would tame a tigress,” Marian observes).
In the vicinity of Blackwater Park, Laura meets Anna Katerik, and she again warns her, advising not to trust her husband and fear him. And Sir Percival, desperately in need of money, wants to force Laura to sign some papers without reading. Laura refuses. The husband threatens her, but the earl of Fosco manages to soften the situation. Zhenikhovsky’s gloss and charisma of Sir Percival have long disappeared, he is rude to his wife, mocking and more than once reproaches her for her passion for the teacher-artist (Percival realized the secret of Laura). Count and his wife in all ways prevent Marian from trying to contact the family’s attorney Fairly. They repeatedly intercept letters (once even having drunk some potion with a girl who was supposed to send a letter upon arrival in London). Marian suspects a conspiracy against Laura and, in order to establish himself in his assumptions, overhears the conversation of Percival Glaïd and the earl of Fosco. The conspiracy does exist, but Marian can not resist him – overhearing the night conversation, she gets cold and seriously ill. Taking advantage of Marian’s illness, she was transferred to the distant part of the castle in accordance with the plan of Count Fosco, Laura was informed that she had left, and she was deceived by her deception to visit her uncle, Mr. Fairly. But in London, Laura, under the name of Anna Katerik, is placed in a madhouse, where Anna used to be, while at the same time her imaginary Lady Glide, who was passing through her aunt’s house in London, dies. Now nothing stands between Percival Glyde and the wealth of his wife. in accordance with the plan of Count Fosco, is transferred to a remote part of the castle, Laura is informed that she left, and deceived her by ostensibly to visit her uncle, Mr. Fairly. But in London, Laura, under the name of Anna Katerik, is placed in a madhouse, where Anna used to be, while at the same time her imaginary Lady Glide, who was passing through her aunt’s house in London, dies. Now nothing stands between Percival Glyde and the wealth of his wife. in accordance with the plan of Count Fosco, is transferred to a remote part of the castle, Laura is informed that she left, and deceived her by ostensibly to visit her uncle, Mr. Fairly. But in London, Laura, under the name of Anna Katerik, is placed in a madhouse, where Anna used to be, while at the same time her imaginary Lady Glide, who was passing through her aunt’s house in London, dies. Now nothing stands between Percival Glyde and the wealth of his wife.
After recovering, Marian tries to understand what happened. She manages to find and, with the help of bribes, free Laura – broken, left without a name and wealth. Walter returns from the expedition. Arriving to bow to the grave of Laura, he meets Marian there and changed, terribly similar to Anna Caterik Laura. Walter is renting an apartment where they are resettled by the threesome, and together, he and Marian help Laura to recover a little. Walter decides to return her name to Laura. Realizing that Sir Percival Glide hid Anna Caterik in a madhouse, because he was afraid of disclosures, Walter begins to find out which ones. He visits Anna’s mother, Mrs. Katerik. She quite definitely refuses to help Hartrayt bring Percival Glide to the surface, without a doubt that she hates Glaïd and will be happy if Walter is able to reckon with him. From conversations with Mrs. Caterik, Anna’s mother, with the attendant of Old Welmingham Church, Mr. Wansborough, who had copied a book of church metric records, Walter understands that the marriage of Glide’s parents was not registered, therefore, he has no rights either to the title or to land ownership. At one time, Glide had access to the vestry and the opportunity to forge a record thanks to Mrs. Caterik, but when her husband suspected a love affair between them, Glide did not refute this assumption, fearing to reveal the true reason for his meetings with her. Subsequently, he repeatedly helped Mrs. Katerik in money. Hatred of Anna and fear of her were caused by the fact that she dared to repeat after the mother that she knew the secret of Glide. It was enough that the poor girl found herself in a madhouse, and her speech – whatever she claimed – could not be considered a testimony. Sensing the danger, Percival Glide tries all the best to stop Walter from getting to the truth, then, unaware of the existence of a duplicate, decides to burn the book of records, but burns himself in the church.
Count Fosco eludes persecution. Accidentally at the theater, Walter sees the count and notes his obvious fright at the sight of his friend Professor Pesca, who does not recognize the count (however, he could change the appearance, and the years have done their own). Obviously, Walter understands, Count Fosco was a member of the same secret society as Pesca. The fear of the count can be explained by his apostasy, betrayal of the interests of the brotherhood and the expectation of imminent retribution. Walter is forced to resort to Sands. He leaves the professor a sealed envelope with a letter in which he reveals the count and asks him to punish him if Walter does not return to the appointed hour the next day. Taking these precautions, Walter Hartright comes to Count Fosco and forces him to write the story of the fraud committed by him and Glide. Count, with his usual complacency, he writes with inspiration,
Based on the discrepancy in the dates: the death certificate was issued earlier than the letter from Frederick Fairley, which contains the invitation of the niece to visit, Walter manages to prove that Laura is alive, and Anna Katerik is buried instead. The inscription on the monument is now changed. Anna Caterik, a woman in white, after death, found what she aspired to: she rests next to Mrs. Fairly, whom she loved so much.
Laura and Walter are married. Their life is gradually improving. Walter works a lot. After some time on business in Paris, he sees the body of Count Fosco, caught from the Seine. There are no traces of violence on the body, except for two knife cuts on the hand that concealed the brand-name of a secret society the size of a small coin (the same mark is on the hand of Peski). Returning to London, Walter finds neither Laura nor his half-year-old son, nor Marian. He was handed a note of his wife with a request immediately and without worrying about coming to Limmeridge. There he is met by the agitated Laura and Marian, After the death of his uncle, the family estate was taken over by Laura. And baby Walter, a young heir to Limmeridge, whom Marian holds in his arms, can now be considered one of the most arrogant landlords in England.
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