Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

ehavior, Victorian patriarchal society did not find her threatening. John Sutherland claims that “[m]idleaged
men by the score fell in love with Marian Halcombe” (7). Men, therefore, did not view Marian as a
deviant and evil woman who threatened natural patriarchy. The Victorian public loved and idolized Marian,
and consequently, Victoria, for they were powerful, intelligent and independent women who did not
challenge Victorian patriarchal society.
Wilkie Collins was an influential feminist, and in his novel, The Woman In White, which was
published in 1859-1860, he criticized the Victorian ideal of womanhood and celebrated the new feminine
ideal that Marian exemplifies. In Brooke Allen’s book, Artistic License: Three Centuries of Good Writing and Bad
Behavior, she argues that “[t] he feminist heroine, Marian Halcombe, is something quite new in English
literature” (137). Through Marian, Collins demonstrates his critique of the angel in the house, for in
response to Laura’s upcoming marriage to Sir Percival Marian states,
No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women. Men! They are the
enemies of our innocence and our peace—they drag us away from our parents’ love and
our sisters’ friendship—they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless
lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel. (183)
Marian’s strong language against marriage is the opposite reaction that Patmore’s domestic angel or
Ruskin’s ideal wife exhibit. Believing that women should live for themselves and not their husbands,
Marian, like Victoria, argues that marriage is a form of slavery for women. Collins himself disliked the
institution of marriage, and what sets him apart from other Victorian novelists is that he wrote about his
criticism of marriage and social conventions in his writing (Allen 126). Therefore, it is understandable that
he incorporated his critique of Victorian femininity into Marian’s character. Unlike traditional Victorian
women, Marian is strong and cantankerous, and when she argues with Sir Percival she thinks that “[n] o
sensible man ever engages, unprepared, in a fencing match of words with a woman” (147) This
demonstrates that Marian is not afraid to engage in a verbal fight with a man; she boldly thinks that as a
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