Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

affection for Marian. Similarly, the British public adored her, and the male readers fell in love with her.
This demonstrates that Victorian men unconsciously desired intelligent and strong women instead of the
traditional angel in the house.
Marian possesses the main ideal qualities that men celebrate in the good Victorian women, but she
also possesses the ideal qualities that men celebrate in themselves, such as intelligence and judiciousness.
Marian exhibits these masculine and feminine qualities when she anxiously waits for Laura’s arrival to
Blackwater Park. She confesses that,
If I only had the privileges of a man, I would order out Sir Percival’s best horse instantly,
and tear away on a night-gallop, eastward, to meet the rising sun—Being however, nothing
but a woman, condemned to patience, propriety, and petticoats, for life, I must respect the
housekeeper’s opinions, and try to compose myself in some feeble and feminine way. (200)
A meek domestic angel such as Laura would not even have the passion or the strength to think about
charging out of the house in the middle of the night, but Marian’s masculine senses desperately want to have
the freedom to do this. Marian’s conflict is that she is a woman, and she does not have the same freedom
that a man has. Considering that Marian has free will, she has the option to challenge patriarchal authority,
but she chooses to conform to society’s expectations of women in this instance. Collins does not criticize
Marian’s adherence to or her deviation from traditional femininity; however, he does criticize Laura, and he
utilizes her to exemplify the consequences of adhering too closely to the role of the perfect angel in the
house.
Collins’ characterization of Laura Fairlie suggests that he wanted women to use Marian as their role
model and to deviate from traditional Victorian femininity. Walter’s description of Laura demonstrates
Collins’ criticism of British society’s feminine ideal, for when Walter first sees Laura she is
clothed in simple muslin dress, the pattern of it formed by broad alternate stripes of
delicate blue and white. A scarf of the same material sits crisply and closely round her
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