Limmeridge House vs Blackwater Park: the Country House and Male Plot in The Woman in White

• 영문명: Limmeridge House vs Blackwater Park: the Country House and Male Plot in The Woman in White
• 발행기관: 한국영미어문학회
• 저자명: 최정선(Jung Sun Choi)
• 간행물 정보: 『영미어문학』제153호, 63~84쪽, 전체 22쪽
• 주제분류: 어문학 > 영어와문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2024.06.30

국문 초록

This essay examines Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White, focusing on the character of Walter Hartright and his achieving of hegemonic masculinity within a complex narrative structure. Critics analyze how Collins employs multiple narrative voices to establish Walter as the ideal husband for Laura Fairlie/Glyde/Hartright and the rightful heir to Limmeridge House. Walter appears to succeed in transforming from youth to manhood, emphasizing achieved manliness over innate moral virtue, as exemplified by Victorian ideals of self-discipline and adherence to gender norms. However, recent critics highlight the problematic aspects of Walter’s masculine development, particularly in its association with invalidating foreignness, effeminacy, aristocracy, and illegitimacy. Collins endorses middle-class bourgeois virtues through Walter’s gender character, his masculine identity that ultimately aids to reinforce male dominance over women and property, raising questions about his ascension to patriarchal power and property. The essay explores the correlation between Walter's masculine development and ownership of country houses, particularly Limmeridge House and Blackwater Park. Collins’s contrasting portrayal of these settings reflects the rivalry between Walter and Sir Percival for ownership through Laura, emphasizing the symbolic significance of Victorian country houses as embodiments of social status and power. Through the analysis of spatial codes and social relationships within these settings, Collins underscores Walter as the legitimate victor, ultimately positioning him as the rightful inheritor of Laura and the country estate.

목차

1. Introduction

2. Blackwater Park: A Woman’s Patience

3. Limmeridge House: A Man’s Resolution

4. Conclusion

Works Cited

키워드

Wilkie Collins The Woman in White male bildungsroman female incarceration Limmeridge House Blackwater Park