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The First Epoch: Part 1, Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Woman in White, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Evidence and Law
Morality, Crime, and Punishment
Identity and Appearance
Marriage and Gender
Class, Industry, and Social Place
Summary
Analysis
Walter returns to Limmeridge and tells Marian what he has found out: that there is no doubt in his mind that Sir Percival Glyde had Anne Catherick placed in the asylum. Marian agrees to go to Todd’s Corner the next day and speak to Anne herself. She intends to find out everything she can about Sir Percival, and pass it on to her lawyer, Mr. Gilmore, before arranging Laura’s wedding.
Although Marian does not know the reason that Sir Percival placed Anne in the asylum, she wishes to have all the information to legally protect her sister against the same fate. This suggests that it was reasonably common for men to abuse their power against women, including their wives, in this period, and Marian is doing the right thing by bringing her lawyer into the situation.
Themes
The next morning, Walter gives Mr. Fairlie his notice, and Mr. Fairlie haughtily asks him to leave immediately. Walter travels to Todd’s Corner with Marian but, when Marian enters the farm, she is told that Anne Catherick and Mrs. Clements left unexpectedly and will not return. Mrs. Todd, who lives at the farm, can tell them nothing except that Anne was seized by a fainting fit the evening before while she was listening to the dairymaid share some local gossip. She’d also had one the day before while reading the marriage section of the local newspaper. Looking at the date on the newspaper, Marian ascertains that this happened on the day that Anne wrote her letter to Laura.
It seems clear to Marian and Walter that Anne has heard something that alarmed her when she was listening to the gossip in the kitchen, and that this has induced her to leave Limmeridge immediately. It also seems that she read about Sir Percival and Laura’s engagement in the marriage section of the newspaper, and this inspired her to write to Laura to warn her about her future husband.
Themes
Marian and Walter approach the dairymaid and ask her what she was talking about when Anne Catherick took ill. The dairymaid says that she had been talking about Sir Percival Glyde, who would soon be arriving at Limmeridge House.
Once again, Sir Percival seems like a sinister figure before he even arrives, as even his name causes so much distress in Anne.
Themes
