Previous
The Second Epoch: Part 4, Chapter 4
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
The narrative now continues through the testimony of Walter Hartright. Walter states that he has returned from his journey to America. Many of his companions died of tropical diseases or were killed by the Native tribes they encountered, and, on the way home, he was shipwrecked and almost drowned. He arrives home in London in October 1850 and goes immediately to visit his mother and sister in Hampstead. He can tell, as soon as he arrives at their house, that they have bad news and his mother implores him to be strong while she breaks it.
Walter’s account of his voyage corresponds with Marian’s prophetic dream in which she saw him escape disease, ambush, and, finally, shipwreck. His mother tells him of Laura’s death and has clearly been informed by Walter of his feelings for Laura.
Themes
Three days after learning of Laura’s death, Walter travels to Limmeridge to visit her grave, as he hopes that this will bring him some comfort. He finds himself in the churchyard at Limmeridge, which holds so many memories of his time with Laura, and breaks down weeping, kneeling on her grave, as he tries to read the inscription on her tomb.
The inscription on the tomb, which includes Laura’s name and date of death, brings home the reality of her death to Walter. This suggests the importance of evidence or material records in determining truth.
Themes
As he kneels there, Walter hears footsteps approaching and looks up to see two women. He recognizes one as Marian—although she looks ill and frightened—and the other has her face covered with a veil. Walter rises. The woman in the veil approaches him and Marian falls to her knees and cries, “My dream, my dream!” As the veiled woman reaches his side, Walter recognizes her eyes through the veil and her voice. She speaks the final, parting words that Laura said to him, and Walter knows, beyond a doubt, that Laura is not in the grave but standing directly before him.
Marian remembers her dream and realizes that it has come true when she sees Laura standing beside Walter at the graveside. Even though the evidence before him on the grave says that Laura is dead, Walter knows it is her because of the words she speaks and his own memory. This suggests that even when evidence seems concrete and to reflect truth, this may not necessarily be the case.
Themes
