74 pages • 2 hours read
Wilkie CollinsThe Woman in White
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1860A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2, Sections 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The Second Epoch”, Part 2, Section 3: “The Story Continued by Eliza Michelson” - Part 2, Section 4: “The Story Continued in Several Narratives”
Part 2, Section 3, Chapter 1 Summary
The next part of the narrative is told by Mrs. Michelson, the housekeeper at Blackwater Park.
One morning in June, Marian is found feverish and in a state of confusion. The doctor, Mr. Dawson, attends, rebuffing Count Fosco’s repeated attempts to interfere in Marian’s treatment. Laura and Mrs. Michelson tend to Marian that night, though the work distresses Laura and seems to worsen her health. Sir Percival and Count Fosco ask about Marian the next morning, leading Mrs. Michelson to praise the count’s attentiveness (he has previously inquired after servants, such as Fanny).
On the third day of Marian’s illness, Mrs. Michelson notices Count Fosco returning from a walk. Sir Percival asks him if he “found her.” Count Fosco does not answer—the implication being that he knows they are being overheard. After inquiring about Marian, Count Fosco tells Mrs. Michelson that Madame Fosco will be traveling to London to fetch a nurse. She does so on the fifth day of Marian’s sickness, returning the next day with Mrs. Rubelle, a foreign woman. Mr. Dawson is reluctant to trust a nurse chosen by Fosco but finds no fault with her work, so he allows her to remain provided Mrs. Michelson keeps an eye on her. Around this time, Fosco goes to London for a week; before he leaves, he warns Laura to send for a London physician if Marian’s condition worsens.
This agitates Laura, but Marian initially seems to be recuperating. However, by the time Fosco returns, she has deteriorated significantly. Fosco believes she has developed typhus. Dawson initially denies this, but a doctor he brings in from London confirms Fosco’s diagnosis. Laura, already flagging under the strain of the situation, is now largely forbidden from entering Marian’s room for fear that she will catch the infection. Nevertheless, 10 days later, the London doctor declares Marian out of danger.
Two odd occurrences now attract Mrs. Michelson’s attention. First, Fosco and Dawson quarrel again, and Dawson leaves the house. The other doctor has already departed, and Sir Percival does not hire another physician. Mrs. Michelson is particularly uneasy about the stipulation that they conceal this decision from Laura—ostensibly to protect her health. Second, Sir Percival orders Mrs. Michelson to dismiss all the servants but the gardener, herself, and Margaret Poacher. He claims this is to save money, as the house will soon be empty; the Foscos are going to London, and Marian and Laura will soon go somewhere where they can both recuperate.
Part 2, Section 3, Chapter 2 Summary
Already upset about the servants’ dismissal, Mrs. Michelson is further perturbed when Sir Percival asks her to go to Torquay, where he says he intends to rent a house for Marian and Laura for some months; they will then go to Limmeridge in the fall. His list of requirements for this house (and the price he is willing to pay for it) is so unrealistic that Mrs. Michelson believes it to be an impossible errand. Sure enough, she returns from her trip unsuccessful. However, Count and Madame Fosco have gone to live in London.
Mrs. Michelson checks in on Laura, who wishes to visit Marian. When they attempt to go to Marian’s room, however, Sir Percival intervenes, saying that she has gone to London with Count Fosco. Dismissing Laura’s anxiety that Marian is not well enough to travel, he tells her that Marian will travel from London to Limmeridge to arrange for Laura’s stay with Mr. Fairlie. Laura insists on going to London herself to make sure Marian is safe, but she objects when Sir Percival mentions writing to Count Fosco; she does not want to sleep in his house. In private, she tells Mrs. Michelson that she will write to Mrs. Vesey, who is living in London, asking for a place to stay. On Laura’s instructions, Mrs. Michelson personally takes this letter to the village to mail.
The next day, Sir Percival leaves before Laura is due to go to the train station. Laura attempts to reconcile with him, hinting that it may be their last meeting; however, he rebuffs her, hurrying away. Mrs. Michelson escorts Laura, who is visibly anxious and talks about the horrible dreams she had the night before, to the train station.
Later that afternoon, Mrs. Michelson is back at Blackwater but is troubled by Laura’s demeanor during their parting. She takes a walk and is shocked to encounter Mrs. Rubelle, Marian’s nurse, in the gardens rather than in London, with Marian. Mrs. Rubelle smugly tells her that Marian never left Blackwater Park. Sir Percival arrives and explains that Marian is in the unused old wing of the house.
Outraged, Mrs. Michelson demands to speak to Sir Percival in private, where she announces her desire to resign. Sir Percival claims that the deception was for Laura’s good; she needed a change of air but would never have left without Marian. Mrs. Michelson finds his claims unpersuasive, but when he tells her that Marian will have no one to care for her if Mrs. Michelson leaves immediately, she agrees to stay on a little longer. She goes to Marian’s room, where she encounters Mrs. Rubelle, who is already in the process of leaving Blackwater. That night, Mrs. Michelson learns from the gardener that he encountered Sir Percival behaving angrily and erratically before leaving suddenly in a chaise. Mrs. Michelson later hears that Sir Percival boarded a train.
Mrs. Michelson spends the remainder of her time at Blackwater caring for Marian, who is deeply distressed to learn of what has happened—particularly Laura’s departure. Once Marian is strong enough, both she and Mrs. Michelson travel by train to London; from there, Marian journeys on to Limmeridge. Mrs. Michelson closes her account by remarking that she does not believe Count Fosco has done anything wrong and that she regrets that she does not know which day it was that Laura left for London.
Part 2, Section 4, Chapter 1 Summary
Hester Pinhorn, a cook who worked for Count Fosco in London, dictates her testimony, as she cannot write.
Hester is hired shortly before Count Fosco and his wife arrive in London. When they do, they tell Hester that Fosco’s niece will be visiting and that she is in poor health. Shortly after the niece arrives, Hester sees her experiencing some sort of convulsions and is sent to fetch a doctor. The doctor, Mr. Goodricke, examines the supposed niece and discovers that she has heart disease that is likely incurable. Count Fosco appears to take this news very hard.
The health of the young woman (purportedly Lady Glyde) fluctuates over the next night and day. Mr. Goodricke’s partner examines her, and the two men determine that her state is attributable at least in part to emotional strain. Around five o’clock, Madame Fosco reports that the niece has fainted; when the doctor arrives, he pronounces her dead. Guessing that Fosco may be unfamiliar with English law, the doctor offers to register the death himself. Madame Fosco, meanwhile, makes funeral arrangements.
Hester’s account closes with her responses to three questions she has been asked to address: that she never saw Fosco administer medicine to the young woman, that the young woman was never alone with Fosco, and that she does not know why the young woman became so fearful on entering the Foscos’ residence.
Part 2, Section 4, Chapter 2 Summary
This is the death certificate provided by the doctor, Mr. Goodricke. It states that Lady Glyde, age 21, died from an aneurysm on July 25, 1850.
Part 2, Section 4, Chapter 3 Summary
Jane Gould confirms that Mr. Goodricke sent her to prepare “Lady Glyde’s” body for burial and that Hester Pinhorne was sitting with the body when Jane arrived. Jane Gould stayed with the body until it was placed in the coffin.
Part 2, Section 4, Chapter 4 Summary
The tombstone bears the name Laura Fairlie. It states her place of residence and status as Sir Percival’s wife, giving her date of passing as July 25, 1850.
Part 2, Section 4, Chapter 5 Summary
Walter Hartright resumes his testimony. He has survived a series of catastrophes: Many of his companions died of a tropical disease, were killed by Indigenous people, or drowned in a shipwreck as they attempted to return home. He finally reaches England in October 1850, still pining for Laura. When he goes to visit his mother and sister in Hampstead, he is therefore devastated to learn from them of Laura’s death.
Walter travels to Limmeridge, where Laura has been buried. Overcome, he kneels by the grave, only belatedly noticing the approach of two women. One draws aside her veil, revealing herself to be Marian (though much weaker looking than Walter last saw her). As Walter turns toward the other woman, Marian references a “dream” she had. The second woman lifts her veil, and Walter recognizes her as Laura.
Part 2, Sections 3-4 Analysis
In this section, the testimonies are shorter and have more of the character of evidence presented to a court: a certificate of death, the eyewitness testimony of people otherwise uninvolved in the drama, and the inscription on a headstone. This material evidence recalls the novel’s opening lines asking readers to imagine themselves as judges weighing the evidence and thus invokes the theme of The Nature of Justice. The fragments are presented largely without commentary, leaving their interpretation to the reader. Previously, characters invested in the events relayed their stories with a clear position on what they were describing, which guides the reader’s interpretation. The withdrawal of those interpretative narrative voices reveals the work these narrators have been doing. The more dispassionate, legalistic view of the case comes with many gaps; as Mr. Kyrle will tell Walter when he presents this information to him, it is not clear what the truth of the matter is.
Of course, having an invested narrator does not necessarily dispel ambiguity, as narrators themselves can be unreliable. Mrs. Michelson’s misjudgment of Count Fosco’s character represents one of the most extreme discrepancies between the different characters’ accounts. She insists that he is a decent man and cannot be responsible for the crimes he is accused of; she has come to this conclusion because she liked him and because he treated her with kindness and respect—something upper-class employers of servants do not always do. This may be an example of Count Fosco’s skill in manipulation, but other elements of the story suggest that he is not merely a stereotypical villain. His correct diagnosis of Marian, for example, suggests that he genuinely cares for Marian and is struggling to get her the best medical care he can rather than attempting to poison her, as the reader might guess. Hester’s testimony complicates matters further, as it implies that someone does suspect Fosco of poisoning “Laura”—though this does not necessarily imply he would do the same to Marian. Taken together, the accounts suggest that there is a complexity to any story that resists singular interpretation, which develops the theme of The Elusiveness of Truth. It is possible that Mrs. Michelson isn’t wrong about Fosco but that she sees an angle of his character that is not visible to Walter and Marian, which in turn casts doubt on their reliability.
With that said, there are reasons to doubt Mrs. Michelson’s reliability as well; her attitude toward “foreigners,” for example, is not nearly as tolerant as she insists it is. This ambiguity is reminiscent of Mr. Gilmore’s earlier suggestion that Sir Percival’s defense against the anonymous letter lends itself to more than one interpretation. By presenting the reader with different angles on the same set of events, the novel asks them to reflect on their own perspective and how they are receiving these testimonies as a reader and a “judge.”
The twist with which Part 2 culminates implies that the reader’s role as an interpreter will be more important than ever going forward, as it introduces a new mystery: how it is exactly that Laura can be alive. Marian’s dream, which she references in the scene itself, has foreshadowed this revelation, while the much-noted resemblance between Anne and Laura implies that some sort of swap has taken place. As the narrative progresses, Collins invites readers to scrutinize whether the characters’ explanation of these events holds water.
