The Woman in White

These days, I read the novel the woman in white. It was written by the famous English writer of detective stories William Willkie Collins in 1860, which created a precedent for writing detective stories of him. It is also considered to be among the first mystery novels and is widely regarded as one of the first and finest in the genre of 'sensation novels'.

Firstly, I should say, it is really a well-organized story. Maybe this is the common characteristic of the detective stories. And after reading this book, I had a sigh, because I finished the book after all. The plot is so intensive that made me feel like finishing it in a time. And actually, I did.

The story took place in the middle of the nineteenth century in a small town of Britain. Walter Hartright, a drawer, fell in love with Laura, a woman with a large amount of legacy. However, Laura had been engaged with Sir Percival according to her father's willingness. And since Laura was such a filial daughter that she decided not to disobey her father's will. And in her point of view before she got married, she thought her future husband, Sir Percival, was a kind man. But actually, he was a greedy person. He just pretended to be very kind, which covered his real intention to get Laura's possessions to pay off his debts. But later, after their wedding, he exposed his reality. And in order to reach his final goal, he even put her wife into the asylum, and exclaimed that she had died by using the woman in white Anne's facial similarity to Laura. And they were finally proved to be actual sisters. And Marian, Laura's sister, found the reality, and bravely fought against it with Mr. Hartright. Though it was very dangerous, for they were a bit too vulnerable comparing with Sir Percival, they got the final success. And they lead a happy life since then.

Frankly speaking, I do not like Laura, the actress. She was too weak-kneed and vulnerable. What I could not bear is that Laura should tell her future-husband who she loves in order to get his permission not to get married. What a shame it is! I could not imagine how she thought! Maybe, she was too kind, and thought that others would be kind as she was.

In all honesty, I prefer Laura's sister Marian. She was indeed a good woman. Though she also loved Mr. Hartright, she kept helping Laura to pursue her happiness with Mr. Hartright. Without her help, Mr. Hartright and Laura might not reach their happiness. And she played a role as good friend to them in her later life. What a generous person she was!

As to the structure, Collins employed the way of describing the matter from different people's directions, which might give a more detailed description of it. But personally speaking, I'm not in favor of it. Chances are that I am a bit too conservative to accept the changes comparing the traditional way.

All in all, after reading the book, I acquired more knowledge