Women’s Property And Plight In Mid-Victorian Era

On the strength of The Woman in White(1860)and The Moonstone(1868),Wilkie Collins made his fame in the mid-Vicrorian era.Previous research have discussed the two novels from the perspectives of writing techniques,feminism,politics,law,etc.,believing that the two novels have set the cornerstone for the English detective fiction and provided a catalyst for the Victorian feminist movement.But not many critics have discussed what plight mid-Victorian women confronted in terms of property.This thesis argues that these two novels have attracted more attention to women’s questions,not least the reflection on women’s plight in property.This thesis tends to take the perspective of economy and feminism and analyze how,in these two novels,mid-Victorian women’s property and plight vary in different stages of marriage.Firstly,unmarried women,such as Laura and Rachel,are regarded as the fluid and stable property due to their lack of property education in the premarital market.Secondly,after marriage,women are deprived of property rights and commodified,even enslaved.Finally,divorced women(such as Mrs.Catherick),widowed women(such as Lady Verinder),and remarried women(such as Laura)have suffered varying degrees of property loss and the risk of credulity in the market.The thesis points out that Collins is not a mediocre detective novelist in history.Through these two novels,he fully exposes the unfairness of women’s property rights in different stages of life in mid-Victorian era,expresses deep sympathy for the plight of women,and establishes the important role of novelists in social changes.Regardless of whether they are married,it is in fact very difficult for women in novels to obtain property rights.Women’s “no property is propriety” not only involves legal restrictions on the surface,but also related to ethics.The lack of women’s property is the product of the patriarchal system and the hegemony of a certain class,and women have gradually become sacrificial victims of Victorian society.Through these two novels,Collins aroused more readers’ sympathy and reflection on the plight of women’s property,promoted the development of the women’s movement and The Married Women’s Property Acts,and became one of the most influential novelists in Victoria.