The Woman in White · Chapter
XII explained
Walter Hartright, tormented by Laura Fairlie's engagement, watches her walk in the twilight and later visits Mrs.
What happens
Walter Hartright, tormented by Laura Fairlie's engagement, watches her walk in the twilight and later visits Mrs. Fairlie's grave. Meanwhile, Marian Halcombe investigates a schoolboy's claim of seeing a ghost in the churchyard, which Walter suspects may be Anne Catherick, linking the ghost story to the anonymous letter.
Themes in this chapter
Secrecy and Conspiracy
The mystery of the woman in white and the anonymous letter suggests a hidden conspiracy surrounding Laura and Anne.
Identity and Appearance
The confusion between the ghost and Anne Catherick highlights the theme of mistaken identity and hidden truths.
Deception and Trust
Marian and Walter grapple with trusting the boy's story and the possibility of deception in the village.
Characters to notice
- Walter Hartright
Observes Laura from his window, visits the churchyard, and suspects the ghost is Anne Catherick.
- Laura Fairlie
Seen walking alone in the garden, dressed in brown cloak and straw hat, ignoring her dog.
- Marian Halcombe
Questions the schoolboy Jacob Postlethwaite about the ghost and discusses the investigation with Walter.
- Jacob Postlethwaite
The schoolboy who claims to have seen a ghost in the churchyard, identified as Mrs. Fairlie.
- Mr. Dempster
The schoolmaster who tries to dismiss Jacob's ghost story as childish folly.
- Anne Catherick
Implied to be the woman in white seen by Jacob, and possibly the anonymous letter writer.
Key passages
“I had sufficient consideration for her to arrange the blind so that she might not see me if she looked up, but I had no strength to resist the temptation of letting my eyes, at least, follow her as far as they could on her walk.”
Walter discreetly watches Laura from his window, hiding behind the blind to avoid being seen.
Walter's internal conflict between respect for Laura's privacy and his longing to see her.
“The dead leaves, which had whirled in the wind before me when I had heard of her marriage engagement in the morning, whirled in the wind before her, and rose and fell and scattered themselves at her feet as she walked on in the pale waning sunlight.”
The same dead leaves that accompanied Walter's despair earlier now swirl around Laura as she walks.
Symbolic imagery linking Laura's fate to the decay and inevitability of autumn.
“The schoolmaster unconsciously told you. When he spoke of the figure that the boy saw in the churchyard he called it 'a woman in white.'”
Walter points out that the schoolmaster's description of the ghost matches Anne Catherick.
Walter connects the ghost sighting to the mysterious woman he met on the road.