Point of View

The point of view in the story is multiple first-person in keeping with the format that each person is acting as a witness as if in a trial. The story of each person delivers a slightly different perspective on the events as they unfold for the reader. Though this point of view is not the first of its kind, it is markedly different from the standard third person narrative used in Britain during the 1860s. Compare The Woman in White to any work of Charles Dickens of this same era and the differences are distinct. The points of view come from the characters Walter Hartright, Solicitor Vincent Gilmore, Marian Halcombe, Guardian Frederick Fairlie, Eliza Michelson, Mrs. Catherick, Count Fosco and a few minor characters. The bulk of the story is told by characters closest to Miss Laura Fairlie. There is no cross-examination of these witnesses, simply...