Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

This book is really divided between the doers (like the action-oriented Sir Percival and the ever-scheming Count Fosco) and the people who don't do much of anything (like the always sleepy Mrs. Vesey and the sweet Laura).

The truism is true, as far as The Woman In White is concerned: actions speak louder than words. Marian goes climbing on roofs to eavesdrop on evil-doers, while Laura wrings her hands in her room. The characters that act are unlikely to be victimized, and the characters that are passive to begin with end up being trampled by the evil-doers (emphasis on doers) in this novel.

Direct Characterization

This is one of the most common forms of characterization used in this novel. Walter wants his various narrators to tell all, and boy do they ever. We get the low-down on what people say, how they look, and how they behave. The cool thing here is that the narrators help characterize the other characters in the book. It's sort of a communal effort in characterization.

Habits

This one doesn't apply to every character, but a few of our cast members definitely have habits that help define their character. From Fosco's constant snacking on pastries to his freakish habit of letting his pet mice run all over him (shudder), Fosco basically comes off like an eccentric nut. Of course not all characters' habits are so bizarre. Marian habitually writes in her journal, for instance, and Laura has a habit of fidgeting, which gives us insight into her troubled state of mind.

Physical Appearance

Appearances are often deceiving in real life, but not in this novel. Pale, blonde Laura makes for the perfect fairy princess heroine. Marian's more masculine traits help emphasize her tomboyish nature. Even Count Fosco's corpulence helps add to his overall menacing nature—he's dangerously larger than life.

Thoughts and Opinions

If we could only pick one characterization tool for this novel, this would be it. The novel's narrative structure gives us an all-access pass to the inner thoughts of a huge number of characters.

Helpfully, the characters who narrate tell us all about themselves. And characters who don't narrate often have lengthy, utterly revealing conversations with the narrator. In fact, it's the characters that neither narrate nor have a ton of conversations with others who really stand out: like Laura, Anne, and Sir Percival.