ABSTRACT
In its emphasis on the importance of appearance, and in its reliance on visual effects, The Woman in White is closely related to another very popular cultural form – melodrama. This chapter looks at some of the similarities between the conventions of the two genres, sensation fiction and melodrama. It discusses how the main female characters in the novel can, or cannot, be seen in terms of the conventional role of heroine, drawing attention to the significance of physical appearance and behaviour, and discussing the novel's use of doubling. The chapter considers what the novel has to say about the social aspects of identity, again concentrating on female characters and the ways in which they are confined and controlled in a patriarchal society. It considers the novel as sensation fiction and shall focus on its complex view of the relationship between identity and gender.
