Book Anatomy · The Woman in White
The Woman in White: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 68 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
10,232 different words. On average 49 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 3,710 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
count, marian, laura, london, house. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 15.84 words ending in 'ly' and 9.26 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.3% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 6.7% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 36% of sentences: i, the, he, she, it.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 2352 |
| the | 1265 |
| he | 525 |
| she | 522 |
| it | 464 |
| you | 339 |
| my | 291 |
| if | 251 |
| in | 241 |
| but | 232 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.73 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
352 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.42 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 2: For my own poor part, the fading summer left me out of health, out of spirits, and, if the truth must be told, out of money as well. …
Ch 1, para 8: Without being actually a dwarf—for he was perfectly well proportioned from head to foot—Pesca was, I think, the smallest human being I ever saw out of a show-room. …
Ch 2, para 12: “Much more than was at all necessary,” I answered as doggedly as possible; for the least encouragement in connection with this subject invariably let loose the Professor’s emotions …
Ch 2, para 13: “I said,” persisted Pesca, “that my life belonged to my dear friend, Walter, for the rest of my days—and so it does. I said that I should never …
Ch 2, para 14: It may be necessary to explain here that Pesca prided himself on being a perfect Englishman in his language, as well as in his dress, manners, and amusements. …
Ch 2, para 17: “In his hand, the golden Papa has a letter; and after he has made his excuse for disturbing us in our Infernal Region with the common mortal Business …
Abundant similes and metaphors throughout. Common types: water imagery (drowning, diving, drifting), disease (plague, pestilence, fever), animals (tigress, spaniel), light and shadow, and journey/path metaphors. Used to convey emotional states and moral corruption.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 17, Ch 22, Ch 28, Ch 32, Ch 35
Lulled by the Syren-song that my own heart sung to me, with eyes shut to all sight, and ears closed to all sound of danger, I drifted nearer and nearer to the fatal rocks. (Ch 8, para 11)
He looks like a man who could tame anything. If he had married a tigress, instead of a woman, he would have tamed the tigress. (Ch 21, para 23)
Wait and look. The Pestilence which touches the rest will pass ME. (Ch 25, para 59)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 61%, sound 23%, touch 12%, taste 2%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 1763 |
| sound | 673 |
| touch | 355 |
| taste | 62 |
| smell | 16 |
Sight dominates: faces, expressions, clothing, written documents. Sound used for atmosphere and revelation (footsteps, music, voices). Touch conveys emotion and violation. Smell and taste rarely used. Sight drives the mystery plot.
Chapters: Ch 3, Ch 5, Ch 7, Ch 12, Ch 22, Ch 27
She approached nearer—and I said to myself (with a sense of surprise which words fail me to express), The lady is ugly! (Ch 5, para 4)
Not a living creature was in sight. The place looked lonelier than ever as I chose my position, and waited and watched, with my eyes on the white cross that rose over Mrs. Fairlie’s grave. (Ch 11, para 71)
I looked at her, with my mind full of that other lovely face which had so ominously recalled her to my memory on the terrace by moonlight. (Ch 12, para 26)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
172 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 0.69 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition of key phrases: 'woman in white', 'the secret', 'the conspiracy'. Lists of three used sparingly. Patterns of doubling (Anne and Laura, two conspirators, two identities). Repeated motifs of confinement, surveillance, and documents structure the narrative.
Chapters: Ch 3, Ch 7, Ch 9, Ch 12, Ch 28, Ch 31
These events have a meaning, these events must lead to a result. The mystery of Anne Catherick is NOT cleared up yet. (Ch 19, para 35)
Wait and look. The Pestilence which touches the rest will pass ME. (Ch 25, para 59)
I say again the woman in white is a living influence in our three lives. The End is appointed—the End is drawing us on—and Anne Catherick, dead in her grave, points the way to it still! (Ch 35, para 102)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: art, nay, ere, thither, thou, thy.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| art | 21 |
| nay | 4 |
| ere | 3 |
| thither | 2 |
| thou | 2 |
| thy | 2 |
| hither | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Heavy use of showing through dialogue, letters, and diary entries. Characters reveal themselves through action and speech rather than authorial summary. Key conspiracies shown through eavesdropping and discovered documents rather than told.
Chapters: Ch 12, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 26, Ch 28, Ch 37
Not even a last doubt now remained. Her mother was guiltless of imprisoning her in the Asylum. A man had shut her up—and that man was Sir Percival Glyde. (Ch 12, para 105)
The fool’s crime is the crime that is found out, and the wise man’s crime is the crime that is NOT found out. (Ch 22, para 53)
If your wife lives, you pay those bills with her signature to the parchment. If your wife dies, you pay them with her death (Ch 28, para 107)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description woven into action rather than preceding it. Settings introduced as characters move through them. Blackwater Park revealed gradually through Marian's observations and movements. Limmeridge House shown through Walter's arrival and exploration.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 34
It’s Limmeridge village, and Limmeridge House, I should like to see again. (Ch 3, para 59)
It was like coming to the surface of the water after deep diving, to find myself once more on the outside of Mr. Fairlie’s room. (Ch 6, para 40)
Not a living creature was in sight. The place looked lonelier than ever as I chose my position, and waited and watched, with my eyes on the white cross that rose over Mrs. Fairlie’s grave. (Ch 11, para 71)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 4.52 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| saw | 262 |
| heard | 235 |
| thought | 183 |
| knew | 146 |
| felt | 138 |
| seemed | 98 |
| noticed | 27 |
| watched | 25 |
| wondered | 4 |
| realised | 3 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from romantic yearning in early chapters to gothic suspense at Blackwater Park, then to grim determination during investigation, ending in triumph. Shifts marked by narrator changes and setting transitions. Comedy appears in Mr. Fairlie's fussiness and Pesca's exuberance.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 8, Ch 21, Ch 28, Ch 32, Ch 41
my sympathies shut themselves up resolutely at the first sight of Mr. Fairlie. (Ch 6, para 7)
The feeling began and ended in reckless, vindictive, hopeless hatred of the man who was to marry her. (Ch 10, para 29)
He looks like a man who could tame anything. If he had married a tigress, instead of a woman, he would have tamed the tigress. (Ch 21, para 23)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy works through character quirks: Mr. Fairlie's hypochondria and vanity, Pesca's passionate Italian manner, Mrs. Vesey's passivity. Ironic contrasts between appearance and reality. Light moments provide relief from dark conspiracy. Rarely slapstick; mostly character-based.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 6, Ch 14, Ch 19, Ch 29
I should have put my arms round his neck, and pressed him to my bosom in a long and grateful hug! As it was, I only bounced upon my chair (Ch 2, para 17)
my sympathies shut themselves up resolutely at the first sight of Mr. Fairlie. (Ch 6, para 7)
Chorus of Egyptians in the Plague of Darkness, Miss Halcombe! (Ch 27, para 93)
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