Date of Award
12-2025
Degree Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
School
Humanities
Committee Chair
Alexandra Valint
Committee Chair School
Humanities
Committee Member 2
Leah Parker
Committee Member 2 School
Humanities
Committee Member 3
Emily Stanback
Committee Member 3 School
Humanities
Abstract
This thesis explores the sympathy shown to disabled characters in Wilkie Collins’s 1860 novel The Woman in White with an emphasis on hysteria. Using disability studies framework and historical context of hysteria in the Victorian era provides a nuanced reading of the novel which subverts gendered stereotypes relating to hysteria and supports a reading of Mr. Fairlie, the only male disabled character, as a hysteric. Close reading passages of the text reveal that the sympathy shown to the disabled female characters is not given to Mr. Fairlie because of his appearance and actions: he is described as having feminine features and he often proclaims his suffering, which does not conform to conventions of traditional masculinity. The dismissal of Mr. Fairlie’s symptoms is akin to the dismissal of the symptoms of a hysterical woman, while the disabled women of the novel are believed and treated with kindness rather than skepticism. Reading Mr. Fairlie as a man with hysteria complicates his role in the novel and raises questions about which disabilities are worthy of sympathy.
Copyright
Hollie Brock, 2025
Recommended Citation
Brock, Hollie, ""The Wretched State of My Nerves:" Hysteria and Sympathy in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White" (2025). Master's Theses. 1164.
https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1164