Shamelessly Reprinting my Own Comment Here

Making Light had a sidebar link today to Shattersnipe’s post, Rebecca, Rowena, Puppies, Fanfic. When The Woman in White came up in the comments as another example of the Rebecca/Rowena trope (AKA interesting female supporting character vs really boring idealized female lead), I had to counter:

I felt that way when I first read it, but re-reading it a few years ago I was surprised to find Laura more interesting than I remembered — I think there are some very odd things going on under that bland beautiful surface: she’s not rebellious, but she’s fiercely principled. She refuses to go back on a promise made to her dying father no matter how little she wants to marry Sir Percival and how much Marion begs her to reconsider — but, the moment Sir Percival lets his mask slip and strikes her, she tries to get out of there, because her promise didn’t include staying with an abuser. (I also tend to read both her and Anne as autism-spectrum.)

Anyway, reusing that here that so I can discuss Wilkie Collins/Victorian heroines in my own space, if anybody wants to.