The Woman in White Justice and Judgment Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Volume.Part.Chapter.Paragraph

Quote #7

A very little reflection, when the capacity to reflect returned, convinced her that any attempt to identify Lady Glyde and to rescue her by legal means, would, even if successful, involve a delay that might be fatal to her sister's intellects, which were shaken already by the horror of the situation to which she had been consigned. (3.1.2.32)

Marian has to make a hard choice here to not rely on the law and official channels to rescue her sister. The style here is worth noting: Marian tells her story to Walter, who relates it dispassionately to us, going so far as to refer to Laura as "Lady Glyde."

Quote #8

I knew that the motive of securing the just recognition of my wife in the birthplace from which she had been driven out as an impostor, and of publicly erasing the lie that still profaned her mother's tombstone, was far purer, in its freedom from all taint of evil passion, than the vindictive motive which had mingled itself with my purpose from the first. (3.3.7.63)

Walter clearly consulted his thesaurus before he started writing this section. The powerful language and imagery (especially the part about the "profaned tombstone") really drive home the stakes he is dealing with. Walter is on a crusade for justice here, but even he isn't immune to anger and a desire for revenge.

Quote #9

All remembrance […] of the oath I had sworn in my own heart to summon him to the terrible reckoning that he deserved—passed from my memory like a dream. I remembered nothing but the horror of his situation. I felt nothing but the natural human impulse to save him from a frightful death. (3.1.10.73)

This passage is really lyrical, which ties in nicely to Walter's sense of being in a "dream." Walter's epic quest for justice suddenly gets curtailed when faced with the horrible fire.