To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Woman in White :: Compare Contrast Lee Woman White Essays

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (post 1914) and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (pre 1914) I chose the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" as I had read it a while ago and had enjoyed it a great deal, I was also interested in the themes and subjects covered in it, such as: Prejudice, innocence, how a mind set affects peoples opinions etc My only problem was I had no idea what to compare it to as I am not a huge fan of classical literature, and do not know many books of this style. My teacher suggested I try either "Jane Eyre" or "The Woman in White", as they both covered the themes and subjects of "To Kill a Mockingbird". First I tried "Jane Eyre", after a few chapters I decided to try "The Woman in White", as I found "Jane Eyre" quite monotonous and dull. The first few chapters in "The Woman in White" were also quite dull but at about chapter 8/9 it starts getting really interesting soon after I couldn't put it down. It is now one of my favourite books The "Woman in White" is a story about the horrific acts a man of high status could commit in the 1800's and get away with (Sir Percival Glyde). The story begins by introducing us to Walter Hartright, who is the primary narrator, through him we have our first encounter with the woman in white (Anne Catherick), who hints that she had been terribly wronged by an evil baronet (who we soon discover to be Sir Percival Glyde). Sir Percival is engaged to Laura Fairlie, the beautiful art student of Mr Hartright. But Laura and Mr Hartright are in love, the triangle ends with Laura and Sir Percival marrying and Mr Hartright going to Central America to try to forget Laura. It turns out that Sir Percival has a terrible secret, which Mrs Catherick (Anne's mother) knows it is that he is not really a baronet he becomes paranoid of Anne discovering it so he sends her to an asylum. In addition, he is in great debt, which is why he marries Laura as she is set to inherit a great fortune. This is the base of which a terrible conspiracy takes place, which robs Laura of her identity and money then locks her up in an asylum. The rest of the story concerns her revenge, and how it was possible for such a thing to take place. "To Kill a Mocking Bird" is also based around how an innocent who is wronged simply to suit a person's personal needs.