The Woman in White Gender Quotes

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

Quote #4

"I may fairly expect Mr. Gilmore, as a gentleman, to believe me on my word [...] But my position with a lady is not the same. I owe to her, what I would concede to no man alive—a proof of the truth of my assertion." (1.2.1.19)

Sir Percival's take on gender relations is kind of odd. He apparently has to offer up proof to a lady, but a fellow gentlemen should just take him at his word? A very elaborate code of conduct for gentlemen existed in this era, and part of that code was an "honor system."

Quote #5

No sensible man ever engages, unprepared, in a fencing match of words with a woman. (1.2.2.75)

Words of wisdom from Mr. Gilmore here. While generally a serious guy, he does have his moments of levity… and his moments of realizing that women can be witty, too.

Quote #6

Most men show something of their dispositions in their own houses, which they have concealed elsewhere; and Sir Percival had already displayed a mania for order and regularity. (2.1.2.15)

Here Marian trots out the idea of a man being "king of his castle." But Percival pretty much acts the way we expected him to act at home (like a freaking nut), so this idea about "concealment" doesn't really hold up.