Line #8 YMMV/TheWomanInWhite


1	* CompleteMonster:
2	** Original novel: [[AristocratsAreEvil Sir Percival Glyde]], the [[BastardBastard illegitimate son]] of an unmarried baronet, forged his late father's marriage certificate in order to inherit his title and estate. Suspecting that Anne Catherick, the daughter of his accomplice, knows his secret, Glyde mercilessly locks her in an [[BedlamHouse asylum]] and leaves her for dead, [[MindRape driving her to insanity]]. He also blackmails her mother into a life of silent solitude, threatening to have her hanged if she rats him out. Years later, Glyde marries Anne's identical half-sister, Laura, [[GoldDigger for her father's money]], subjecting her to [[DomesticAbuse months of tyranny and abuse]]. Learning that Anne has escaped the asylum and is attempting to communicate with Laura, Glyde decides to silence both of them. He concocts a plot with his partner-in-crime [[TheChessmaster Count Fosco]] to fake Laura's death by capturing Anne, dressing her in Laura's clothes, and confining her until [[DeathByDespair she dies of a trauma-induced aneurysm]]. Glyde and Focsco then throw Laura in the asylum, passing her off as Anne with an identity delusion, and abandon her to a [[FateWorseThanDeath nightmarish life sentence]] in which both her sanity and identity will be endlessly denied until she finally breaks.
3	** 1940 adaptation ''Film/{{Crimes at the Dark House}}'': The nameless [[TheSpook Spook]] taking the identity of "Sir Percival Glyde" is a [[GigglingVillain grinning, cackling madman]] who murders his namesake by hammering a nail into his skull as he sleeps, all to [[KillAndReplace impersonate him]] and inherit his estate. "Glyde" kills anyone who [[HeKnowsTooMuch exposes his secret]] or so much as inconveniences him, from a corrupt doctor he hangs using a bell rope as a noose, to a smitten young maid he strangles to death while gloating "you wanted to be a bride, so you shall--a bride of death!" "Glyde" takes advantage of his MaritalRapeLicense over his new wife Laurie the second he has her in bed, and even threatens to "break in" her sister as well. For the purpose of stealing Laurie's dowry, "Glyde" frames her as a runaway madwoman named Anne who happens to be an IdenticalStranger to Laurie, intending to have Laurie committed to a BedlamHouse for the rest of her life. To make sure the scheme goes off without a hitch, "Glyde" murders both Anne and her innocent mother as well.
4	** [[Film/TheWomanInWhite1997 1997]] [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] adaptation: [[AristocratsAreEvil Sir Percival Glyde]] is the [[DomesticAbuse abusive]], {{greed}}y husband of Laura Fairlie, whose villainy is shown to be [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil even more depraved]] than first seems. A [[WouldHurtAChild child]] rapist who frequently assaulted the 12-year-old Anne Catherick, Glyde got away with it by painting the traumatized Anne as insane and getting her locked up in a [[BedlamHouse cruel, isolating asylum]]. Glyde spends years abusing Laura and conniving his way into the family fortune, and when he grows paranoid that Anne could expose his molestation of her, Glyde works with his partner Fosco to kidnap Laura and disguise her as Anne, locking her away in the same asylum that [[DrivenToMadness drove Anne mad]]. Glyde then disguises Anne as Laura and puts her at the top of a tower, knowing the unstable woman would [[DrivenToSuicide leap to her death]] so that Glyde could pretend his wife was dead and gone. With the two women out of the way, Glyde hopes to secure their inheritance for himself, and when faced with his crimes, his only response is to mock his victims.
5	** Creator/AndrewLloydWebber's adaptation: [[AristocratsAreEvil Sir Percival Glyde]] is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]], social-climbing aristocrat who became infatuated with the young Anne when she was born. When Anne turned 15, Glyde beat and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped her]], and when she gave birth to their child, Glyde believed it wasn't his and [[OffingTheOffspring drowned it]]. Glyde then had the traumatized Anne locked up in an [[BedlamHouse asylum]] to silence her. A few years later, Glyde marries Anne's half-sister Laura, whom [[DomesticAbuse he beats and abuses daily]], in order to get [[GoldDigger their father's money]], but when Laura rejects him, Glyde decides to fake her death by killing Anne in her place and then putting Laura in the asylum. On being confronted by Laura disguised as her sister's ghost, Glyde cruelly admits that he drowned Anne's baby and taunts that her secret won't ever get out. When Laura reveals herself, he tries to kill her as well.
6	%%FanPreferredCouple: Marian and Walter.
7	* HollywoodHomely: Whilst Marian is described very unflatteringly in the book, most screen adaptations have her looking at least reasonably pretty.
8	%%LesYay / IncestYayShipping: Marian and Laura.
9	* LoveToHate: The virtually unknown 1940s adaptation, ''Crimes in the Dark House'', had little-known but very hammy black-and-white villain actor Tod Slaughter in the role as central villain. Slaughter interjected an already-DastardlyWhiplash type villain with an evil presence comparable to the likes of the villainous turns of Creator/BorisKarloff.

Context YMMV / TheWomanInWhite