Genre
A novel
Setting and Context
The events of the story take place in late-Victorian Britain.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is written from the third-person point of view by an omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone is contemplative, mood is dark and worrying.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Esther Waters is the protagonist. William Latch is the antagonist of the story.
Major Conflict
A working-class woman tries to survive in a society that constantly mistreats and judges her.
Climax
William’s death is the climax of the story.
Foreshadowing
“There would be an upperhousemaid and an under-housemaid, and perhaps a lady's-maid, and maybe that these ladies had been abroad with the family. She had heard of France and Germany. Their conversation would, no doubt, turn on such subjects. Her silence would betray her. They would ask her what situations she had been in, and when they learned the truth she would have to leave disgraced”.
This passage foreshadows the events the story. It shows that Esther is an illiterate girl who is forced to take a hard job. The worst thing is that she fears she might be dismissed because of her illiteracy.
Understatement
“A good rider like him don’t meet with accidents”.
Esther clearly underestimates the dangers of horse racing.
Allusions
The novel alludes to Leopold de Rothschild.
Imagery
Images of the workhouse and hard work are given in the novel. Also, many images are linked to the Bible, as they are of religious character.
Paradox
One paradox is is that Esther couldn’t learn how to read and write, for she had to work from an early age.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“The attention of the whole table being thus drawn towards the boy.” (The table is synecdoche that stands for present at the table).
Personification
“She had never seen anything like it before, and stopped to admire the uncouth arms of elms, like rafters above the roadway.”
