No Name is a 1862 novel by Wilkie Collins.
Mr. and Mrs. Vanstone and their daughters Norah and Magdalen are a perfect little family, and a wealthy one as well. Their happy life is shattered after Mr. Vanstone dies in a train crash and Mrs. Vanstone follows him to the grave soon afterwards. Not only are the sisters crushed by the loss of both their parents – they suddenly find out that Mr. and Mrs. Vanstone hadn't been married until several months ago and Mr. Vanstone had neglected to make a new will, leaving Norah and Magdalen penniless and illegitimate.
The girls must work for their living now, but spirited, resourceful Magdalen doesn't just do that. She immediately begins a quest to restore their rightful fortune.
Tropes featured in the novel:
- Age-Gap Algebra: Robert Kirke is acutely aware of the twenty-one-year age difference between him and Magdalen. He recalculates it over and over again and reminds himself it would be more prudent for him to look for a wife who'd be in her thirties.
- Age-Gap Romance: Magdalen is twenty, and her eventual husband Noel is in his mid-thirties. Her second husband Robert is forty-one.
- Affably Evil: Captain Wragge might be a swindler, but he is very jovial and hearty about it, and eventually becomes genuinely fond of Magdalen.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Noel Vanstone is a horrible miser, but as he learns his beloved wife has been deceiving him all along and might have been planning to kill him, his breakdown and eventual death are heartwrenching. Mrs. Lecount and the narrator both feel deeply sorry for him.
- All for Nothing: Magdalen and Captain Wragge's daring and elaborate scheme to get Magdalen married to Noel is eventually all for naught, since Mrs. Lecount tells Noel the truth about Magdalen and convinces him to change his will, so his death leaves Magdalen penniless, again.
- Bastard Angst: After it's revealed they are illegitimate, Norah and Magdalen realize they have no money, can't use their family name, and are henceforth to be shunned in society.
- Elopement: Magdalen and Noel elope to prevent Mrs. Lecount from foiling their plans to marry.
- False Soulmate: In the beginning, Frank Clare and Magdalen are deeply in love and promise to marry each other. However, he eventually coldly breaks up with her and never even contacts her again.
- Gentle Giant: Mrs. Wragge is very tall and very gentle-hearted. She is described by Magdalen as the only innocent creature in the Wragges' guilty household.
- Gold Digger:
- Captain Wragge married his wife because of the inheritance she is due to get (and eventually does get) from a female relative.
- Magdalen's sole motive in marrying Noel is money.
- Later, it's revealed Frank married a wealthy old lady.
- Graying Morality: In the beginning, there are two innocent suffering heroines versus an Evil Uncle. However, eventually, Michael Vanstone's relations and even Michael Vanstone himself get more fleshed out and sympathetic while Magdalen increasingly turns into He Who Fights Monsters.
- Kick the Dog: Captain Wragge constantly yells at and belittles his mentally handicapped wife. It's implied the situation has somewhat improved by the end, but we are never shown anything that would definitely point to it.
- Kissing Cousins: Magdalen marries Noel Vanstone to get the inheritance.
- Love at First Sight: Robert Kirke falls in love with Magdalen after seeing her for several seconds. His feelings never waver.
- Master of Disguise: Magdalen is a brilliant actress and uses her talent in her schemes to reclaim the inheritance.
- Mid-Suicide Regret: Magdalen wants to drink a poison rather than marry Noel, but has second thoughts and stops herself when the bottle is already at her lips. She decides to watch the sea: if an even number of ships passes her window in a given time, she'll live, and if an odd number passes, she'll die. An eighth ship appears outside right at the last moment.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Magdalen is remorseful after Noel's death, realizing she has manipulated and deceived him and indirectly caused it.
- Rescue Romance: Magdalen falls in love with Kirke after he saves her life, finding her impoverished and near death.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Gentle Proper Lady Norah and rebellious Anti-Heroine Magdalen.
- Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: The one to recover Andrew Vanstone's inheritance is Norah, despite never taking a single conscious step to do so.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Mrs. Lecount and Captain Wragge excel at this, conjuring their new plans on the spot. It's especially evident when they scheme against each other in Aldborough; Mrs. Lecount even says "Check-mate" at one point after a particularly ingenious move of hers.
