Towards Unity: Diamond as Consciousness in Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone

Abstract: This paper argues that the missing object, the titular moonstone, in Wilkie Collins’s 1868 novel influences the characters and the circumstances, functioning as an overarching consciousness which I interpret as a Hegelian Consciousness. The loss of the diamond initiates the action of the novel; however, it is the overwhelming presence of the diamond inside the consciousness of the characters that causes their entanglement not only with one another but with the absent/present diamond as well. The diamond has a transformative effect on the characters, reaching deep down into their unconscious, and promoting self-discovery. Collins’s deployment of a series of symbolic triads, along with his combination of fragmented narratives, dismisses any attempt to assign a central position to any one character. In the absence of a center, and through the symbols of spirituality surrounding the diamond, oppositions are dissolved and the moonstone becomes the source of light that illuminates the problems concerning a sense of belonging, (im)perfection, marginalization, contradiction, and existence per se in a world that is divided more and more as individuality replaces collectivity in the name of modern progress. Collins posits a critical outlook towards this replacement.