The Woman In Black Analysis

‘The Woman in Black’, by Susan Hill, is one of the most successful ghost story, set in the nineteenth century although written in the 1980’s. ‘The Woman in Black’ is about a man, Arthur Kipps, who narrates the story of his life, and explains his most haunting, and terrifying revelation, hoping that sharing the story would help exorcise the memories that haunt him. There are several adaptations made of this story, such as plays, and movies. But how were they all able to keep their audience interested?

In Hills novel, she uses many techniques to create a suspenseful and gothic atmosphere. The story starts off with a happy family on Christmas Eve. Arthur steps outside, alone with his thoughts; ‘My spirits have for many years now been excessively

‘On the stage is a clutter of clothes, boxes and furniture…’. A rocking chair is also mentioned, and can be linked to the trailer of the play, in the scene where the rocking chair is creepily rocking on its own. There is also a change of roles; ‘This man, whose name is Kipps, will not be referred to as ‘Kipps’, but as ‘Actor’—even though he clearly isn't one’, ‘At the back of the theatre(…), a young man enters.This man, who is an actor, will be referred to as ‘’Actor’, but as ‘Kipps’’. The role reversal can be of entertainment of the audience, keeping them interested. The actor proceeds to tell his story, and Kipps continues to criticise his reading skills saying they are going to make the audience ‘Expire with boredom’. However, the actor claims ‘may i just say— it is not a performance that i wish to give. No. I think we are at a misunderstanding in that respect. I wish to — speak it. No ore. For my family, only. For those who need to know. I am not a performer— i have no pretensions to be— nor inclination— but— those terrible things that happened to me— they must— I have to—let them be told. For my health and reason.’. The actor speaks this passage rather hesitantly, perhaps implying that he has been strongly traumatised by this experience, which is something that it shares in common with the novel, meaning that the audience is therefore interested to know what happened to him.

In the movie of ‘The Woman in Black’, we are

Arthur then proceeds to hold the razor blade to his neck contemplating wether he should cut himself, but at the same time, a woman appears in the mirrors reflection, and Arthur quickly turns around to find nobody there. This scene would particularly interest the audience because firstly, they want to know what happened to the characters in the opening scene, and secondly, why was Arthur considering whether he should cut himself, and finally, they want to know who the woman in the mirror that Arthur was imagining, and why was she so important to the point where Arthur stopped and removed the blade from his