Why Susan Hill has called “Woman in Black”?

Why do you think Susan Hill called her story The Woman in Black? How effective is it as a title? One of the most important parts of any book can be the title and in this case, Susan Hill has decided on her title as being The Woman in Black. Throughout this essay I will be looking at how Susan Hill has used her title effectively and I will also look at the reasons why Hill might have named her title The Woman in Black.

At first it may seem a very simple title but as I will go through in this essay, simple might be the very cause of the effect it makes. Firstly, the story itself is heavily based on a gothic genre which consists of all the things you would expect to see in a gothic novel, haunted houses, isolated areas, dark themes and of course, in this particular novel, this mysterious ‘Woman in Black’. With this gothic genre, comes a gothic title which is definitely identified by one word, “Black”.

The work ‘black’ always creates a negative mood and shows darkness and links this mood with the story, so you know what sort of things to expect from this book just from the title but more importantly, you want to know why. This is what will encourage the reader to read and enjoy the book. Secondly, I think a sense of mystery is created by the title ‘The Woman in Black’ and this creates questions about the book. This adds to the enjoyment of the book as their will always be tension and suspense in anticipation about the appearance of the Woman in Black.

An example of this is when Arthur Kipps calls the woman in at the funeral “the woman with the wasted face”, this would just seem normal but the fact that this woman is all in black relates us back to the title which creates suspicion about this woman. The main questions I think the title brings up about this book is who actually is this Woman in Black and why is she so important in the book? And these questions will stir around in your head the throughout the novel and will add to the effect that the Woman in Black brings as all will be focused on her.

Overall, I think the title ‘The Woman in Black’ forms a better interest for the novel in a variety of different ways and all these different ways, however small or large their effect, build up and create the effect as a whole. I think the effect is most noticeably shown through the entertainment of the novel which the title adds towards as well and the main reason I think Susan Hill named her novel this title was to enhance the entertainment that this novel produces.

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What are the reader’s first impressions of the Woman in Black?

?What are the reader’s first impressions of the Woman in Black? The first description of the Woman in Black raises a lot of questions for the reader to think about. The fact that she is described as being ‘Dressed in deepest black…that had rather gone out of fashion’ suggests that the woman is out of place in the time period as well as at a funeral. This links to how the other funeral attendants cannot see her. The fact that she is a woman and described as being dressed in ‘black’ links to the title of this novel which gets the reader wondering if she is the Woman in Black.

Secondly, her cloths are described as ‘a little rusty looking’. This gives the impression that her clothes are ageing which links with her isolation from the rest of the funeral party as she isn’t dressed in the most up to date formal funeral wear. She is also said to have a ‘terrible wasting disease’ and the ‘thinnest layer of flesh was tautly stretched and strained across her bones’. Also Arthur says she had a ‘blue-white sheen’ on her skin. All three quotes suggest a ghostly looking character. This links to other ghostly descriptions of the woman including ‘Eyes seemed sunken back into her head’.

The quote ‘thinnest layer of flesh…across her bones’ links to the quote ‘a victim of starvation’ because if someone has been starved then you can see the shape of their bones. However, to create contrast, Arthur Kipps shows sympathy for the woman when he says ‘some lingering hint, of a not inconsiderable former beauty’ and ‘I bent my head and prayed …for the soul of that lonely old woman. ’ Her skin is described as being ‘extremely pale, even more than a contrast with the blackness of her garments could account for.’

This shows that the contrast between the colour of her skin and her dress is completely different linking her to the theme of contrast in the novel. Twice in this section of the story, Arthur notes the movement of the woman when he hears ‘some slight rustle behind (him)’ and the same again later on with a ‘slight rustle of clothing. ’ The use of small sounds to show her movement creates suspense as the reader doesn’t know if she is real or not because she is making a sound when she moves but the description of a ghostly figure contradicts that.

The quote ‘on hearing some slight rustle behind me’ then links to having ‘acuteness of the senses’ and the theme of sounds in both Edgar Allan Poe novels. When the funeral congregation moves outside, Arthur describes where the woman stands. She stands ‘some yards back, beside another headstone…overgrown with moss. ’ This makes the reader question why the woman is looking at another headstone and not looking at the actual burial. The fact that the headstone is overgrown with moss suggests that it is an old headstone but it would be hard to tell how old.

This links to Arthur finding it hard to tell how old the woman is. Could it be her headstone? Finally, when we first meet any of the other characters in ‘The Woman in Black’ we are given a short description of how they look and dress, however, the Woman in Black has a considerably longer and more detailed description meaning that this character and this meeting obviously had a bigger impact on Arthur than any other character as he can quite easily recall and retell every detail of the funeral of Mrs. Drablow.

Writing Quality

Grammar mistakes

F (46%)

Synonyms

A (97%)

Redundant words

C (72%)

Originality

82%

Readability

D (67%)

Total mark

C

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How Does Hill Create a Sense of Isolation in the Woman in Black

The Woman in Black (TWIB) is a story about isolated people in an isolated place. Not least TWIB before she died. Janet Humfrye was isolated by her plight as a mother of an illegitimate child, which was frowned upon by society in the early 20th century when the story is set. Even the town’s people […]

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Informative Essay on The Woman in Black

Chapter summaries Arthur Kipps o Introduced in the novel as an old man describing his younger self as arrogant. o A young solicitor looking for a higher position in his law firm. o A typical ghost story main character, a sceptic, a non-believer- “I never thought of myself as a fanciful man”. o He was […]

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