ESSAY : The women in the black

You have to answer these questions from the story THE WOMEN IN THE BLACK :
1. The story is set very firmly in Victorian times, with clear descriptions of daily life at that time. How does the historical setting add to the horror? Would a “modern” version of The Woman in Black be as frightening?

2. Why do you think the narrator of the ghost story is someone who does not believe in ghosts? Does this affect how we respond to the story?

3. The author has chosen a woman as the central ghost figure – how is the concept of gender handled in the novel?

SAMPLE SOLUTION

The Women in Black
Although Susan Hill authored “The Woman in Black” in 1983, the novella depicts a historical setting of the Edwardian era. The historical context of the book makes Jennet Humfrye’s revenge story more horrifying as well as convincing. For instance, the Edwardian era and society considered an ideal woman as one that showed strong moral values. Again, the historical setting of the novella combines tension with fear to add to the horror as shown by Eel Marsh House’s ghostly setting, which was constantly cut off from the rest of the world by wild sea frets, thus creating a spooky and vivid sense of place. The ‘modern’ version of “The Woman in Black” would not be as frightening because ghost stories no longer exist.
The narrator of the ghost story in “The Women in Black” does not believe in…