Analyse Hill’s use of language, form and structure in an extract from ‘The Funeral of Mrs Drablow,’ in her novel; ‘The Woman in Black.’ Show how the narrative development, characterisation and setting are enhanced by her style.
Susan Hill’s literary style accords to a pastiche of Victorian Gothic horror. Hill effectively evokes the voice of Victorian era writers using recognisable devices such as; densely detailed text, a sympathetic narrative voice and language that is as lavish as any Victorian tale. The extract I am analysing is taken from the chapter; ‘The Funeral of Mrs Drablow’, and is impediment to the novella, as here, we are first introduced to the character Jeanette Humfrye in an alarming manner by her shocking facade: ‘‘she was suffering from some terrible wasting disease’’ which would unease any reader.

Hill uses onomatopoeia and sibilance to introduce her character to us; “Some slight rustle” which draws our attention away from the funeral and onto ‘the young woman with the wasted face’. The phrase ‘slight rustle’ is also used on the following page and concluding tragedy in the final chapter ‘The Woman in Black’, showing an association with the sibilant expression and Jeanette’s presence. Hill uses sibilance in relation to the Woman in Black, because the alveolar pronunciation of the ‘s’ produces a ‘hissing’ sound, which often correlates to cynicism in Gothic Horror. This is a warning sign to the reader and relates us back to Kipps’ prior ominous references from the prologue ‘Christmas Eve’: “the inextricable part of my past.” The extract comes about a quarter of the way into the novel, so the other insights into Kipps’ “experiences that would never leave me” are purely to create suspense. Kipps is still blissfully unaware of the danger which she possesses, which is emphasised by the fact that he feels compassion for her throughout the extract; “Before I turned back, I vowed to speak to her and see if I could be of any assistance after the funeral was over.” As opposed to being put on his guard. Therefore, in Kipps’ feeling sympathy towards Jeanette, readers feel sympathy towards Kipps.

There are other warning signs both to Kipps and the reader about The Woman in Black. Hill writes she is “not holding a prayer book,” suggesting a nature unworthy of touching religious material, which in the formal context of a funeral is especially disrespectful to exclude herself from the blessings. It is notable that she “stood several rows behind” stressing that the woman is obviously trying to keep distance with the congregation. This is shown again when she: “stands some yards back, beside another headstone, that was overgrown with moss and upon she leaned slightly.” to “lean slightly” upon a headstone hints at her being comfortable with death. In attempting to not draw attention from herself, she attracts our attention through her irregularities. Her “very erect and still” stature raises reader awareness; her body is described as being rigid and upright as though she is proud/pleased with the death as opposed to her having her head bowed like Kipps “I bent my head and prayed” in a mourning fashion. The fact that she is wearing “A bonnet type hat” which “covered her head and shaded her face” implies that we are not seeing her at full ‘face value.’ We generally perceive a person’s emotions and reactions from their facial expressions, therefore we feel that something is being hidden from us when this factor is removed, making her a most mysterious figure.

Hill uses a long sentence structure to describe in detail the appearance of the Woman in Black: “She was suffering from some terrible wasting disease, for not only was she extremely pale, even more than a contrast with the blackness of her garments could account for, but the skin and, it stretched and strained across her bones, so that it gleamed with a curious, blue-white sheen, and her eyes seemed sunken back into her head.” This sentence in particular has a strong semantic field of death, building up Jeanette’s imagery as very corpse-like, in particular: “her eyes seemed sunken back into her head,” creates her visage as being very skull-esque. This lengthy description is Hill’s preliminary portrayal of The Woman in Black, and can be interpreted as an early clue that she is in fact one of ‘the walking dead’, amongst the deceased “twenty or so children” that we as informed readers understand.

To create a contrast with her extensive descriptions, Hill uses short, simple sentences in the extract and throughout the novel to create drama and tension, for example “But she was nowhere to be seen.” “He did not smile back.” These sentences generally follow long, complex sentences with multiple clauses that the reader is forced to think about; these short, single-subordinate-clause sentences remain uncomplicated, creating a great distinction and thus drama. They enable us to focus solely on the meaning of the sentences, which are usually referential (‘He was staring at me.’) allowing us to easily process the information.

The fact that Kipps feels sympathy towards The Woman in Black echoes our emotion for him; we feel sympathy towards Kipps that his good nature is going to fail to protect him, as we already know from the prologue he has experienced “a true story, a story of haunting and evil, fear and confusion, horror and tragedy.” Kipps repeatedly diagnoses her as a victim of ‘suffering’: “so pathetically wasted, so pale and gaunt with disease,” making us pity her and her appearance. The adjective ‘pathetic’ in particular attributes to her vulnerability, evoking pity from Kipps and the uninformed 1983 reader. However, these are false assumptions about her character; Hill effectively contrasts a seemingly innocent Jeanette here with her latter malicious actions: “our baby son had been thrown clear...against another tree’, making the tragic events more shocking. Even when we read further and discover her developing evil nature, we still feel pity on her because of the way she is initially introduced through firstly, a sympathetic Kipps, and secondly the exposition of her dead son in ‘A Packet of Letters’: “A pony and trap, carrying a boy of six called Nathaniel, the adopted son of Mr and Mrs Drablow, and also his nursemaid…veered off the safety of the causeway and onto the marshes, where it had been sucked into the quicksands and swallowed up by the mud... the boy’s mother was Jeanette Humfrye”

Hill portrays The Woman in Black as an omnipresent force. “The water of the estuary gleamed silver” mimics the description of her skin; “it gleamed with a curios, blue-white sheen.” This depicts the estuary, the sight of her tragedy and haunting, as being under her control. This description of the ‘Silver’ colouring to the estuary is repeated throughout the novel, for example in ‘In the Nursery’: “There lay the mashes, silver-grey... was the water of the estuary.” We later find out that it is actually her hunting ground where she seeks revenge, therefore Hill uses dramatic irony to contrast this pure and tranquil beauty with a far more sinister reality.

Hill represents Kipps’ character as initially optimistic in the extract: “When I looked up again, I saw a blackbird on the holly bush a few feet away and heard him open his mouth to pour out a sparkling fountain of song in the November sunlight.” Hill uses the “blackbird,” a sign of goodness and hope, to show the reader that Kipps perceives positive symbols as opposed to becoming a victim of the depressive atmosphere of the funeral. Hill’s lexical choices of “November sunlight” and “sparkling fountain of song” create imagery of tranquillity and beauty, which is an immense contrast to his current situation, considering he is attending a funeral. Kipps’ positive approach is again emphasised by his naïve misreading of “The young woman with the wasted face’s” character; “well I thought there is one who cares after all and who knows how keenly, and surely, such warmth and kindness and unselfish purpose...” Hill’s use of the rhetorical question creates dramatic irony, as Kipps has read the situation entirely wrong. As the plot develops readers see a pessimistic evolution in Kipps’ outlook: “their bare branches full of rook’s nests, from which those ugly black birds flew” in ‘A Packet of Letters’. Hill uses a direct comparison of the blackbird at these contrasting points of Kipps’ character development; his perception turns bitter and negative, transforming the symbol of hope into a symbol of ugliness.

Hill introduces the Woman in Black as being incongruous; “the style… rather gone out of date” suggesting that she is either: from another time, old fashioned or poor. This ambiguity, and sense of unknowing adds apprehension towards The Woman in Black’s character. Kipps goes on to describe her as “a not inconsiderable former beauty.” showing his compassion towards her “gaunt with disease” exterior. This makes readers warm to Kipps as the protagonist, yet we already know from the prologue how this journey has made him a far more bitter character;”I was trying to suppress my mounting unease, to hold back the rising flood of memory.” This really emphasises the character development from “a sturdy, commonsensical fellow, who felt no uneasiness or apprehension whatsoever.” To a man, who: “had no taste at all for a social life and, although in good general health was prone to occasional nervous illness and conditions.” Even at this point in the novella the reader senses an unsettling nature of this woman who ‘unobtrusively’ ‘slips’ in and out of church without being noticed, and we know she has some involvement in Kipps’ consequential bitterness.

Word count with quotes: 1559
Word count without quotes: 1081