The Woman in Black

Explore the use of landscapes in the novel. How does the setting of London compare and contrast to that of Crythin Gifford? What is the wider significance of each?

What is the effect of weather on the characters? How do weather and the other natural elements in the text function in terms of creating setting, symbolism, and/or atmosphere?

How is foreshadowing used, and what is the importance of foreshadowing in the novel? Use at least three specific examples in your analysis.

How does the novel depict the nature of grief and the various forms it can take?

Why does the narrative begin in Arthur Kipps’s old age? What is his character arc as he gains maturity and experience over the course of the narrative? In what ways is his older self like or unlike his younger self?

Explore Kipps’s relationships with Mr. Daily and the rest of Crythin Gifford. How do conceptions of insider/outsider, and/or community and isolation, function in the novel?

The novel explores the tension between rationality and a more superstitious worldview that can accommodate the supernatural or spiritual. How do these worldviews conflict in the text? Are they ever reconciled? Why or why not?

How are supernatural events, such as the haunting of the woman in black, used to explore the characters’ relationships to the past? How are the characters “haunted” in figurative as well as literal ways?