The Woman in Black free essay sample

Susan Hill creates a sense of isolation since the beginning of the novel, when Arthur is at Monk’s Piece. The name of Arthur’s new house (Monk’s Piece), suggest that it is a calm place, but it also could suggest that it is isolated, because in the Middle Ages monks used to meditate alone in isolated places. Isolation is also presented in the other house in the book, which is Eel Marsh House. The only way to access to Eel Marsh House was by crossing a place called ‘Nine Lives Causeway’, which is the only path next to the house. Arthur describes Eel Marsh House as ‘submerged’ and ‘untraceable’, this implies that it is almost impossible to escape from Eel Marsh House. It is submerged because the causeway is under the water and it is untraceable because the marshes last forever. The name of the causeway also creates a sense of isolation, it is called Nine Lives Causeway, and this suggests that you must have nine lives to cross it (or to be very lucky and brave). The central themes of the play are familiar to Gothic horror fiction such as Collins’ Woman in White or Bronte’s Jane Eyre; the character of Kipps is a father, and the character of the Woman in Black is a mother, and so fear of children or infanticide, as well as the fear of death are very prevalent in the story. Not only this, but social morality is also a theme in the same way as it is in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, or Priestley’s An Inspector Calls. The ghost in The Woman in Black is haunting the characters because she has a message for society about the mistreatment of women. Another central theme is the idea of fear and fantasy, in that Kipps wants people to believe his story which, bearing in mind he was the only one who experienced the haunting at Eel Marsh House, nobody seems to. He is therefore planning to put on the performance with the Actor to tell his story, which creates a sense of dramatic irony: at the end of the play the Woman in Black is proved to be haunting Kipps still, and has been playing her own part throughout the story. There are only three actors in the play, one of whom appears rarely. The two main actors, who play Kipps and the Actor, use physicality to show when they are playing different roles, changing the way they walk, stand and sit, for example the actor playing Kipps would, when playing Keckwick, slouch when sitting. Both actors also change the way they speak depending on the character they are playing, for example when the actor playing Kipps plays Keckwick he speaks in a low tone with a husky voice, and uses a broad country accent. This gives the audience the impression that Keckwick is a less classy and more reserved character,  which in the context of the scenes in which he appears creates tension; the character of Kipps, being played by the Actor, is curious – as is the audience at that point in the narrative – to learn more about what is going on. Keckwick however, being so quiet and blunt, doesn’t give much away. Remembering that there are only two actors on stage for the majority of the play, that the actor playing Kipps takes on all the roles of the side characters in the play, while the Actor – who takes on the role of Kipps – only takes on one, creating an interesting effect; the actor playing Kipps creates harsh characterisations for the individual roles. At the beginning of the play, for example, the character of Tomes is identified by a repeated sniffing sound and stiff-backed posture. This kind of caricaturing makes it easy for the audience to identify the diffe rent roles, while also creating tension because the audience is likely to wonder which character will appear next, and how the actor playing Kipps will keep them distinct from the rest. Physicality is also used in reference to mime, with the actors creating another character purely through their movements and speech. Spider, Bentley’s dog, accompanies Kipps during his time at Eel Marsh House, but there is no dog on stage. Instead, the actor playing Kipps and the actor playing The Actor mime the dog by stroking the air where the dog would be, calling the dog to them by slapping their thighs, and by miming throwing a stick for Spider to fetch. By maintaining their eye-lines with the imaginary space in which Spider inhabits, and being consistent in terms of the height they stroke, the two actors created the illusion of another presence, one that could not speak but who was unpredictable and therefore another source of dramatic tension. There is a moment, for example, where Spider is so scared that he runs away and falls into the marsh surrounding the house. This series of events is played out entirely in mime, but the very idea of a dog being so scared is empathetic for the audience: the audience feels scared in the same way that Spider does, and even though the dog is imaginary they vicariou sly experience the level of fear that drives Spider to behave that way. Costumes are also used to differentiate between different characters. There is a coat stand in the downstage-right corner of the stage, and every time Kipps changes character he puts on a different item of clothing to show that he is someone different. For example, Kipps puts on a big coat to show that he is Keckwick, while the Actor puts on a  suit to show that he is becoming Kipps. This helps to differentiate between characters, and helps the audience to not get confused with all the different identities in the play. Sound is another dramatic effect used in different ways to create effects, in particular tension but also shock and fear, throughout The Woman in Black. More than anything, sound is used to create atmosphere and ambience, for example to show that a pony and trap is approaching the sound of a horse and carriage is used. This is very distinctive, and helps the audience to imagine around the reality on stage, in that the horse and trap are physically represented by only a wicker hamper on which the characters sit and rock, giving the impression that the ‘carriage’ is moving along bumpy roads. This combination of theatrical effects helps the audience to suspend their disbelief as what’s on stage is not an example of naturalism, but a combination of sound, costume, movement and props creating a metaphorical illusion, almost like children playing dress-up. Lighting also creates a mood in the play, for example there is a moment when a loud knocking on the door is heard in a moment of tension and quietness. This shocking outburst, knowing that the Actor or Kipps aren’t making the sound, it’s likely to make the audience worried. Kipps says that there is another person in the theatre in charge of sound effects and lighting, but since we don’t ever see this person their actions stay unpredictable and mysterious. To emphasise further the shocking and surprising sound of the door knocking however, a red spotlight shines on the door in a red glow, and all lighting everywhere else on stage and in the theatre is blacked out. This focus on the mysterious knocking, heightened by the colour red, representative of blood and danger, implies to the audience that the Actor and Kipps, as well as the audience themselves, should be wary about what’s behind the door. The play is a minimalistic play as there aren’t many props used. One prop which is used is a torch, carried by the actors, which again focuses the audiences’ attention on specific places onstage. Without the ability to see what else is going on onstage, the audience is deprived of certainty about what is happening next and where it might be coming from, and they are therefore likely to be scared: with only a prop torch to guide them, tension is created in such a way as the audience is likely to scream and shout to release their nervousness. Additionally, when the torchlight is shone over the character of the Woman in Black for  only a moment for example, but when the light is shone back onto the same spot and she has vanished, the audience are likely to wonder whether she is real or part of the imaginations of the characters. The set is used also used for effect in The Woman in Black. The stage is split, first of all, between a downstage, â€Å"front† part, where most of the action takes place and an upstage, â€Å"back† section, split off from the main area of action by gauze. This gauze is opaque for most of the play, but when backlit it becomes almost trans lucent, allowing the audience to see what is behind it. At first the set behind the gauze represents a graveyard with tomb stones, after which it is transformed into a nursery behind the door which the aforementioned knocking comes from. Behind the nursery however there is revealed to be yet another layer of set where stairs lead upwards, out of site. This layering effect creates a sense that Eel Marsh House is full of mysteries which it will give up only in time. Additionally, the way the backstage areas are obscured by the gauze for most of the performance means that set changes can take place without the audience knowing, making the play all the more unpredictable and the reveal of what new things are suddenly behind the gauze being shocking. An example of this is when the gauze is lit to reveal a rocking chair moving despite the fact that nobody is sat in it. Later, the audience hears the rocking chair moving again, and the gauze is once again backlit but this time the Woman in Black is actually sitting in it. This sense of unpredicta bility, of the hidden and revealed, hints at the idea also that the human mind is full of many layers, that the supernatural is invading the consciousness of Kipps and the Actor, as well as the audience, creating further an atmosphere of tension, unpredictability and fear. Another interesting theatrical effect explored in the play is the breaking of the fourth wall. There are moments in the play when the Woman in Black appears amongst the audience, suddenly prompting disbelief as to how she has broken free of the action onstage and is now rampant on balconies and in the aisles. This creates tension and fear as there is a sense in which the Woman in Black is almost omniscient – she can appear at any time and cannot be escaped. This feeling of dread is reinforced by the ending of the play, in which the Actor tells Kipps that he is impressed at the actress he hired to play the Woman. This is a twist ending, because neither Kipps nor the Actor hired an actress, but rather the real Woman in Black has  followed Kipps from Eel Marsh House and is haunting him still. The primary effect of adapting the story of The Woman in Black for stage from its original form as a novel is that it creates an experience full of group fear. Books are able to get into the mind of the reader, to scare and to shock, but there is never a sense when reading that you share your terror with a crowd. Additionally, the way the story is framed, in that the play is taking place within another play, encourages the use of theatrical effects and devices, such as lighting, sound and physicality, unavailable to the authors in books. Lastly, the way that Kipps and the Actor believe they’re in an empty theatre, and behave as if they are, yet the audience is watching on, gives an immediate feeling to the audience that they’re trespassing in a place they should not be, almost like Kipps en tering Eel Marsh House and stirring up the ghost of the Woman in Black.