The Women in black concentrates on the grief when losing a young child. This was published in 2000 and it is relatable towards today’s society because a lot parents today can relate to having children and know how protective they are towards their own children.
Personally since I do not have children of my own I found it difficult to relate with the grief the characters posses and from that my general interest in the story began to sway.
The typical feature a gothic novel possesses is setting the scene. The second chapter of The Women in Black concentrates on the surroundings, the author portrays the weather on a Monday afternoon in November as a lightning heart of change, never seeming to come fully light and also raw to and a yellow fog, a filthy fog, evil smelling fog, a fog that choked and blinded, smeared and stained. Susan Hill instantaneously creates a felling of ill being and fear. The novel begins in November which is a symbolism of death, creating negative atmosphere to begin the novel with. In comparison with Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein this is very similar. When the creature Frankenstein is created, the Author portrays the weather and time of day as a, dreary night of November. Also instantaneously Mary shelly has created a felling of fear describing the event to occur again in the month of November and also at night. The event occurring at night creates a feeling of disbelief, wondering weather any evil creations will appear.
The creature Frankenstein is the result of science and Mary Shelly reminds the readers that Frankenstein, is a result of science by having the creature’s creator (Victor Frankenstein) never refer to the creature as a human being. Victor Frankenstein describes the creature as a, lifeless thing that lay at my feet, the wretch with such infinite pains, a yellow scarcely skin covering the work of muscles.
Susan Hill’s portrayal of the women in black is far different, the women in black is described as a living women. She is described as, an ugly satanic looking thing, like some spices of sea vulture, her face in extreme pallor, her eyes sunken but unnaturally bright. The two accounts of the monster/predator differ in one particular way. Mary Shelly’s description of Frankenstein is of a creation not living but at the same time not dead, but Susan Hill’s description of the women in black is as if the women in black is a living creature still alive but only in appearance does it look different.
These monster/predators have a suffering either emotional or physiological on their victims. Victor Frankenstein has an emotional and physiological damage towards the monster Frankenstein. After his turn at playing god he describes every night which he has created the monster as wretchedly, sometimes my pulse beats so hard and quickly I feel the palpitation of every artery. Mary Shelly describes the fear of Victor Frankenstein to the up most peaks that it will reach; the fear being generated by Victor Frankenstein is such relatable for people when reading, because it is natural in human beings to experience similar symptoms when encountering fear.
The physiological and emotional damage experienced by the woman in black’s victim when he almost face to face with the women in black is described as, I was near to weeping tears of despair, frustration and tension as I have ever been since my child hood. This creates a feeling of despair; he is no longer feeling as the man he wants was, he is now feeling fear of a child and hoping to escape the punishment awaiting him from the women in black. This can relate to society in general because, by making a mistake in today’s society and to avoid suffering the consequences, running away or escaping punishment is path that many people lead towards.
The victims of the monsters suffer mentally, Victor Frankenstein finds himself unable to see the creature and instantly rushes out of the room but he finds himself so unable to sleep, he only thinking constantly of the creature he has created. Mary Shelly establishes that Victor is suffering and he is suffering the worst punishment known to man, this mind is slowly becoming obsessive, with fear or in Victor’s case living with fear of the creature he has created.
The women in blacks victim suffers mentally when he is waiting for the women in black, he describes, waiting in pitch blackness, unsure for a moment of my bearings; I had seen no one; felt nothing. Susan Hill uses tension to keep the reader on the edge to show moral difficulties going through the victim’s minds. She also demonstrates how the mind will play tricks on you when you are obsessed with a particular thing or in fear of a particular thing.
The Women in Black and Frankenstein both keep the readers gript to the book. The author uses typical gothic features to create tension while reading the book. Both were written in the time of when society has different views on different issues. It is clear that Frankenstein was the earlier of published novels because it focuses on science and how different views of science were perceived.
These gothic novels were issues of society but the purpose of the gothic novels is for human beings to push their emotions to the up most extreme, enabling them to enjoy more of the novels as they read them.
