No reader of The Woman in Black, can be left in doubt about its conscious
evocation of the Gothic
‘No reader of ‘The Woman in Black’, can be left in doubt about its
conscious evocation of the Gothic. It is full of motifs and effects
associated with that genre.’ How far would you agree with this
statement of the novel?
There is absolutely no doubt that Susan Hill consciously evocates the
Gothic in ‘The Woman in Black’. There are many obvious conventions she
uses that create a great Gothic effect throughout the novel. It is
clear that this novel contains most of the elements that constitute
the genre, for example, an eerie atmosphere full of mystery and
suspense, and a character feeling high or overwrought emotions. This
concludes the novel into a sub-genre of the Gothic, a ghost story.
The Gothic has been active since the eighteenth century; the genre was
especially popular within the years of The French Revolution and The
Great Terror, which fell between 1789 and the 1790’s. The Gothic can
also be traced back to the original Goths, who were believed to have
been around in the last days of the Roman Empire. However, there is no
substantial proof as the Goths left almost no written records, and
were mostly unheard of until the ‘first Gothic revival’ in the late
eighteenth century. In Britain this revival involved a series of
attempts to ‘return to roots’, in contrast to the classical model
revered in the earlier eighteenth century.
It is believed that the very first Gothic novel was invented solely by
Horace Walpole, when he wrote ‘The Castle of Otranto’ in 1764. This
novel was imitated throughout the following centuries because it
contains essentially all the elements that comprise the Gothic genre.
It is also believed to have influenced writing, poetry and film making
to the present day. Other key Gothic novelists of this period that
would also have contributed to this influence are Mary Shelly, the
author of Frankenstein, which has had many film adaptations within the
last century produced from it. And also Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula,
which I think has an influence in ‘The Woman in Black’ as the narrator
‘Arthur Kipps’, has many similar characteristics to the narrator of
Dracula, ‘Jonathan Harker’, such as them both being portrayed as
commonsensical, rational, successful lawyers on a mission to
single-handedly unravel the mystery they’re faced with.
Ann Radcliff’s idea of Gothic horror has also clearly influenced ‘The
Woman in Black’ too, because we notice our narrator on several
occasions, contracts, freezes and is nearly annihilated by some
unknown supernatural force. Arthur’s first encounter with The Woman in
Your analysis of the Vodou imagery in Their Eyes Were Watching God is detailed, even though it is not comprehensive. Your assertion that the Vodou imagery Hurston uses empowers women is justified, because I contend that her husbands were all just stepping stones for Janie’s quest for self-discovery. After each husband Janie has, she progresses on her quest and becomes stronger. You claim that Janie’s tale serves to highlight the potential that exists within all black women (167). I concur, because Janie shows a degree of self-expression and independence that was unexpected of most black women at the time. Hurston’s use of Vodou imagery in Their Eyes Were Watching God serves to challenge the stereotypical representation of African American women in the early twentieth century.
I really admire the phrases author used to describe the feelings , emotions , visions and thoughts of that woman .
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is greatly praised by most critics today but was held in a different light when first published. Popular black authors during Hurston’s era held the most disdain for Hurston’s novel. Famous writer Richard Wright harshly criticized the book as a “minstrel technique that makes the ‘white folks’ laugh. Her characters eat and laugh and cry and work and kill; they swing like a pendulum eternally in that safe and narrow orbit in which America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears” (Wright, Between Laughter and Tears). Wright dominated the 40’s decade of writing for blacks (Washington, Foreword). His review explains Hurston book is feeding the whites additional reasons why black are the “lower” race. This was the complete opposite idea of what blacks strived to be seen as and as such Hurston’s novel would be unread by the black culture. This made Wright’s review the most crippling towards Hurston because it was intensely harsh and his influence greatly urge the readers to dismiss Their Eyes Were Watching God leading to its disappearance.
Father of the little girl in The Ring, as he too knows more than he is
In this book everyone knew what was going on, but nobody wanted to say anything. They knew what was going on but did nothing to prevent it. The reader on the other hand doesn’t know what is happening and only learning piece by piece each chapter. Not knowing what’s going on is tortuous for the reader but makes them want more, so they keep reading.
Throughout the course of history, the concept of women being subordinate to men has always existed. However, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a woman named Hester Prynne tries to break prejudicial notions against women in a patriarchal society. In the story, Hester commits the crime of adultery and is sentenced by the government to wear a scarlet letter as it symbolizes ignominy. Since she lives in Puritan New England, the people do not value women a lot, her actions becomes a sight of public scrutiny. Yet, with her strength as a woman, she is able to not only survive the situation, but also reverse as she later becomes an important member of their community. In a feminist perspective of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter,
Much evidence supports Saturday Review writer Doris Grumbach's opinion that Their Eyes Were Watching God is "the finest black novel of its time" and "one of the finest of all time" (Washington, 4). Zora Neale Hurston's text is highly regarded because of the meaning and purpose it conveys using poetic language and folkloric imagery. It is the heroic story of Janie Crawford's search for individuality, self-realization, and independence from the patriarchal forces of her time. Because the novel is mainly concerned with Janie's many relationships within a male-dominated context, it is only logical to take feminist view of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Throughout my reading of this particular novel I have identified the images of porches, trees, and the horizon as symbols of power in favor of Janie Crawford's search for a feminist identity. To support this opinion, I have chosen to utilize the feminist / reader response theories formulated by Judith Fetterley in Introduction to the Resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Fiction.
...lly speaking to the reader like she knows the woman do not exist (311). The protagonist seems both disoriented and sane in this quote, the confusion is done intentionally by the author to confuse the audience.
Deborah Tannen’s essay, “There Is No Unmarked Woman”, explores the idea of “marked” and “unmarked” words, styles, titles, and how females have no ability to choose an unmarked position in life. She posits that “The unmarked forms of most English words also convey ‘male’” (88). Tannen is incorrect in her premises because females are able to choose unmarked hair and clothing styles, men are marked just as often as women, and many unmarked forms of words no longer convey “male.”
“She was black as she could be, twisted like driftwood from being out in the weather, her face a map of all the storms and journeys she’d been through. Her right arm was raised, as if she was pointing the way, except her fingers were closed in a fist. It gave her a serious look, like she could straighten you out if necessary” (Kidd 70).
...James Robert Saunders, "Womanism as the Key to Understanding Zora Neale Hurston's `Their Eyes Were Watching God' and Alice Walker's `The Color Purple'," in The Hollins Critic, Vol. XXV, No. 4, October, 1988, pp. 1-11. Reproduced by permission.
Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God depicts the process of a woman's coming to consciousness, finding her voice and developing the power to tell her story. This fresh and much-needed perspective was met with incomprehension by the male literary establishment. In his review in New Masses, Richard Wright said the novel lacked "a basic idea or theme that lends itself to significant interpretation." Hurston's dialogue, he said, "manages to catch the psychological movements of the Negro folk mind in their pure simplicity, but that's as far as it goes. . . . . The sensory sweep of her novel carries no theme, no message, no thought." Many male reviewers and critics have reacted with similar hostility and incomprehension to The Color Purple. But to be blind to the definitions these and other women writers give to women's experience is to deny the validity of that experience.
Zora Neale Hurston focuses on the evolution of an African-American woman as she goes through adulthood and three marriages in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston expresses the framed narrative through Janie Crawford’s point of view as she recounts her story to her friend Phoeby, and uses two dialects throughout the novel. The clear dichotomy of the narrator’s diction and the characters’ African-American dialect gives importance toward Janie’s struggles and progress to find her strength and independence. Hurston magnifies the theme of voice and language, not only with the characters’ personalities, but also with the form of the novel as she employs a third person omniscient point of view, provoking imagery and shifts in tone.
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.
Throughout history, African Americans (African American women in particular) have had immense struggles in their efforts to develop a voice. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora Neale Hurston is able to eloquently portray a typical African American woman’s journey to find her identity by using an array of rhetorical devices. With the use of powerful rhetorical questions, allusions, and extended metaphors, Zora Neale Hurston effectively depicts Janie Stark’s intimate personal growth throughout the novel.