women in black charaters

The story is in first person narrative as Arthur Kipps tells his own story which makes the reader share his  fears and feelings and feel sympathetic towards him.

His spirits have been for many years effected by the ways of the weather.The quote "I have never been an imaginatitive or fanciful man and certainly not one given to visions of the future"This shows a sterotypical gothic/ ghost story as he is a rational protagonist who goes into a wild , remote and gloomy setting who does not believe in the supernatural.

Throughout the book Arthur Kipps returns back to the present which reminds the reader of the change in him self as when he began his story he was "still in a state of innocence" and the warning that innocence, once lost, is lost forever which fills the reader with dread and apprehension.

The middle aged kipps is shown to have no resemblance to his youthful self and is shown to be a broken rational protaginoist and the complete opposite from his old ambitious, couragious, adventurious, arrogant and rational self.When he sees the women in black for the second time he could not base his reactions upon reason and logic and retains youthful curiosity to be consumed with the desire to find out who exactly he had seen.

Samuel Daily is made to seem like a guardian angel to kipps as he supports and advises him however does not alienate him by telling him what to do.

He is inquistive, friendly/ welcoming and plainspoken and he mirrors his name as he represents normality.

He is described by Kipps as a study man of good commonsense.

Daily is a shrewd (clever) chracter and is hospitable  and acts upon his instincts and is compelled to go to Kipps aid at Eel Marsh House.

Keckwick is expected to be very obliging as Mr jerome leads on Kipps that he is.

There appears to be nothing to distinguish him from his pony and trap and his startling characteristic is his silence.

Keckwick is is very blunt and matter of fact when describing the weather.

Keckwick is shown to be kind as he is generous when he puts himself mout for a stranger and is caring enough to go out in the middle of the night and rescue Kipps.

Keckwick showed kindness to Alice Drablow and he was the only living soul with whom she had contact with however did not attend her funeral as he suffered a great loss when his father drowned  and the reader may feel that some amnesty(pardoned) was reached between him and the ghost.

A visual image is created of Keckwick as being physically unattractive with warts, bumps and lumps which creates a  gothic image for the story.

Jennett Humfrye is Alice Drablow`s sister and is also known by the name the women in Black.

Arthur Kipps at first mistakes her as being a friend of Alice Drablow`s when he sees her at the funeral

.She witnesses the death of her son and dies 12 years later from a wasting disease and heart failure at the age of 36.

She has been seeling revenge on her sister ever since her death.

Everytime she appers a child dies in violet circumstances.

We learn that there is nothing forgiving about her and that she is mad with anger and has a desire for revenge.

Has changed Crythin Gifford for fifty years and has made Alice Drablow, Keckwick and Mr Jerome suffer.

Mr Bentley is a kind and moderate gentleman.Head of the family firm of solicitors.

Acts as an father figure towards Kipps and looks after him and blames himself for the ordeal of Alice Drablow.

Encourages Kipps to Buy Monk`s piece however is anxious to see Kipps settle in a house of his own.

Mr Jerome is Alice`s Drablows land agent and attended her funeral.

Mr jerome was one of the women in black`s victims having lost a child in tragic cirumstances.

Mr jeromes apperance is very distinctive as he is ddescribed to have a domed head fringed with gingerish hair which resembles a lampshade and eyes the colour of gulls eggs.

She was an old eccentric client of Mr Bentley`s father. Died alone at 87 and was married to Thomas Drablow and had a adopted child ( Jennet Humfrye`s).

Arthur Kipps realises that the women in black hanuted Alice Drablow in Eel Marsh House for over a century and the women in black took her revenge to the extent that Alice Drablow`s sanity was questionable and the reader is left to imagine the horrors she had experienced.

She had no friends this is shown from the attendance at her funeral and is an outsider and is isolated shown from where her house is situated.

From the start mystery seems to have surrounded her. Are scared of her because of the women in black which is the reason to why she has no friends.

Arthur Kipps frequently returns to memories of her to comfort him .

We learn that she is the ideal support for a man at that time,

She is in the background and is shown to have been left behind as part of Kipps normal life.

They shared a child. Samuel Daily`s wife, Esme,Kipps first and second wife play very similar roles and are equally undeveloped as their role is to only support their husbands.