Arthur Kipps: A Gothic Protagonist

A Pragmatist

At first, when he sees the woman in black, he goes for the most rational explanation: she's just some poor woman who has a terrible disease and has showed up at Mrs. Drablow's funeral to pay her respects. Even when confronted with things like the ghostly sound of the pony and trap, Arthur's mind still jumps to reality rather than to ghosts; he's convinced that there is an actual person drowning in the marsh. He likes very real, tangible things and readily explained stories:

"Indeed, since those earlier experiences I had deliberately avoided all contemplation of any remotely nontangible matters, and clung to the prosaic, the visible and tangible." (Chapter One)

Even after his experiences with the woman in black, he continues to cling to the safer, more prosaic part of life. He never wanted to encounter ghosts, and now that he has, he definitely never wants to encounter one again.

A Modern Young Man

Arthur is modern, urban and proud of it: he sees the villagers at Crythin Gifford as backwards and rustic in their…