The Woman in Black

The past plays a pivotal role for all the characters in the novel, and most of their pasts tend to come with painful memories. Notably, Kipps and Jennet Humfrye’s pasts cause them to hold onto their pain in their present state. The novel suggests that becoming trapped by the past can prolong pain, whereas learning how to acknowledge and integrate painful memories in a healthier way enables meaningful healing.

Jennet’s character, specifically, exists with so much pain that she continues to grieve even in the afterlife, turning her into a malevolent spirit seeking vengeance for the loss of her child. In her letters, Jennet writes, “What else can I do? I am quite helpless” (115), regarding Mrs. Drablow’s adoption of Nathaniel. Jennet’s tone implies a deep-embedded loss that causes her significant grief, which Kipps defines as a “quiet, resigned bitterness” (114). Her helplessness perpetuates a need to take control of the situation; however, the loss of her son forces Jennet to endure even more pain that appears to be inescapable even in death.

Jennet’s inability to escape her pain forces her to exist only in the past, creating a cycle of turmoil for not only herself but also those that encounter her. In his reflection on Jennet’s past, Kipps writes: “An event, and that a dreadful, tragic one, of many years ago, which had taken place and been done with, was somehow taking place over and over again” (146). By using supernatural elements, Hill illustrates how the inability to reckon with one’s past perpetuates the pain associated with tragic, or deeply upsetting, experiences. Jennet’s pain exists in such magnitude that it physically consumed her; on paper, Jennet died from “heart failure,” which implies a physical manifestation of her grief. Furthermore, Jennet appears as the woman in black, a sickly figure dressed in eternal mourning clothes. Hill’s illustration of Jennet outwardly shows the pain and suffering she endured emotionally.

Kipps experiences a similar pain of holding onto the past, which he identifies at the beginning of the novel: “Like an old wound, it gave off a faint twinge now and again, but less and less often, less and less painfully, as the years went on” (17). Although Kipps recognizes the lasting effects of the trauma he endured, he also acknowledges that the pain lessens, positioning him as a foil to Jennet Humfrye. At the same time, the act of writing his narrative allows him to let go of the parts of the past, such as the loss of his wife and child, that continue to cause him to suffer in his present. With the hopes of at last finding freedom from his fear and grief, he knows that he must confront his past if he wishes to reckon with the emotional turmoil he endures.

At the conclusion of his narrative, Kipps does not necessarily feel relieved from reliving his trauma, as implied by his final “enough,” but his ability to reflect on his past creates space for him to reconcile with it. By doing so, Hill’s novel suggests that ignoring the past or solely existing in painful memories causes more pain and turmoil that can feel inescapable.