...‘The Gothic elements of Wuthering Heights are made credible by the novel’s setting and narrators.’ How far would you agree with this view? Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s only novel and was published in December 1847 under the androgynous pseudonym Ellis Bell, due to having a, “vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice”. This initial perception demonstrates the lack of gender equality within the Victorian era, with autocratic male dominance being commonly viewed as an ideal within the restrictive patriarchal society; such varying social conventions resonate throughout the novel, perhaps providing a sense of stability, reality and authenticity among the primal passions, savage cruelty, and supernatural entities present within the boundaries of Wuthering Heights and the Yorkshire Moors. The juxtaposition provided by the arguably civilised, ornate Thrushcross Grange provides a rational foundation where societal norms are upheld, with the domestic, cultural setting providing a balance to the unruly natural passions; it is suggested further that cogency is gained not only through the historical and geographic settings, but also through the dual narration of Nelly Dean and Lockwood. Contrastingly, a deeper reading suggests that the societal beliefs and conservative, obstinate nature of the narrators would cause them to condemn individuals and demonise events that threatened the social balance, meaning the creditability can certainly be disputed...
Words: 2187 - Pages: 9
...Chapter 9 of 'Wuthering Heights' has often been described as the pivotal chapter of the text- Explain the importance of this chapter (events, themes, quotations). Chapter 9 could be seen as the pivotal chapter in Wuthering Heights as it plays a significant part in the overall plot of the novel. In chapter 9 Catherine speaks to Nelly. Believing they are alone, Catherine explains to Nelly that she is engaged to Edgar Linton and that she couldn’t marry Heathcliff due to the fact he would degrade her and he wouldn’t be able to financially provide for her: he is rough and poor, Cathy states "It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff". Catherine decided to marry Linton due to his wealth and high social class "he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighbourhood". Catherine, like most of the Victorian society, views marriage as a social contract and not the ultimate commitment between lovers "you would love him without that, probably; and with it you wouldn’t, unless he possessed the four former attractions", she also chose Linton because he was the ideal man- handsome, young, cheerful and rich. Heathcliff overhears the start of the conversation between Nelly and Catherine, then disappears, therefore he fails to hear Catherine tell Nelly that she is truly in love with him. If Heathcliff had stayed and carried on listening to what Cathy had to say, then he would have understood how much she loved him, which potentially could have altered the novels overall...
Words: 611 - Pages: 3
...a) Chapters 1-3 1. Why does Mr. Lockwood go to Wuthering Heights? What kind of welcome does he receive? 2. Why does Lockwood return to Wuthering Heights uninvited, and how do the results of his visit affect the remainder of the novel? 3. When Lockwood first enters Wuthering Heights, who lives there? 4. What feeling do we get from Wuthering Heights and its occupants in these first few chapters? 5. Describe Heathcliff. 6. What glimpses from the past does Lockwood get when he discovers Catherine's books? 7. Whose ghost visits Mr. Lockwood? What is Heathcliff's reaction to the ghost? B) Chapters 4-8 1. Who is Nelly Dean? 2. What do the gifts that Hindley and Catherine ask their father to bring them reveal about their characters? 3. What are Heathcliff's origins? 4. Why does Hindley despise Heathcliff? 5. Characterize Catherine. 6. Compare and contrast Catherine's and Heathcliff's reactions to the Lintons at Thrushcross Grange. 7. Why did Edgar get applesauce dumped on him? 8. Catherine is pained by Hindley's punishment of Heathcliff, yet she continues to entertain her guests. What change does this reveal? 9. What does Heathcliff begin to plan? 10. Who is Hareton Earnshaw? 11. How does Frances' death affect Hindley? 12. Edgar gets a good look at Catherine's "other side." What is his reaction? C) Chapters 9-10 1. Who saves Hareton's life? 2. Why does Catherine accept Edgar's...
Words: 2830 - Pages: 12
...Durga Prasad Ghimire Eng.555: Themes and Trends in Fiction Dr. Dhurba Karki August 12, 2015 Characters Psychology Determined by Economy in Wuthering Heights Emile Bronte’s Wuthering Heights embodies an accurate picture of an individual’s psychology determined by the economy. A nineteenth century fiction evokes the photographic resemble of human consciousness obtained by concrete conditions in their world. Getting and keeping economic power is the motive behind all human psychology, including social, economic, political, philosophical and educational activities. Economic conditions, are referred as material circumstances and the psychological atmosphere generated by quantifiable achievement evokes his/her consciousness in the sense that he /she behaves, nurses, and govern their phenomenon according to their concrete prominence. The Bronte’s narrative explores the psychological state of beings launched by the commercial gain, where major characters Heathcliff, Catherine, Edgar, Hindly, and Isabella are steered by substantial belongings. Their individual psyche and its root in the family complex distract the relation to each other. The economic system structures, social, familial, and human behavior. It is a ground where every character plays the game of grade to examine their attainment in the society. At one point Marx underscores capitalism (economy) “every family wants to own its own home on its own land” [Tyson: 56]. In other words it promises to gain...
Words: 1370 - Pages: 6
...Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte This eBook is designed and published by Planet PDF. For more free eBooks visit our Web site at http://www.planetpdf.com/. Wuthering Heights Chapter I 1801. - I have just returned from a visit to my landlord - the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist’s heaven: and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name. ’Mr. Heathcliff?’ I said. A nod was the answer. ’Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross Grange: I heard yesterday you had had some thoughts - ‘ 2 of 540 Wuthering Heights ’Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir,’ he interrupted, wincing. ‘I should not allow any one to inconvenience me, if I could hinder it - walk in!’ The ‘walk in’ was uttered with closed teeth, and expressed the sentiment, ‘Go to the Deuce:’ even the gate over which he...
Words: 119802 - Pages: 480
...The opposing forces of Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights can be seen as one of the most influential works of fiction produced during the Victorian age. In Brontë’s novel, the reader will encounter many oppositions across several elements of the story. These oppositions play a vital role in the development of both the characters and the plot and have been discussed by many critics. According to Melvin R. Watson, as he describes in his article “Tempest in the Soul: The Theme and Structure of “Wuthering Heights,”” a most influential theory is that of the opposing forces of calm and storm developed by Lord David Cecil (Watson, 88). This theory, however, does not completely encompass the multitude of opposites found in the novel. The oppositions found in Wuthering Heights all serve specific roles in the development of the characters and the plot of the novel. The universe of the opposing forces of the calm and the storm that can be found within Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is one that encompasses many elements of the story. At the very start of the novel, the narrator, in the form of Mr. Lockwood, gives the reader a detailed description of the house he is about to enter: Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling. ‘Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess...
Words: 2424 - Pages: 10
...WUTHERING HEIGHTS: IDEAS AND THEMES Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 under the pseudonym “Ellis Bell”. Charlotte presented her sister Emily as an unconscious artist who “did not know what she had done”. Unlike what Charlotte thought of her sister, some literary critics agree on the fact that it is a very carefully constructed novel. The main problem of critical response was that critics could not work out its moral standpoint. Both lovers deliberately marry other partners. As Catherine Earnshaw dies halfway through the novel, which pair of lovers is meant to carry our approval, Catherine and Heathcliff or young Catherine and Hareton? Moreover their voices reach us through a medley of others: Mr Lockwood, Nelly, Isabella, who are often ignored by readers. A parable of a natural equilibrium disturbed by an external force and eventually somehow restored. The theory that a principle of calm and storm informs the novel provided a comprehensive interpretation. The two aspects (calm and storm) are not necessarily conflicting and will ultimately lead to a state of equilibrium. The world described by the novel is pre-moral, and the drives of the main characters seem to reach beyond their death and strive for transcendence. (Early Victorian Novelists, Lord David Cecil, 1934) A restless force, represented by C and H, which continually pushes against a framework of religion, propriety, social expectations. The novel represents a clash of social classes and economic...
Words: 1164 - Pages: 5
...Religion in ‘Wuthering Heights’ & ‘The Color Purple’ March 30, 2012 Orthodoxy in ‘Wuthering Heights’ Wuthering Heights takes orthodox Victorian Christian religion and turns it on its head. The narrative is delivered to us by Lockwood, who gets his narrative from Nelly Dean. Nelly is an orthodox Christian and gives us a biased viewpoint, calling Heathcliff a ‘devil’ and associating him with the demonic. With his black hair and unbridled wrath, violence, greed and lust, Heathcliff is an embodiment of everything Victorians feared. His passion was completely unacceptable. Heathcliff lures Catherine from being an acceptable Victorian girl to being brutally passionate as well. Catherine’s big choice in the novel whether to marry Heathcliff or Edgar reflects society’s pressure. She chooses Edgar despite the fact that her sense of identity is bound up in Heathcliff. That’s why she suffers so much when she marries Edgar. One issue in the novel is discerning the author’s voice. Bronte’s voice is not the voice of Lockwood, who in many ways is a farcical character who doesn’t understand at all the relationships of Wuthering Heights he has stumbled upon. Nelly Dean’s voice doesn’t seem to be one that Bronte wants us to trust; there are several incidents where Nelly lies, or at least conceals the truth of Catherine’s real situation from Edgar. Nelly tells us that Catherine dies and rests in peace, but her words are contradicted by the reports of Catherine and Heathcliff being seen walking...
Words: 1514 - Pages: 7
...12/7/2015 Wuthering Heights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wuthering Heights From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. Written between October 1845 and June 1846,[1] Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 under the pseudonym "Ellis Bell"; Brontë died the following year, aged 30. Wuthering Heights and Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey were accepted by publisher Thomas Newby before the success of their sister Charlotte's novel, Jane Eyre. After Emily's death, Charlotte edited the manuscript of Wuthering Heights, and arranged for the edited version to be published as a posthumous second edition in 1850.[2] Although Wuthering Heights is now widely regarded as a classic of English literature, contemporary reviews for the novel were deeply polarised; it was considered controversial because its depiction of mental and physical cruelty was unusually stark, and it challenged strict Victorian ideals of the day, including religious hypocrisy, morality, social classes and gender inequality.[3][4] The English poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti referred to it as "A fiend of a book – an incredible monster ... The action is laid in hell, – only it seems places and people have English names there."[5] In the second half of the 19th century, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works, but following later re-evaluation, critics began to argue that Wuthering Heights was superior.[6] The book has inspired adaptations...
Words: 6936 - Pages: 28
..."The Victorian elements in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontё" The Victorian Era, in which Brontё composed Wuthering Heights, receives its name from the reign of Queen Victoria of England. The era was a great age of the English novel, which was the ideal form to descibe contemporary life and to entertain the middle class. Emily, born in 1818, lived in a household in the countryside in Yorkshire, locates her fiction in the worlds she knows personally. In addition, she makes the novel even more personal by reflecting her own life and experiences in both characters and action of Wuthering Heights. In fact, many characters in the novel grow up motherless, reflecting Emily’s own childhood, as her mother died when Emily was three years old. Similarly, the vast majority of the novel takes place in two households, which probably is a reflection of author’s own comfort at home as whenever she was away from home she grew homesick. Emily Brontё’s single novel is a unique masterpiece propelled by a vision of elemental passions but controlled by an uncompromising artistic sense. However, despite the relative invisibility of Victorian influence in the plot and content, the attitudes of the Victorian Era make some impact on the story, and the novel is considered not only a form of entertainment but also a means of analyzing and offering solutions to social and political problems. Brontё may not highlight the social aspects in the novel, nevertheless the indications of Victorian society’s...
Words: 3665 - Pages: 15
...The Edge…There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are ones who have gone over.” - Hunter S. Thompson. Explore the presentation of the troubled mind in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and the poetry of John Keats, with illuminating reference to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. “The Edge” described by Hunter S. Thompson is, he says, unexplainable. What seems clear is that ‘the Edge’ is at the limit of the human mind. It can’t be explained, Thompson says, because the only people who ‘really know where it is’ are the ones who ‘have gone over’ it, those who have died or else never returned to ‘reality’ and ‘sanity’. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the poetry of John Keats, and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest all describe, in differing ways, states of mind on ‘the Edge’. When they were first published, the contemporary reception to Keats’s poems and to Wuthering Heights was remarkably similar. Keats was described as writing ‘the most incongruous ideas in the most uncouth language’ , while Bronte’s novel (published under the male pseudonym Ellis Bell) was called ‘too coarse and disagreeable to be attractive’, and described as ‘wild, confused, disjointed, and improbable’ with characters who are ‘savages ruder than those who lived before the days of Homer.’ These accusations of ‘uncouth’, ‘coarse’ and ‘disjointed’ writing suggest that both authors had already crossed one edge with their writing: the edge...
Words: 3252 - Pages: 14
...set what was to be her sole novel in and around her beloved moors creating, in Cathy, a character as wilful as herself. However the reader acquainted but not familiar with the narrative, is often surprised by how little actual description of the natural environment is extant within its pages though ‘metaphors drawn from nature provide much of the book's descriptive language’. Simply expressed, it is the author’s own vicarious resonance with the land, expressed via her frequent use of what Ruskin termed ‘pathetic fallacy’ that gives the intensity of the connective between the central protagonists and the land in which they are imbedded, even beyond life itself. The plot concerns the family of the Earnshaws, owners of the eponymous ‘Wuthering Heights’, where the surly urchin, Heathcliff, is brought by the father of the household who has found him abandoned in Liverpool, and who describes him ‘as dark almost as if it came from the devil’ for ‘when Mr. Earnshaw first brings the child home, the child is an “it” not a “he”’. From the first, he is Cathy, the daughter’s favourite, as he is her father’s, and the thorn in the flesh of the heir, Hindley. Both boys, indeed, loathe each other with a passion partly born of ‘sibling rivalry’, even though they are not blood relatives (at least such is not openly stated even if critics have inferred more than an act of philanthropy in Mr. Earnshaw’s rescuing the boy and his wife’s...
Words: 999 - Pages: 4
...have lived happily with Heathcliff. To further emphasize this point, when Catherine's daughter Cathy is in a similar position as her mother, except having been lowered in social status, she is able to marry Hareton for love. ................................................................................................................................ Feminism can be seen in the character of Iabella Linton, The steps she takes to get away from Heathcliffs cruelty and unjust behaviour can be seen as remarkable for a woman in that period as fleeing an unhappy marriage was illeagal and she could risk being captured and punished by the law. She also refused to be known under the name Iabella Heathcliff and when aked by the inhabinent of wuthering heights what is your name she replies "I was Isabella Linton" she relises the consquence of her mistake she has made by marrying Heathcliff. She is also disowned by her brother Edgar "I am sorry to have lost her" after her marriage. This makes Isabellas decision to leave heathcliff seem even more admirable to readers today as she is going out to society with no social status and posibility and at that time would have taken a lot of courage as she would also have been shunned by society. There is no doubt that the female characters are treated like victims however...
Words: 791 - Pages: 4
...Through out Wuthering Heights Heathcliff is presented in many different ways to the reader which create a completly different view of his personality and motives. This is no different in the opening four chapters of the novel. During this time we are able to look at Heathcliff’s character through the perspective of three other characters, Lockwood, Nelly and Cathy. Each of these perspectives shine light on certain aspects of Heathcliff’s personality and to understand what a complex character he is. The reader is not provided with enough information on his background to know enough about his former life. We only become aware of whom he really is, later on in the novel when he narrates for himself. Heathcliff enters the Earnshaw home as a poor orphan and is immediately assualted by questions of his parentage. He is characterized as devilish and cruelly referred to as "it" in the Earnshaw household. This impression of a poor, defencless Heathcliff during his childhood creates a binary opposition to the cold, confident Heathcliff we are introduced to through Lockwood’s narration. “ ‘Mr Heathcliff’ I said, A nod was my answer” this shows that Heathcliff holds Lockwood in contempt and doesn’t deem him worthy enough to break his isolation and engage in converse. “He is a dark skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman” this description highlights Heathcliffs dark complextion which isolates him from the rest of the Earnshaw family, this is shown to be key as...
Words: 805 - Pages: 4
...My Thoughts on Wuthering Heights Amber Richardson AIU Online Professor Chad Fairies The story opens with Mr. Lockwood, the new tenant, talking with his property owner, Mr. Heathcliff, about Thrushcross Grange. After becoming snowed in, at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood stumbles upon Catherine Earnshaw’s diary. Through the diary, he discovers a bit more information about Mr. Heathcliff. After reading the diary, he falls asleep and awakes to a pecking at the window. After suspecting that the pecking was just a branch on the window he arouses, puts his hand through the window to grab the branch. Only what his fingers clenched were the cold fingers of an ice cold little hand. The pecking was the ghost of none other than Catherine Earnshaw, she begins to cry out “Let me in. Let me in.” He replies, “Who are you?” She responded “Catherine Linton.” Confused and expecting the ghost to be Catherine Earnshaw he became frightened and begins to pull her wrist back and forth on the broken pane until it began to bleed soaking his bedclothes in her blood. Lockwood convinces Catherine to let go, blocks the whole in the window with books, and tells her he will not let her in even if it had been twenty years. Morning she said, “It is twenty years. I have been a waif for twenty years.” (p.23). Lockwood screams out it fear and Mr. Heathcliff enters the room to see the problem. Lockwood tells Heathcliff of the little fiend that had gotten in the window and how he thought she was a changeling...
Words: 2136 - Pages: 9
