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Literary devices and their effects
Literary devices and their effects
Lilies of the field character analysis
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Recommended: Literary devices and their effects
“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish,” said Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island. Any person can write a book, but to be able to write what you mean and affect your readers is very difficult. A writer simply can’t just drop dialogue into a character’s mouth without having any context of the dialogue. If an author has his or her character saying “I’m broke,” what does this really mean without any context? To Oprah Winfrey, being broke may mean she can’t buy a Silk Jet, a winery, or a country. To a middle- class American, being broke may mean they can’t buy a new pair of shoes that week, buy a new car, or get their hair done. This simply means that they would have to manage their money until their next pay check. To an Ethiopian, being broke may mean they don’t have the money for food, clothes, or shelter. However, Emily Bronte does affect her readers ‘precisely as she wishes’ in her novel, Wuthering Heights, and she affects her readers through the literary devices she employees: setting, theme, and mood. But first, before looking at her devices, one should have a brief overview of her novel (Bronte).
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights was published in December 1847. It is a story of unchecked desires, voracious love, and vengeance. Heathcliff is adopted by the Earnshaw family at a young age, but at Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff endures cruel torment from Hindley, the eldest of the Earnshaw children. Heathcliff finds solace in the surrounding moors and in his relationship with Catherine. She was the upper class girl Heathcliff was fondly in love with. Their adventures on the moors lead to a dog bit...
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...because of the different elements and vocabulary any person can apply.
Works Cited
Bronte, Emily. "Theme." Free Web Page. John Wiley & Sons, 07/5/2007. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <1. http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmWuthering73.asp>.
BRONTË, Emily. "OVERVIEW OF EMILY BRONTË." Emily Bronte. cuny, 09/03/2011. Web. 28 Mar 2011. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_19c/wuthering/index.html
Bronte, Emily. "Setting." WebNet. Princeton University, 03/02/2011. Web. 28 Mar 2011. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=setting
Bronte, Emily. "Robert Louis Stevenson quotes." Thinkexist.com. ThinkExist, 1999-2010. Web. 28 Mar 2011. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_difficulty_of_literature_is_not_to_write-but/14621.html
Bronte, Emily. "Mood." Dictionary.com. LLC, 2011. Web. 28 Mar 2011. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mood
Bronte, Charlotte. The Letters of Charlotte Bronte: 1829-1847. Ed. Margaret Smith. 2 vols. New York: Oxford UP, 1995-2000.
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Company, in London. This year is exactly ten years into Queen Victoria’s sixty-four year reign of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was renowned for its patriarchal Society and definition by class. These two things provide vital background to the novel, as Jane suffers from both. Jane Eyre relates in some ways to Brontë’s own life, as its original title suggest, “Jane Eyre: An Autobiography”. Charlotte Brontë would have suffered from too, as a relatively poor woman. She would have been treated lowly within the community. In fact, the book itself was published under a pseudonym of Currer Bell, the initials taken from Brontë’s own name, due to the fact that a book published by a woman was seen as inferior, as they were deemed intellectually substandard to men. Emily Brontë, Charlotte’s sister, was also forced to publish her most famous novel, Wuthering Heights, under the nom de plume of Ellis Bell, again taking the initials of her name to form her own alias. The novel is a political touchstone to illustrate the period in which it was written, and also acts as a critique of the Victorian patriarchal society.
Heathcliff cried vehemently, "I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Emily Brontë distorts many common elements in Wuthering Heights to enhance the quality of her book. One of the distortions is Heathcliff's undying love for Catherine Earnshaw. Also, Brontë perverts the vindictive hatred that fills and runs Heathcliff's life after he loses Catherine. Finally, she prolongs death, making it even more distressing and insufferable.
In the novel Wuthering Heights, author Emily Brontë portrays the morally ambiguous character of Heathcliff through his neglected upbringing, cruel motives, and vengeful actions.
with Edgar. He shows love of the past by pointing out to her how little
Brennan, Zoe. "Reader's Guide: Bronte's Jane Eyre." Ebrary. Continuum International Publishing 2 2010. Print. April 28, 2014
Immediately from the start Bronte’s character Jane is different. She is an orphan, mis-treated and despised by her family. She has no clear social position, is described as “less than a servant” and treated like one. A protagonist who one would assume had no characteristics worth aspiring too. Jane is displayed perfectly in her hiding behind the curtain. She is placed by a window, which beyond is icy and cold, contrasting immensely from the inside of the fire and warmth. A clear statement of the icy coldness of the family she has been put to live with, and her fiery and passionate nature which we discover th...
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is a novel about lives that cross paths and are intertwined with one another. Healthcliff, an orphan, is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw has two children named Catherine and Hindley. Jealousy between Hindley and Healthcliff was always a problem. Catherine loves Healthcliff, but Hindley hates the stranger for stealing his fathers affection away. Catherine meets Edgar Linton, a young gentleman who lives at Thrushcross Grange. Despite being in love with Healthcliff she marries Edgar elevating her social standing. The characters in this novel are commingled in their relationships with Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
The famous saying that from a true love to a great hatred is only a
Charlotte Bronte assumed the role of intermediary between her late sister and the perplexed and hostile readers of Wuthering Heights (Sale and Dunn, WH p. 267). Charlotte attempted to provide Emily’s readers with a more complete perspective of her sister and her works. She selectively included biographical information and critical commentary into the revised 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights, which gave the reader a fuller appreciation of the works of Emily Bronte. Charlotte championed the efforts of her younger sister and believed that Emily’s inexperience and unpracticed hand were her only shortcomings. Charlotte explains much of Emily’s character to the readers through the disclosure of biographical information.
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights can be considered a Gothic romance or an essay on the human relationship. The reader may regard the novel as a serious study of human problems such as love and hate, or revenge and jealousy. One may even consider the novel Bronte's personal interpretation of the universe. However, when all is said and done, Heathcliff and Catherine are the story. Their powerful presence permeates throughout the novel, as well as their complex personalities. Their climatic feelings towards each other and often selfish behavior often exaggerates or possibly encapsulates certain universal psychological truths humans are too afraid to express. Heathcliff and Catherine's stark backgrounds evolve respectively into dark personalities and mistaken life paths, but in the end their actions determine the course of their own relationships and lives. Their misfortunes, recklessness, willpower, and destructive passion are unable to penetrate the eternal love they share.
Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, has 323 pages. The genre of Wuthering Heights is realistic fiction, and it is a romantic novel. The book is available in the school library, but it was bought at Barnes and Nobles. The author’s purpose of writing Wuthering Heights is to describe a twisted and dark romance story. Thus, the author conveys the theme of one of life’s absolute truths: love is pain. In addition, the mood of the book is melancholy and tumultuous. Lastly, the single most important incident of the book is when Heathcliff arrives to Edgar Linton’s residence in the Granges unannounced to see Catherine’s state of health. Heathcliff’s single visit overwhelmed Catherine to the point of death.
The setting is the backbone for a novel it sets the tone and gives the reader a mental image of the time and places the story takes place. The Wuthering Heights Estate in Emily Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights” is one of the most important settings in the story. Wuthering Heights sets mood for the scenes taken place in the house, and reflects the life of Heathcliff through its description, furniture, windows, gates, and the vegetation.
"Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights”." The Reader's Guide to Emily Bronte's Classic 'Wuthering Heights' N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 2003.