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Character development in wuthering heights
Character analysis in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights
Character analysis in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights
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The purpose of this paper is to assess the novel, "Wuthering Heights," by Emily Bronte, particularly within the context of the character, Catherine. Catherine plays a prominent role throughout "Wuthering Heights." For the most part, it is her love of Heathcliff which represents the crutch of the human struggle encountered by Catherine, as well as other characters throughout the story -- but especially Catherine. Curiously, relationships of that period were more often than not governed by social convention. The relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is an exception to this...while, ultimately, one Thrushcroff Grange attracts Catherine, and thusly leads her to stray from her true nature. It is difficult to separate the character from the author, noting that the author's childhood was basically isolated and gloomy, and Catherine herself, is a truly private individual. It is this sense of privacy, in my opinion, that supersedes any other factor throughout the story. To understand this sense of inwardness, one must explore the novel itself. The story begins in the early 1800's (c. 1801) and one Mr. Lockwood removed from the narrative. The novel begins to take shape, only after some degree of reading, when we realize what is happening at Wuthering Heights in conjunction with Thrushcroff Grange. Soon afterwards, Nelly Dean makes her appearance, while she herself is somewhat unpreceptible. Overall, content and structure is rather fractured, although a so-called Satanic hero begins to emerge as a creature of darkness as well as rebellion and passion. Conversely, pressures on Heathcliff are internal. Results of his life emanate from his orphan years in Liverpool and his horrific treatment at Wuthering Heights. The author underscores the violence and darkness of man...even to such a primal and universal degree that it is impossible to overcome. In the beginning, Mr. Lockwood visits his landlord. He is a new tenant at Thrushcroff Grange and finds himself to be most unwelcome. His treatment by the landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, the servants, and even the dogs is less than welcoming. Heathcliff is something of a paradox. He exhibits the manners of country squire, urbane and handsome although aloof and private. Wuthering Heights itself is basically an old farmhouse and its namesake comes from the weather which it has had to endure. Overall, I found this book to be extremely personal, and almost eccentric. By eccentric, I mean the views that are put forth are very private and even difficult to understand.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë BRONTË USES IMAGERY EFFECTIVELY TO EMPHASISE THE CHARACTERS OF HEATHCLIFF, CATHERINE AND LINTON AND THEIR COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NOVEL. DISCUSS THIS STATEMENT ---------------------- In the novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, symbolism is used continuously throughout, making it a brilliant, gripping story.
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.
with Edgar. He shows love of the past by pointing out to her how little
Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, set in the countryside of England’s 1700’s, features a character named Heathcliff, who is brought into the Earnshaw family as a young boy and quickly falls into a passionate, blinding romance with the Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine. However, Heathcliff is soon crushed by this affection when his beloved chooses the company of another man rather than his own. For the remainder of the novel he exudes a harsh, aversive attitude that remains perduring until his demise that is induced by the loss of his soulmate, and in turn the bereavement of the person to whom the entirety of his being and his very own self were bound.
Heathcliff is a character who was abused in his childhood by Catherine’s brother, Hindley, because of his heritage as a “gypsy”, and Hindley was jealous of the love that Heathcliff got from Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley’s father. This is also selfishness upon Hindley’s part since he only wanted his father’s love for his sister and himself. So to reprimand Heathcl...
Inwardness is also the key to the structure of the novel. The book begins in the year 1801, on the very rim of the tale, long after the principal incidents of the story have taken place. Mr. Lockwood, our guide, is very far removed from the central experiences of the narrative. Under Lockwood’s sadly unperceptive direction, the reader slowly begins to understand what is happening at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Gradually we move toward the center of the novel. In a few chapters, Nelly Dean, takes over from Lockwood, and the reader is a little closer to the truth. Still Nelly is herself unperceptive and the reader must struggle hard till reaching the center of the novel; the passionate last meeting of Heathcliff and Cathy in Chapter 15.
Wuthering Heights is not just a love story, it is a window into the human soul, where one sees the loss, suffering, self discovery, and triumph of the characters in this novel. Both the Image of the Book by Robert McKibben, and Control of Sympathy in Wuthering Heights by John Hagan, strive to prove that neither Catherine nor Heathcliff are to blame for their wrong doings. Catherine and Heathcliff’s passionate nature, intolerable frustration, and overwhelming loss have ruined them, and thus stripped them of their humanities.
Definitive criteria for judging the success or failure of a work of fiction are not easily agreed upon; individuals almost necessarily introduce bias into any such attempt. Only those who affect an exorbitantly refined artistic taste, however, would deny the importance of poignancy in literary pieces. To be sure, writings of dubious and fleeting merit frequently enchant the public, but there is too the occasional author who garners widespread acclaim and whose works remain deeply affecting despite the passage of time. The continued eminence of the fiction of Emily Bronte attests to her placement into such a category of authors: it is a recognition of her propensity to create poignant and, indeed, successful literature.
The famous saying that from a true love to a great hatred is only a
“Wuthering Heights is a strange, inartistic story”(Atlas, WH p. 299). “Wuthering Heights is a strange sort of book” (Douglas, WH p.301). “This is a strange book” (Examiner, WH p.302). “His work [Wuthering Heights] is strangely original” (Britannia, WH p.305). These brief quotes show that early critics of Emily Bronte’s first edition of Wuthering Heights, found the novel baffling in its meaning - they each agreed separately, that no moral existed within the story therefore it was deemed to have no real literary value. The original critical reviews had very little in the way of praise for the unknown author or the novel. The critics begrudgingly acknowledged elements of Wuthering Heights that could be considered strengths – such as, “rugged power” and “unconscious strength” (Atlas, WH p.299), “purposeless power” (Douglas, WH p.301), “evidences of considerable power” (Examiner), “power and originality” (Britannia, WH p.305). Strange and Powerful are two recurring critical interpretations of the novel. The critics did not attempt to provide in depth analysis of the work, simply because they felt that the meaning or moral of the story was either entirely absent or seriously confused.
Wuthering Heights is a novel which deviates from the standard of Victorian literature. The novels of the Victorian Era were often works of social criticism. They generally had a moral purpose and promoted ideals of love and brotherhood. Wuthering Heights is more of a Victorian Gothic novel; it contains passion, violence, and supernatural elements (Mitchell 119). The world of Wuthering Heights seems to be a world without morals. In Wuthering Heights, Brontë does not idealize love; she presents it realistically, with all its faults and merits. She shows that love is a powerful force which can be destructive or redemptive. Heathcliff has an all-consuming passion for Catherine. When she chooses to marry Edgar, his spurned love turns into a destructive force, motivating him to enact revenge and wreak misery. The power of Heathcliff’s destructive love is conquered by the influence of another kind of love. Young Cathy’s love for Hareton is a redemptive force. It is her love that brings an end to the reign of Heathcliff.
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.
Emily Bronte, on the surface, appeared to be a very withdrawn woman and is said to be reclusive throughout her entire life. She was even incredibly embarrassed when her sister, Charlotte Bronte, found her book of poetry, even though Charlotte was incredibly impressed by it. Beneath the surface lies a woman full of passion and capable of powerful emotions, though she had never felt such emotions, to write a novel that is still discussed today and is regarded as a literary classic. Novels are often regarded as a window to the souls of the authors, and Wuthering Heights is no exception. Wuthering Heights is often seen as a type of construct of Emily’s life and personality, because of the similarity of characters to people in Emily’s life, and how the events that occur at Wuthering Heights are secluded in their own right, much like Emily’s own life.
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.
It has been proven evident throughout the history of literature that authors will tend to incorporate their own lives into their works. This is the case in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Although the novel is in itself fictional, Brontë invites readers into her private life by the way in which she writes her novel. Literary elements are often taken into consideration when determining the value of a literary work. However, they offer more than just layers of complexity to a work. Brontë uses countless metaphors to portray relevance to her own life. The ongoing comparison between the characters in Wuthering Heights and Brontë’s own life only exemplifies how often authors use their works to reflect their lives.