Wuthering Heights is a Victorian novel written by Emily Bronte in the 19th century under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. The formal unity of Wuthering Heights has long been admired by critics. As its form is highly organized coherence, combined with its tight chronological organization and the opposing locations and voices within it help to structure the narrative, as do the genealogical ties that are of such thematic importance to the story. Its form is described as a “hybrid”. This term originally comes from biology, and (in literature) "hybrid" is a term usually applied to writing that shows the characteristics of two or more literary traditions or forms. Wuthering Heights demonstrates several genres qualities, such as romantic, gothic, tragic, realistic and domestic. And it is classified as a "hybrid" because of this. M. Bakhtin, in his article “Towards a methodology for the study of the novel”, includes his own definition of hybridity and how it applies to the novel. This research will discuss his point of view and the ways that our novel covers the different genres in terms of plot, themes and characterization as well as my point of view regarding this complex genres’ use.
To begin with, M. Bakhtin tried to discuss the concept of the novel in his article “Towards a methodology for the study of the novel”. In his first two paragraphs, he made a distinction between the novels and the other canon’s writings like epic and tragedy which follow exact structures and conventions which are pre-existing forms unlike the novel which is new in history and does not have a generic skeleton. In his opinion, the novel is not considered to be included in the canon because it is modern and has no conventions to follow. Bakhtin viewed the novel...
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1. Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Gerald F. Else. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1967. Dorsch, T. R., trans. and ed. Aristotle Horace Longinus: Classical Literary Criticism. New York: Penguin, 1965. Ley, Graham. The Ancient Greek Theater. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. Reinhold, Meyer. Classical Drama, Greek and Roman. New York: Barrons, 1959.
2. Bakhtin, M.M. (1981) “Towards a Methodology for the Study of the Novel” in The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, trans. C. Emerson and Holquist, ed. M. Holquist, University of Texas Press, pp. 3-11.
3. Bronte, E (2009 (1847) Wuthering Heights (ed I. Jack; introduction and additional notes H. Small), Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
4. Watson, Nicola and TowheedShafquat (ed.) (2012) Romantic and Victorians: “Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights: at Home and Abroad” London, Bloomsbury, pp. 351-410.
In the gothic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the author hides motifs within the story.The novel contains two major love stories;The wild love of Catherine, and Heathcliff juxtaposing the serene love of Cathy,and Hareton. Catherine’s and Heathcliff's love is the center of Emily Bronte’s novel ,which readers still to this day seem to remember.The characters passion, and obsession for each other seems to not have been enough ,since their love didn't get to thrive. Hareton and Cathy’s love is what got to develop. Hareton’s and Cathy’s love got to workout ,because both characters contained a characteristic that both characters from the first generation lacked: The ability to change .Bronte employs literary devices such as antithesis of ideas, and the motif of repetition to reveal the destructiveness of wild love versus a domestic love.
Consequently, one can broach a series of querries about literature and the nature of literary theories : what is literature ? What is the novel and what is its function ? And finally, to what extent does criticism affect the quality of literature ? This welter of questions is nothing but the tip of the ice berg.
Wuthering Heights is a classic in which Emily Bronte presents two opposite settings using the country setting. Country settings are often used as a place of virtue and peace or of ignorance and one of primitivism as believed by many city dwellers. But, in the novel Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte has used Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights to depict isolation and separation. Wuthering Heights setting is wild, passionate, and strong and Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants are calm, harshly strict, and refined and these two opposite forces struggle throughout the novel.
In every author’s life, there is an event or sequence of childhood/ early adulthood events that have shaped the author’s life and general point of view. These events often color or influence the author’s outlook and filter their way into the author’s work. In Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, this is clearly shown.
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.
Brontë, Emily, Fritz Eichenberg, and Bruce Rogers. Wuthering Heights. New York: Random House, 1943. Print.
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Norton Critical ed. 3rd ed. Ed. William M. Sale, Jr., and Richard J. Dunn. New York: W. W. Norton, 1990.
Since there is not a lot of information known about Emily Bronte, people have speculated on how Wutheirng Heights came to be written by Emily. When Mr. Bronte returned from a trip on time, he brought Emily’s brother, Branwell, a box of wooden soldiers. The Bronte siblings began writing stories and plays about these soldiers, which some have said influenced Emily’s writing of Wuthering Heights later on in her life (Vine 6). Harold Bloom believes that “early marriage and early death [which are seen in Wutheirng Heights] are thoroughly High Romantic, and emerge from the legacy of Shelley, dead at thwenty-nine, and of Byron, martyred to the cause of Greek independence at thiry-six” (Bloom 8). Maggie Bewrg suggests that the character of Heathcliff was influencecd by “Byron’s anti-heroes, although he outdoes the Byronic hero in his romantic rebellion” (5). Because there is not much information on Emily, her influences for the book are just speculation.
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.
Varghese, Dr. Lata Marina. "Stylistic Analysis of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights." IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 2.5 (2012): 46-50. Print.
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Norton Critical ed. 3rd ed. Ed. William M. Sale, Jr., and Richard J. Dunn. New York: W. W. Norton, 1990.
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Gerald F. Else. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1967. Dorsch, T. R., trans. and ed. Aristotle Horace Longinus: Classical Literary Criticism. New York: Penguin, 1965. Ley, Graham. The Ancient Greek Theater. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. Reinhold, Meyer. Classical Drama, Greek and Roman. New York: Barrons, 1959.
Bronte's Use of Language and Setting in Wuthering Heights Between pages 15 and 18 there are identifiable ways in which 'Bronte' uses 'language and setting' to establish the characters and create a distinguishable atmosphere. In this essay, themes, genres and styles will be discussed to show how 'Bronte' establishes the characters; there will also be a discussion of the 'gothic' elements which Wuthering Heights contains. Many people would argue that the style of 'Wuthering Heights' is peculiar and complex, the power of Wuthering Heights owes much to its complex narrative structure and to the device of having two conventional people relate a very unconventional tale. Bronte importantly introduces the element of 'the supernatural' into chapter 3 which is an important technique as it grips the reader. Lockwood has come into contact with the ghost of Cathy, who died 18 years before, Some might argue that she is a product of Lockwood's imagination, and it is clear that Bronte has presented these facts in this way so that the reader can make up their own mind on the subject.
Cross, Wilbur L. "On Wuthering Heights." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 6 Dec. 2013 .