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analysis of Bronte s Wuthering heights
analysis of Bronte s Wuthering heights
Emily Bronte A brief biography
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With great power comes great responsibility; one could flip this statement around and say that with great responsibility comes great power. Often times those who have the most responsibility, although they also have the most power, go greatly unnoticed. Emily Bronte uses the character Ellen “Nelly” Dean to show that the many complex roles of a servant, no matter how minute, have great power and control that hides under their responsibilities and tasks.
Despite the social placement of the characters they all trust Nelly and her friendship, which gives her a great deal of control over any events that occur in Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. She says that she “was almost always at Wuthering Heights; because [her] mother had nursed Mr. Hindley Earnshaw...and [she] got used to playing with the children” (ch. 4. page 36). The unique way in which Nelly becomes a part of the Earnshaw family provides for her position as a servant but also as a friend and ultimately creates a bond of trust between her and the other family members. Despite her being a servant, the family altogether regards her as one of their own. Before Mr. Earnshaw leaves on a trip he asks what the children would like for gifts and he did “not forget [Nelly]; for he had a kind heart, though he was rather severe
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Some of these characters believe these changes to be caused by their own actions, their feelings, or divine intervention; consequently, their responses are geared towards only those they deem important. However, the true control for the events of their lives lies in the hands of those they consider to be below them; the servants. Emily Bronte comments on the power of servants roles and the underappreciation for their hard work in her novel Wuthering Heights through the minor character Ellen
Wuthering Heights was written by Emily Bronte. The story is centered on hatred, jealousy, and revenge that spans two generations. Social class plays a significant role in the story, as it the factor that ultimately divides two loves from being together. The futures of Cathy, Hareton, and Linton are shaped by the vengeful decisions made by Heathcliff. Each character chooses to use Heathcliff’s manipulation in a different way.
Nelly’s role in Wuthering Heights is inherently ambiguous because she occupies a vast array of roles throughout the course of the narrative. Who she is and what niche she fills depends on the characters with whom she interacts and on the situations in which she is immersed, resulting in great ambiguity over Nelly’s exact role in the novel. This lack of clarity arises before Nelly’s narrative even begins. When we first encounter Nelly, we know that she is the housekeeper of Thrushcross Grange. ...
Nelly Dean’s poor narration to Mr. Lockwood is the housekeeper’s way to justify that she posses no blood on her hands. Her upbringing with the novel’s main characters gives her a poor choice in judgement and makes her extremely biased on how the story is portrayed. Nelly’s actions cause nothing but despair to the Earnshaws and Lintons, pushing the idea that she is the silent villain of Wuthering Heights.
In “Wuthering Heights”, Emily Bronte”s novel, young characters exhibited multiple signs of immature actions and emotions. Heathcliff and Catherine both chased juvenile emotions, finding a possibly fake love in other people. Linton showcased the same adolescence when he faked illness so she would stay with him in order to fulfil his aspiration. Heathcliff attempted to get revenge on multiple characters, mostly focussing on Edgar Linton. Almost all of the characters demonstrate the characteristics that suggests their immaturity.
The distinct disparity between the poor and rich “twists” the society and oppresses people’s liberty. According to a Marxian view, indeed, the coolness of society has the ability to transform one into a beast. Undeniably, Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights illustrates how Mr. Earnshaw brought young Heathcliff back to live with him at Wuthering Heights, where Heathcliff meets Catherine and Hindley. As Catherine and Heathcliff slowly developed a sense of affection towards each other, yet, Hindley shows his strong dislike towards Heathcliff. After Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Hindley forbids Catherine and Heathcliff to have any contact. He will often humiliate and abuse Heathcliff to satisfy his own frustrations. Catherine encounters Edgar Linton a wealthy,
There is two stereotypical types of families, one where the children learn from their parents behavior and do the same as they grow up, and the other where they dislike – and do the opposite. In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the characters are quite intricate and engaging. The story takes place in northern England in an isolated, rural area. The main characters of the novel reside in two opposing households: Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights is a story of a dynamic love between two people. This love transcends all boundaries, including that over life and death. The author takes parallelism to great extends. Much of the events that happen in the first half of the story correspond to events in the second half; first generation of characters is comparable to the second generation. Many may argue that the characters are duplicates of each other and that they share many traits. Although Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton are mother and daughter, their personalities and lifestyles are very different. This is a great example where the child is and behaves quite different than her mother.
The initial downward spiral of Heathcliff’s life was predominantly caused by harsh influences in the environment in which he was raised. Heathcliff, an adopted child, grew up in Wuthering Heights, a desolate and dystopian estate when compared to the beauty of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange. In childhood, Heathcliff displayed evidence of a sympathetic personality through his emotional attachment to Catherine and kind attitude towards Nelly. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Nelly describes a scene where, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she
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.
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
Her criticism of the other characters and her loyalty towards them not only make her a good narrator, but also an excellent servant and a confidant to the characters. Even though she is a servant, her intelligence and knowledge of self-worth create equality between her and the other characters, giving her the ability to speak her mind. Nelly’s narration comes from being closely and privately involved in the lives of the characters in the story. She not only acts as a witness to the events in their lives, but also as somewhat of a judge and critic to their actions. Nelly is our guide through the story, and without her voice, we would never be aware of the strange and amazing events that occurred in Wuthering Heights.
In this dark, romantic novel, by Emily Brontë, elements of Gothic style are used to show the concept and effects of generational curses. The second-generation characters in Wuthering Heights experienced the generational curse of their parents, due to the poor decisions they made. The generational effects are mistreatment, not learning how to be comfortable with who they are, and being victims of their own environment. Only by the very end of the novel, does Brontë depict that there is hope of overcoming the generational curse.
The nineteenth century saw rapid development and reform across the whole of the country; with the Industrial Revolution transforming life in Britain. For working class women life was an endless struggle of passivity and labour; as soon as they were old enough they worked on farms, in factories or as servants to the middle classes (Lambert, 2009). For women in general, life was oppressive; constantly overshadowed by the male gender who were considered dominant leaders. In a Victorian household, the male was head of the family; his wife and children respected him and obeyed him without question. This critical analysis of two nineteenth century novels - Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, will discuss the representation of the two female protagonists in the context of the Victorian period and question whether they do indeed portray an endless struggle for survival and independence.
At first, the children of Wuthering Heights (Hindley, Cathy, Nelly) all rejected him for his appearance as a gypsy- they thought of him as knavish, grimy, and uneducated. Despite this, Mr. Earnshaw treated with a certain respect by letting him live as with the Earnshaws while still being an outsider to the family. Yet the spectrum of hostility didn’t end with the children. Mrs. Earnshaw questions her husband’s insight, “asking how [Mr. Earnshaw] could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house” when he added another mouth for her to feed at the dinner table. (Chapter 4). Mr. Earnshaw’s attempt to integrate Heathcliff fails once Hindley takes over Wuthering Heights. Despite basically being middle class under Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley takes it on his own to oppress and torture him. Before this, Heathcliff was on a level playing field class wise compared to the Earnshaws. Heathcliff now finds himself as a servant, a laborer working the fields. By subjugating Heathcliff, Hindley drew the line in the sand. Hindley has effectively forced Heathcliff into a lower class, Hindley has colonized
“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.