Wuthering Heights Feminism

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Feminism is the movement advocating social, political, and all other rights of women to be equal to those of men. Feminists have fought an uphill battle against the majority emotion of male superiority. Throughout time, there has been evidence of the evolution of feminism in British Literature. Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters are feminist writers who have helped shape feminist literature during the Romantic and Victorian eras. The importance of women in society has been emphasized through the writings of these authors. The idea of feminism is prevalent in Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Emma, although it is a sharp contrast to the male-dominated society of the Romantic and Victorian eras.
First, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights strongly exhibits the feministic idea of the protagonist’s rebellion. Emily Bronte emphasizes Catherine’s rebelling behaviors and the reasons behind this behavior. In Wuthering Heights--the song of rebel, Cai-yun Wu analyzes the rebellions and the influence of Emily Bronte’s personality on this novel. Wu first states, “At the beginning of the 19th century, England was a typical patriarchal society” (3). Emily Bronte chose the 19th century as the setting for Wuthering Heights because this was a time when women were expected to follow the dictates of men. In the novel, Catherine had to rely on her brother, Hindley, for survival and lived under his control. Hindley did not allow Catherine to do anything which as Wu says “... is just the product of the patriarchal society” (3). Hindley was Catherine’s master and she was hurt by this so she would write, “...how little did I dream that Hindley would ever make me cry so!” (20). This led Catherine to rebel against him which according to Wu was “ indeed the ...

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...). All things considered, Charlotte Bronte explains in Jane Eyre that in a male dominated society, a woman should always strive for the decency and dignity.
To conclude, the Victorian period was based on the idea that society is controlled by men and that women are subject to the men. Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters emphasize the ideas that women are discriminated against in their novels. Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Emma contain strong female protagonists that struggle for independence and equality. However, Catherine, Jane, and Emma rebel against the stereotypical society and grow the feministic movements. Through these novels, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters helped shape feminist literature in the Romantic and Victorian eras. As a conclusion, feminism is represented in the British Literature today due to Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, and Charlotte Bronte.

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