Wuthering Heights(1847)

by Emily Bronte

Discuss with colleagues!

• Is love a decision, or is it more like a force of nature?

• In what ways do our surroundings—the places where we live—help shape our personalities?

• Can people change significantly? Or do their basic natures always stay the same?

• Is passion a virtue or a vice?

Geographical Setting - Yorkshire, England

The Setting, cont.

Wuthering Heights is set in three locations:• Wuthering Heights• Thrushcross Grange• The Yorkshire Moors

Moors

Moors

Thrushcross Grange

The Moors

Wuthering Heights

Two Households/Estates

• Wuthering Heights–Earnshaw

Family–Heathcliff–Joseph

• Thrushcross Grange–Linton Family

Narrative Framework• Wuthering Heights is highly praised for the unique

narrative technique Emily Bronte used to execute the novel, often referred to as a frame narrative.

• The two main narrators are Lockwood and Nelly Dean, but other narrators arise throughout the novel when Nelly quotes what other characters have told her.

• Since the story passes through layers, the reader must question the reliability of all that he or she reads.

Novel Structure

• Wuthering Heights is told in medias res (Latin for "into the middle of things”).

• It usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere in the middle — usually at some crucial point in the action.

• In Wuthering Heights, this approach is used to add a sense of mystery, suspense, and foreshadowing.

Industrial Revolution and Social Class

• Wuthering Heights was written in 1847, which was a time when capitalism and the Industrial Revolution were the dominant forces of the British economy and society. It was a time of rapid, often confusing, change that led to violence. As a result of the changing economy, the traditional relationships between classes and the social structure began to change.

Rise of Middle Class

While wealth had traditionally been measured by land ownership, the eighteenth century had begun a trend toward a cash-based economy.

This created a middle class who were more economically powerful than its landowning superiors (gentry).

The power of yeomen, or the respectable farming class, as well as the traditional power-holding gentry was challenged by the newly wealthy capitalists.

Social Changes...

Each of these classes is represented in the novel by various characters.

• Hareton is a member of the respectable farming class

• the Lintons are members of the gentry• Heathcliff makes his fortune (somewhat

mysteriously) as a capitalist

Women’s Rights…During this time period women’s rights were progressively evolving.

Why this is relevant to novel:• Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights during the

beginning of the women’s rights movement in England. • The primary concerns of the movement were the lack

of women’s right to vote and the lack of married women’s property rights. The latter issue arises in Wuthering Heights.

• Women couldn’t own or control property. If a woman inherited wealth/land, it would go to her husband. If she were unmarried, it would be controlled by closest male relative.

A product of the Age of Romanticism • Emphasis on the “natural”• Importance of feeling over "thinking”• Darker aspects of human existence• We can be vicious, brutal, and perverse.• Light of civilization may not triumph over darkness.

Romanticism, the Gothic novel, and Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights contains elements of Romanticism and the Gothic novel.

Romantic elements:– nature as a powerful spiritual force– descriptions of the countryside– elevated emotional levels and passion– a desire to rise above the limitations of ordinary human

existence – a strong interest in death– a portrayal of opposites – escape and pursuit, life and death– isolation, both emotional and geographical– elements of the supernatural

The Lure of the Gothic

…to make your blood run cold…

• Taste for terror• Eerie and supernatural

• Gloomy, often crepuscular setting

• Wild and overgrown landscapes

• Melancholic• Ghosts, specters, and

monsters-• Murky lines between

“villain” and “hero”

The Gothic novel

Elements of the Gothic novel– a castle, sometimes

ruined or haunted– sinister, ruined buildings– extreme landscape and

weather– death and madness– omens– ancestral curses

– terrifying events– taboo and sensational topics– a suggestion of the

supernatural– a villain or villain-hero

(Byronic hero) driven by passion

– a heroine wooed by both a good and a dangerous suitor

– revenge

The Gothic novel was one way in which the people of the Victorian Age expressed a sense of helplessness

about forces beyond their control: frightening rebellions throughout Europe and the Industrial

Revolution to name a couple.

Through this genre, readers could share their fears about this period’s suffering, injustices and other

unseen “evils.”

George Gordon Lord ByronThe archetype for the Byronic Hero

“Mad, bad and dangerous to know...” Lady Caroline Lamb, speaking of Byron

Byronic HeroHeathcliff is regarded as a classic Byronic hero. The

Byronic hero was defined by Lord Byron’s epic narrative poem , Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812.

Elements of the Byronic hero:– a distaste for social institutions and social norms– conflicting emotions or moodiness– high levels of intelligence and cunning– self-criticism– mysterious origins and a troubled past– self-destructive tendencies– a loner, rejected from society

Elements of the Byronic hero cont’d

• Devastatingly attractive, yet fatally flawed• Outcast- painfully yet defiantly alone• Individualist, a rebel- defy conventions• Intellectually searching• Brooding- usually over some past sin• Tenacious• Mysterious• Ambitious, but doomed• Misunderstood• Compulsion to experience the forbidden• Misanthropic

Keep In Mind…

• Keep track of dates and how the story progresses.

• Keep track of who is speaking. This will help you keep your reading organized.

• Keep track of whether or not the story is flashback mode or not.

• It is not necessary to understand all of Joseph’s dialogue, but you need to keep in mind his characterization and the meaning behind what he says.

Some Motifs to Keep in Mind. Write in front of book/notes.

• Passion• Cruelty and its effects• Revenge• Success and Social

Standing• Class Distinctions• Fate• Prejudice• Confinement and

Freedom

• GEOGRAPHY!• Weather (symbolic

importance)• Eyes• Windows• Animals and savagery • Doubling and Identity• Nature vs. Nurture• Dreams• Ghosts

Helpful Terminology

• doppelganger- a ghostly counterpart- a double of a living person- specially when he/she “haunts” its fleshly counterpart

• xenophobia- fear of strangers, outcast, or foreigners• frame story- a story within a story- layers of

storytelling featured• wuthering- stormy and tumultuous• Fairy tale, medieval romance, wish fulfillment

Characteristics of the anti-hero

• anti-hero-a reluctant hero who would not consider himself capable of accomplishing the goal. He might be selfish, addicted, corrupt, sullen or disaffected. Rebellious- often a loner. By the end of the journey the anti-hero typically transforms into a fuller, happier or more complete person due to the struggles he or she endures, even if he/she has to die.

• Examples of… – Tyler Durden- The Fight Club– Dr. Gregory House from House– Breaking Bad’s - Jesse, and even Walter White for that matter– John Proctor- The Crucible– McMurphy- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Guiding Questions• Use of our terms: doppelganger, frame, xenophobia, Byronic

hero, structure, two peripheral storytellers, epistolary techniques - why and effect?

• Characteristics of gothic, revenge drama, medieval romance, fairy tale?

• Evaluate the hero- moral, immoral, amoral?• Effects of castigation and isolation of character • Role of setting(s)• Role of violence• Perversion of convention - disquietude-contradictions• Evaluate the ending• Use of stereotyped characters• Treatment of love

In your groups, write down• 2 themes we can glean from

the novel so far. Discuss how the novel presents them.

• Discuss the novel’s social commentary. Consider aspects such as the role of social class, the role and perception of servants, the role and status of women, and the idea of marriage. Be sure to include manners, speech, education, and values in your discussion.

• Characterize (using at least 2 strong adjectives) the following:– Heathcliff– Hindley Earnshaw– Catherine Earnshaw Linton– Edgar Linton– Hareton Earnshaw– Isabella Linton– Cathy Linton Heathcliff– Linton Heathcliff– Nelly Dean

Complete the following character continuums. No ties!

SYMPATHETIC

Least

Most

VIRTUOUS (high moral character)Least

Least

Most

Most

SUCCESSFUL

Questions!• Which character sacrifices the most?• Which character is most interesting?• Which character is most realistic?• Who most deserved what they got?• What is this novel’s argument about human nature?• Where would you want to live? Wuthering Heights,

Thrushcross Grange, neither?• To whom in history would you recommend this book?

Why?• How is this novel relevant in 2016? (or isn’t it?)• How does this novel stack up against others we’ve read

this year?

Identify specific examples of these motifs and analyze them with regard to greater themes, purposes, characterization, etc.

• Passion• Cruelty and Its Effects• Revenge• Success and Social

Standing• Class Distinctions• Fate• Prejudice• Confinement and

Freedom

• GEOGRAPHY!• Weather as a Symbol• Eyes• Windows• Animals and Savagery • Doubling and Identity• Nature vs. Nurture• Dreams• Ghosts