Your responses aren't due until the 12th, or is it the 11th? Whichever is the Sunday after the 4th. Simple math tells me that's the 11th - okay. Anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and post the ideas I'd like you to discuss in case anyone wants to get ahead. Basically, I want you to think about the following ideas as you read and choose TWO of them to discuss and analyze in your post:
Setting
Characters
Point of View
Conflict
It will not be sufficient to merely describe setting, characters, etc. I would like you to analyze the effect of these ideas. Take setting, for instance. You can consider Foster's ideas about politics or seasons or geography. Describe setting and explain what effect it has on the novel from one of these angles. Or you oculd identify point of view and explain how the narrator and the filters through which we are hearing the story are manipulated for a specific effect. Just be clear on the two ideas you are discussing, identify the basics really quickly and then jump into analysis. Feel free to use specific quotes or passages from the novel to support your analysis. As always, email me with questions or post them on the blog.
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I will not be near a computer for the next post. HOwever, I will turn in my post when I return, or if I find wi-fi.
ReplyDeleteThanks
I will be gone on a mission trip this coming week, so I will have to catch up when I get back most likely.
ReplyDeleteI will be out of town next week and part of the following, but I will have access to a computer and try to post my responses when I can. I am still trying to catch up, but I know I will! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLandon Masters
Reading through this I have to agree with my mom in saying that its hard to get into if you do not focus on the novel. Now the point of veiw of course is by Nelly that is in first person. Now why would Emily Bronte picked someone like Nelly to narrate the story. Well, according to my knowledge Nelly is the one who is most trusted by all of the characters. People would come share secrets with her about what is going on in there lives. People will tell them where they are hiding secretly, and to tell no one, or to tell certain people. People even trust her when everyone is ill-mannered, or mentally insane (from what I think) throughout the entire novel. If you had a character narrating the story, and has one or two people that aren't trusted by the narrator, they you don't get the whole story. Though, sometimes in that case that leaves the reader wondering on what is going on, but in the case of Nelly, the reader knows everything that is going on in Wuthering Heights.
ReplyDeleteGoing on to the characters, well, let's just say its all like a soap opera. My mom and dad were talking to me about why soap operas tend to get boring after a while but you can always catch up on what is going on. Well, reading through this book, I felt like I was reading a soap opera, that had an Olde English dialect. In this case, a person dies, and then they return, a person runs away, then they mysteriously come back, someone is deathly ill, then they are miracously healed. One must always consider this novel as if like a soap opera. Though this doesn't mean that you should just read the first and last chapters cause you will be incredibly confused in this novel. But every character has something wrong with them, either being ill, missing, dead, insane, or just doing as they are told.
I will be gone all of next week but I might be back in time for the next post, but I may not be able to read it but I will try,
Tyler Goodwin
In Wuthering Heights, setting plays a key role in the story. When Catherine Linton is undergoing her mental illness, the characters are experiencing the season of winter. She fights through this illness until March and seems to have a sort of breakthrough. This represents a sort of hope for Edgar, Nelly, and Heathcliff because it looks as if she will get through her sickness. But the sickness does leave its scars because Catherine will never be her original self again. This setting here is a good illustration of the scenarios that Foster presented to us in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In novels, the season of winter is associated with death and decay. This point is illustrated in this novel due to Catherine’s illness that goes throughout the winter. But she seems to get better in the month of March, which is the month that spring starts. Foster explained to us that spring represents birth, a new start, even healing. The change in weather here emphasizes the hope that Edgar has for his wife’s recovery. This relation between the events in the story and the weather turns more to an ironic stand point when she dies later in the spring. Bronte messes with the perception of the reader by destroying common relations in literature between events and seasons. Like I said earlier, spring represents a time of renewal and life, but here that scenario is completely altered.
ReplyDeleteThe extremities to which people will go to for love is constantly portrayed in this novel. Emily Bronte is often asserting the fact that love controls people and causes them to do things completely out of the ordinary. Heathcliff and Catherine Linton are the prime examples in this case. During the novel he and Catherine have a love that is deep for each other which drives them to do crazy things. Heathcliff is willing to die for Catherine near the end of her life because he believes that them being together is the most important thing in life or death. Catherine also voices this opinion in chapter fifteen when she states, “I only wish us never to be parted…” (Pg. 121). Heathcliff could have died there holding her in that chair because the master had come home. Linton could have killed him, but Heathcliff was driven by a deep love for Catherine. In this moment Bronte reveals the effect that love has to turn the irrational in to rational. To Heathcliff dying for his love would be the most rational thing he ever did because she was his world. If she wasn’t alive, he desired to die just to be with her. Love can make people go to extremities and convince people that actions normally considered to be insanity are completely sane.
The last paragraph is more of an analysis of a theme the author is conveying and the illustration that is provided through two characters. I didn't think I clarified that so I thought it would be good to let you know.
ReplyDeleteAustin H
As in most novels, characters control the story. As it is in Wuthering Heights, characters make the story of Wuthering Heights. Without characters, Wuthering Heights would be just another place in just another location. Characters bring their own variety to each story and different views are what makes up the story. In Wuthering Heights, the most important character would have to be Heathcliff. Even though Heathcliff is the main character, this is not the sole reason of his importance. His importance is brought about by his connection with other characters. He is tied in to each character so far in a certain way. This shows us that Heathcliff has a part in each characters life and plays an important role among each of them. Another character that we encounter is Catherine. Catherine is a main character as well. She is an important factor to Heathcliff just as he is to her. Catherine is described as opposite of Heathcliff; however, she is placed in Heathcliff's path for a reason. One last character that we can look at is Nelly Dean. Nelly is the narrator of this story but has an important role within Wuthering Heights as well. She experienced Wuthering Heights personally and is now telling Lockwood of her experience at Wuthering Heights. As one can see, characters bring their own spice to a story and make the story itself, and what is a story without flavor?
ReplyDeleteWuthering Heights has conflict written all over it. I think that it is safe to say, along with characters, without conflict there would be no reason for a novel such as Wuthering Heights. I believe that a great deal of conflict deals with our most important character, Heathcliff. Heathcliff has a constant struggle of finding his place. He feels as if he is an outsider, does not belong. As sad as it is to say it, this fact is true. No one really accepts Heathcliff as family or hardly friend for that matter. Heathcliff's treatment reflects in his character. He begins to grow dark and harden his heart from others. He even states to Catherine that he only wants to be dirty and will stay dirty. This shows that he is dealing with conflict in a dangerous yet mysterious way. He takes conflict upon himself and only begins to run with it. As I am sure that he will, if Heathcliff continues to harden his heart and deal with conflict himself he will only make matters worse for others.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Wuthering Heights it’s easy to notice the effect that the point of view has on what the reader learns about the characters. By having Nelly tell Mr. Lockwood the story of Catherine and Heathcliff has enabled Emily to show readers how their relationship would have looked to someone who lived in their world. However, with this approach to the story readers aren’t able to hear the thoughts of Catherine, Heathcliff or many of the other characters. One only hear what the characters what others to know, one never hears their true feelings. For example Catherine may say that she loves Edgar, not in the same way as she loves Heathcliff, but love all the same. However, because one only hears her tell Nelly this, is one to take this as the truth, or does she just want us to believe its true?
ReplyDeleteWhen Foster discusses setting he mentions that it is not just the landscape. Setting is the time period, the people, the politics, and the season. Wuthering Heights would not have the same effect on readers without these components. In the time that the author, Emily Bronte, women had no rights in society, they were expected to stay at home and obey everything their husband, father, of brother told them to do. However Emily has created two characters that go against this general view. Catherine and Isabella both act as they want to act, Isabella disobeyed her brother to run away and marry Heathcliff; while Catherine expects Edgar to do exactly what she bids him do, instead of the other way around. When it comes to season, it is not as obvious, but when Catherine has her baby it is spring, which traditionally symbolizes birth and growth; however, Catherine does die at this point. While landscape and location are not the only components in setting, they are still important. In this novel the estates of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, the homes of Catherine and Heathcliff, are several miles apart, which at this time are not very far, and this enables them to visit each other. However, the only civilization they are close to is a very small town, and even it is miles away. So in effect, the characters basically only have each other to interact with. Wuthering Heights is a complex story and, if you don’t pay attention, there are important things you can easily miss.
While reading Wuthering Heights, the point of view in which Bronte chose to write was very confusing to me at first. Many times I wasn’t sure who exactly was telling the story until I realized that the narrator was in fact telling the entire story. The narrator, Lockwood, has just recently moved to the estate, but you hear the entire history of the Heights from him. This is different because Lockwood only knows Nelly’s side of the story, but he tells the story as if he has been there many years. This seems very strange to me because it would appear that Bronte could have easily written the book with Nelly as the narrator. Having Lockwood narrate the book makes me wonder how accurate the story is that he is telling. The reader is hearing the story after it has been passed through several people but, Bronte makes the reader feel like they are reading a first hand account.
ReplyDeleteThe characters in Wuthering Heights are what really make the book in my opinion. The characters are so different, but that is what makes the story interesting. If the characters were your typical 18th century English people, the story would be very boring. The entire novel would be people sitting around drinking tea. The different personalities of the characters is what makes the story intriguing. For example, when Heathcliff and Catherine were young they were inseparable; they did everything together. But, as time went on they began to grow apart. Catherine realized that Heathcliff was not of the same social class as her. Catherine became much more snobby and proper, leaving Heathcliff behind. Even though Catherine begins to associate with a different group of people, she never forgets her love for Heathcliff. This causes a lot of conflict in the story because Catherine feels like she should do whats expected of her and marry Edgar, but she doesn’t want to let go of Heatcliff. The characters play a powerful role in creating the conflict of the story.
Wuthering Heights log one
ReplyDeleteClaire Wyse
First I want to say I enjoyed Charlotte bronte's book Jane Eyre more, but really I noticed similarities in the plots and wondered which came first, jane eyre or wuthering heights???
The characters in Wuthering Heights are very* diverse. In the beginning I found it confusing with all the Catherine Earnshaw/Heathcliff/Linton. And I still have tons of questions, but I guess i'll have to wait till the end. Though all the characteristics are different most of them(except Nelly and Lockwood/could be argued) share a common trait of rudeness and maliciousness. The charaters showed their emotions outlandishly enough to keep your attention. Sadely to say this book would just not have it if it weren't for the insane charaters. The main characters Heathcliff and Catherine have such different characteristics that it makes their social status stand out more. Saying this I believe Emily Bronte achieved something by helping readers to better understand the characters and their conflicts if they noticed it or not.
Which leads to conflicts...
Everyone* in Wuthering Heights has a conflict, if not more than one. If you think about it, even the dogs in the novel do, but thats for another time. Heathcliff stands out the most to me, because his conflicts effect everyone, causing even more conflicts I might add. Really the whole conflict of the book is man vs. nature and man vs. society. Catherine and Heathcliff have true love for each other(nature), but are torn apart by society's standards. Catherine shows man vs. self the best when she keeps secound-guessing heself about her love for Heathcliff. Hindley's treatment of cath. and heath. is a prime example of man vs. man. AND THERES TONS MORE...but I am going to bed, and wanted to tell you I will not be here for the next post, but will complete it apon returning from the beach :D
typo upon*
ReplyDeleteWuthering Heights
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, characters and conflict are clearly more dominant than the other topics in the effect they give the novel. These terms intertwine throughout the novel to the precise measure that Bronte wanted. Heathcliff, the main character becomes quickly portrayed as the villain of the novel. Bronte put Heathcliff in the novel to show a loss of innocence, deceit, passion, and many other in-depth life experiences associated with love and revenge. In the novel Heathcliff's main purpose in life is to be with Catherine and seek out the evilest revenge possible on those who have hurt him in some fashion. Heathcliff's first of many enemies turns out to be Hindley who despises him from the very start for prejudice reasons. This Hatred starts the small battle in Heathcliff's heart which develops into a full out world against the world it seems. Catherine experiences a huge amount of conflict also. Her conflict resides within her for the foolish mistakes she made. Catherine's ever professing love of Heathcliff also brings her more problems. Catherine is put in the novel to be the sole reason for the majority of Heathcliff's problems. Thanks to her fickle and selfish behavior Heathcliff becomes vengeful and broken hearted. Edgar Linton, the rich, tender, and cowardly man, plays the role of the proper gentlemen, who, turns out to be too soft to keep Heathcliff out of control of not only Catherine his wife, but his daughter and sister also. Edgar also serves as Heathcliff's main contender for Catherine's heart, which he never fully obtains. Bronte also includes Isabella in the novel to display how far Heathcliff's deceit and revenge stems. This foolish but perfectly pleasant but desperate lady is incredulously deceived and winds up and out cast of her brother. Linton the son of Isabella is forced, by Heathcliff, to marry the daughter of Catherine Linton, Catherine II to gain control of Thrushcross Grange after Edgar's death. Bronte shows through this character how good, innocent people are often used and abused. The youngest Catherine seems to Heathcliff a constant reminder of her mother. Little Catherine also brings a huge revolution to Heathcliff one day about how he will never be happy again because he has committed his life to destroying others. Hareton Earnshaw eventually becomes the lover of the younger Catherine. This act in turn makes Heathcliff miserable and drives him to suicide.
After reading the first few chapters, I noticed a symbol in the title. Wuthering is descriptive of a howling storm, which is a symbol of despair in the estate and characters.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Wuthering Heights, the characters are opposites. This makes the story interesting because personalities clash. Heathcliff was judged by others around him after he was taken in by the Earnshaws. He was considered low in society. Catherine Earnshaw was close to Heathcliff as they grew up. When she started spending time with the Linton family, she grew apart from him. Catherine was “high” in society. While reading this novel, I noticed the story line. Catherine can be related to Daisy in ‘The Great Gatsby’ because she uses Heathcliff. Catherine backstabs Heathcliff by marrying Edgar. This love triangle is very similar to the love triangle in ‘The Great Gatsby’. Catherine did love Heathcliff, but she also loved Edgar. As Claire had mentioned man vs. nature and man vs. society, Heathcliff was nature and Edgar was society. From Foster’s novel these characters could be described as ‘vampires’. The characters use each other’s love to survive, whether it is in society or life.
The conflict of the novel is mostly caused by a character’s jealousy. Jealousy is a negative trait of a human being. Foster mentioned violence, could jealousy equal violence? Heathcliff has so much jealousy towards Edgar because he married the woman he loves. This causes conflicts within the characters, so is it violence? Even Hindley earlier in the novel showed violence toward Heathcliff. Hindley did not favor Heathcliff so he treated him indifferent. After Edgar Linton’s sister, Isabella, married Heathcliff, she writes telling him how bad Hindley and the others have treated her. This is violence. Hindley is mostly drunk causing him to be violent. The conflict of the novel is caused by some type of violence, whether it be physical or emotional it is still violence.
This story was very confusing at first. I assumed that Lockwood was the main character, but realised he just a listener. Nelly, a servant at Wuthering Heights, tells the story. Heathcliff and Catherine Linton are the main characters. The story takes place at Wuthering Heights, it is the setting for all the character's lives. Catherine and Heathcliff grow up together, they play together when they are young, plot revenge, etc. and the whole time Nelly Dean watches over them. Catherine falls for Heathcliff, but they are torn apart when Catherine is taken in and raised as a lady. Catherine now is world's apart from Heathcliff, she is a respected young lady, while Heathcliff wallows in his filth. Catherine is on a higher level than Heathcliff now and they are opposites (just like all the other characters). Their world's clash and Catherine realises she cannot be with Heathcliff, even though she is in love with him. She ends up marrying Edgar Linton, which seperates her even more from Heathcliff.
ReplyDeleteThat is the conflict, Heathcliff and Catherine are in love, but they are desperately trying to appease society (man vs. Society). Its clear even in the beginning of the novel that Catherine loves Heathcliff, but it seems they will never be together because there is too much jealousy, and pain at Wuthering Heights.
Setting, as affected by precipitation
ReplyDeleteThe weather often sets the mood for a story and precipitation has a 60% chance for a positive, cleansing effect. This is not the case for Wuthering Heights. Somewhere in northern England, the weather is ruthless with high winds and heavy impact on the characters and setting.
In our Southern homeland, a snow of three inches is a real treat, especially if it includes sledding. However, there seems to be no such thing as a peaceful white blanket at Wuthering Heights. A blizzard literally traps Mr. Lockwood in Heathcliff's house for the night, leading to a haunting dream in an abandoned room. The snow shows separation, isolation from the normal, and a sort of prison. The next morning, half a day's walk in deep, thick snow causes sickness for Mr. Lockwood, yet another bad outcome.
On a night when young Heathcliff and Cathy went out on an adventure, the rain foreshadows a tale for Nelly. Not only does Heathcliff return home alone, but Hindley ordered the doors locked to keep him out. When Heathcliff crawls in Nelly's open window, he is desperate for dry warmth. The rain is a curtain of loniless between Heathcliff and Cathy, who is several miles away at the Linton's house. Rain is also blunt in that the Linton's didn't want Heathcliff around because of his shabby appearance.
The morning after Catherine passed away, Heathcliff leaned on an old ash tree "and his hair soaked with the dew that had gathered on the budded branches, and fell pattering around him." The dew sybolizes fallen and still falling tears of anguish. Heathcliff is found mourning in the morning and coping with his love's death. The damp surroundings put Heathcliff at his weakest point since he cried on Catherine's bed the night of the blizzard. It is a moment of sullen reality and pity. But more than that, Heathcliff's head is soaked as if he had been dunked under water. The budding branches symbolize new life, and there is a new baby Catherine for Heathcliff to meet someday. I'm not sure if he will change any, but he is surrounded by rebirth.
Characters - Resembling others
ReplyDeleteSome of these may not be chronologically correct, but they are in order of how I have seen the literature.
(Ellen) Nelly Dean seems a lot like Jane Eyre in that she knows her employer closely and has almost a family relationship to him (or them). She cares for the children: first helping Heathcliff and then nursing Hareton up to toddler age, and Jane Eyre is the governess of her employer's child. And one final similarity is that she knows almost everything that's going on.
Hareton Earnshaw is your typical Devil child, and he acts possessed most of the time. He is unruly, inconsiderate, and foul-mouthed, just as Heathcliff taught him.
Hindley, once he is married, act's like Juliet's father. He tries to keep Catherine and Heathcliff separate, believing that Heathcliff was born to a gypsy and left to remain in the lower class forever. Hindley distrusts and despises Heathcliff just as Juliet's father would have nothing to do with Romeo's family.
Joseph resembles two characters from Huck Finn. Jim's comparison is quite simple in that he's hard to understand at times. Otherwise, Jim and Joseph are polar opposites in actions and attitudes. Joseph and Miss Watson are both religious hypocrites, claiming to be pure in God's ways and without sin or wrongdoings.
Mr. Lockwood - It's Rarely Just Illness
Emily Bronte uses Mr. Lockwood's weeks of sickness from the snowstorm so Nelly can unfold the past of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights for the reader.
Catherine - Her illness is a broken heart, and she stays sick until Heathcliff relieves her pain and she can move on to her death. How in the world they didn't know she was pregnant I have no idea.
looking at the dates...i will be back from the beach on the 26th
ReplyDeleteHey! It's taken me a few days this week to wrangle some computer time away from my children, so I apologize for the delay in my response. I have to say that I found this week's posts to be the most insightful comments on the blog so far! I am really pleased that you are connecting Foster's ideas to the text as you read. I know this is a challenging text to read. It IS in modern English, but the style is very dense and the syntax can be confusing - especially Joseph's dialect; did anyone else have trouble with what he was saying?? - Anyway, I appreciate you all taking the time to read carefully. You definitely rose to the challenge I presented! I am especially proud of the discussion of point of view, because Bronte plays with the reader's perception of the events in the story. Many of you picked up on the fact that Lockwood is the narrator of the story, but you also noted the layers of narration. For instance, Nelly narrates to Lockwood, and we get Isabella's story through her letters in Nelly's narration. You even pointed out that because Lockwood is removed from the actual story, we may have trouble putting faith in his reliability. I am also really pleased with your discussion of setting. You are directly connecting Foster's ideas and reading into what Bronte is trying to emphasize. Very nice work!
ReplyDeleteI have to confess that this is not my favorite novel. The first time I read it I kind of dismissed it as romance and put it aside in my mind. However, this work has been referenced on the AP exam more than ANY OTHER novel or play in the world! After discovering that fact, I gave it another try and I discovered that many universal themes and literary techniques are developed skillfully in the novel, which makes it perfect for use on the AP exam. Thanks for sticking with it!
Point of View: The Point of view in the novel at first is what confused me. It took me a little while to realize that the accounts were from Nelly's experiences or from what Lockwood had heard. This leaves the story mostly up to how one woman saw things. It’s almost weird to think that you're reading a story about things that have happened yet you really have no idea if they are the whole truth or something she added in to make the story more interesting. Considering this, I like the fact that Emily Bronte changed up how her story was told. The differences from every other novel makes Wuthering Heights stand out to a reader.
ReplyDeleteConflict: The conflict in this novel is all over. You have the conflict between Edgar and Heathcliff for Catherine. Then you have conflict between of Catherine should she stay with the respectable guy or marry her love. There is physical conflict when Edgar hits Heathcliff, inner conflict. The conflict here is what makes this story if you didn't have this then there really wouldn't be a story. The characters personalities set up the conflict without Heathcliff being a jealous person he wouldn't of married Isabella among other things. So I believe that the conflict is key to this book as well as the original point of view Emily Bronte uses.
ps:sorry for the extremely late posting.
I am still catching up and trying SOOO hard, I mean soooooo hard to get back to where I am supposed to be!! But once again, I am going on vacation. This time it it to Myrtle Beach. I will be there until the 24th. I will hopefully be able to do both posts on Wuthering Heights by then. I hope you will understand. Thank you, Landon Masters
ReplyDeletePOV
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Wuthering Heights, I could not help but notice the first person point of view as told from the main narrator—Mr. Lockwood—and the sub-narrators—Nelly and Isabella. Emily Bronte uses the first person point of view to characterize Mr. Lockwood, Nelly Dean, and Isabella Linton. Through their individual narrations, the reader is able to gain deeper insight into that particular person’s thoughts, ideas, and actions. Along with using this point of view for the purpose of characterization, Bronte also uses first person to great effect in forcing the reader to pay close attention to who is speaking by not using obvious transitions between narrators, and, in turn, change their way of reading the story in order to reflect the new narrator’s attitude, convictions, or ideas.
Conflict
During the beginning chapters of the novel in which Mr. Lockwood goes to Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood first experiences some conflict with Heathcliff in that Heathcliff leaves him to be attacked in a room full of angry dogs. After suffering through that experience, Lockwood, after being forced by a storm to stay the night, bears witness to some brutal conflict between Heathcliff and his daughter-in-law Catherine in which Heathcliff yells profanities at her and threatens to hit her. If Lockwood had not been subjected to such despicable conflicts between such disagreeable people, he would not have sought shelter from human interaction in his study and had Nelly tell him the story of how Heathcliff and the others became the malevolent people that he saw earlier in the day. Thus, the early conflict in the story between the principal characters provides the impetus for the entire book’s plot.
First off I would like to say I enjoy this book much more then Jane Eyre for some reason. The characters in Wuthering Heights are all very complex and different. The characters in this novel make the story whole. Bronte’s dark edge creates dramatic and sinister characters, especially Heathcliff, Hareton, and a bit of Catherine. I believe the story fits together so nicely in creating drama because there are the dark characters, and then there are characters like the Lintons, who have a spoiled and bright view. The darker characters realize that life stinks, and have such a negative yet let’s have fun with it view. For example Catherine and Heathcliff when they were younger, would pull nasty pranks. Another example is Hindley, he drinks and swears because his life has been cruel to him. The Lintons on the other hand believe that life is wonderful, or at the beginning they believe. Mr. Linton has the love of his life, and Ms. Linton believes she has found hers. When the lighter and darker characters mix however, it causes chaos.
ReplyDeleteThe point of view in Wuthering Heights is rather clever. In the beginning it’s Lockwood view. It’s to show how the characters are after a series of curious events that happened in the past. We learn of these events through another characters point of view, Nelly. I believe that Bronte might have used Nelly’s point of view because she was a slight outsider of all the love triangles and thoughts. She was not as involved in all the drama as the others, and therefore told the story as it was, and the way any sane person would see it. If the story was told in the point of view as Heathcliff, it would be completely different. He would speak ill of the Linton’s, and would speak his dark thoughts, making the story completely different.
I agree with most of you when you say that Wuthering Heights would not be the same without all the conflict. I really liked how Maggie related the conflict to Foster's chapter on violence, but I thought of it in a different way than the jealousy she mentioned. Foster says that there is narrative violence, which is violence that the author created for the sake of the plot. I believe that is what Bronte used when the dogs attacked Heathcliff at the beginning of the story. Bronte's chapter four is my favorite example of the symbolic violence that Foster mentions. In this chapter, Heathcliff threatened Hindley to tell Mr. Earnshaw about all the times Hindley had beaten Heathcliff in the past in return for Hindley's horse. In return, Hindley hits Heathcliff, but eventually gives up his horse. This violence is symbolic because it shows that Heathcliff not only wants Hindley to hit him so he can use that violence against him later, but Heathcliff knows that he can manipulate any situation, and will eventually use that skill later on in the story.
ReplyDeleteLike Adam, I was very confused about who was actually narrating the story. Once I figured it out it all made sense, and Wuthering Heights would not have been the same had there been a different narrator. I like the fact that the history of the characters is from Nelly's point of view because we get an actual feel for them. We get to know them on a personal level and see how they normally behave. I also enjoyed how it would seem like little parts would be from another character's point of view, such as Isabella's letter to Nelly. While this made it more confusing, it gave me a more personal connection to Isabella. With all that said, I must mention that the point of view and the narrator are completely different. Mr. Lockwood is narrating the story the entire time, but we learn about the characters and their lives through Nelly's point of view.
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ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this book, the dark and closed setting seemed to play some kind of role within the story. After some initial thinking, I realized that this closed setting symbolized the little to no opportunities the characters had in their lives. Heathcliff was stuck in Wuthering Heights under the cruel hand of Hindley, and had no chance of getting an education or even a decent job, since Hindley has lowered him to the status of one of his servants. When Heathcliff finally does get the chance to run away from Wuthering Heights for three years, he becomes rich and opens up a massive amount of opportunities for his life. Unfortunately, his love for Catherine begins to limit these opportunities once he returns to Wuthering Heights again. But even so, we can see that later in his life he was still able to acquire both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very interesting for the author to make Nelly the "actual" narrator, but because of the small amount of choices she had for narrators, I guess it made a lot of sense to use Nelly. Most of the other characters of the story have some kind of emotional dilemmas which would greatly question the reliability of their narrations. But even though Nelly wasn’t actually involved in the local “drama,” we can infer that she might have had some kind of feelings for Edgar Linton, since throughout the story she continually praises him in all his ways, while she completely denounces Heathcliff. She also constantly criticizes Catherine’s behavior for being selfish, arrogant and even cruel. This could be from the fact that she was jealous of Catherine’s beauty and social position, but Nelly would never tell us that. Although Nelly did seem to be a good choice for narrator, we can still see that she too was very involved in the “situation” and in being so, puts in her biased opinion of the different characters and their lives.
The point of view in this novel, Wuthering Heights is a very important factor in the way that the story is told. The various views of Lockwood, Nelly, Catherine, and Isabella, along with others throughout the novel, allow us as a reader to see different sides of an event and give us the full story in a first person point of view. In most first person point of view narratives, the reader only gets the one view of the narrator. Wuthering Heights begins and is based around the visit of Lockwood to Wuthering Heights. His narration of the first few chapters builds a foundation to add Nelly Dean's story upon. While she is telling her story of Catherine and her loves, what she was not personally present for is narrated by other characters that either told her a story or sent it in a letter. At times, this narration is confusing, but in the end you appreciate the stimulation of a new narrator every now and then. It kind of gives you a break and something to look forward to in, what I believe, is a drawn-out book. If we didn't get the story of Isabella and Heathcliff from Isabella, we would never know her true feelings. Although some dialogue and different characters' point of view changes were abrupt, it gave the reader some excitement, making them really think about what they were reading and what time period that portion of the story was set in.
ReplyDeleteThe actual way that many of the characters are introduced is very nonchalantly done and keeps interest for the reader. In the beginning when Lockwood meets Heathcliff and the people of Wuthering Heights, we, as a reader are perplexed at how these characters came to be and why they act this certain way. Catherine's disposition with other characters leaves us wondering the back story on her. By introducing these characters early on and then describing how they got there, allows us to realize and make assumptions as we read. This keeps us guessing and ads a bit of mystery to the story. As Heathcliff is introduced as a child, we develop this sort of pity and compassion for the orphaned boy. But, as the story develops, we learn of his cruelness and our relationship with his character is changed. We can almost see Heathcliff as a "vampire", as Foster had described in How to Read Literature Like A Professor. Heathcliff is a dark man and harsh at times. We can see him try to control others and manipulate them to get what he wants. At many points in this story, villains are created and then revealed to be soft and loving. Hareton was always an insensitive kid, until the end when he and Cathy fell in love. This just shows the growth in the characters and unravels their true selves. Also, we can see the relationship between young Cathy and old Catherine. Their love stories almost parallel with one another. The way that all of the characters are related to one another and how they interact reveals conflicts from long ago and newer ones still to come.