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...
... middle of paper ...
...
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.
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 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.
Laban, Lawrence F. “Emily Brontë.” Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Second Revised Edition. Salem Press. MagillOnAuthors. 2002. 12 Nov. 2002
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.
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.
Mikhail Bakhtin gives a thorough explanation of what a novel should be and what it should include in his work Epic and Novel: Towards a Methodology for the Study of the Novel. Bakhtin explains that in order to have a novel you must have laughter, a plot set in the present working towards the future, and relatable characters. Throughout his comparison of the epic and novel, Bakhtin explains what a novel does that makes it different from the epic. Using the three characteristics that were previously mentioned (laughter, plot, and characters), Bakhtin shows how each of these elements makes a novel work as a whole. Bakhtin discusses that the use of laughter is vital because “[It] destroys the epic,” (23). Laughter is crucial to break down the wall of fear that can be created by unknown texts and allow the reader to continue further investigation. Bakhtin continues on to explain that the plot in a novel is continuing and needs detail, stating, “The absence of internal conclusiveness and exhaustiveness creates a sharp increase in demands for an external and formal completedness and exhaustiveness, especially in regards to plot line” (Bakhtin 31). He explains that since the ...
The story of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights has been one of the most influential and powerful piece of literature ever written. After being published, it garnered a lot of interest because of the theme that was deemed misleading and critically unfit for society. The main theme of the book revolves around the evolution of love, passion and cruelty.
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.
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.
‘Wuthering Heights’, although having survived the test of time as a work that is poignant and passionate, and eminently capable of holding the reader’s attention, received mixed criticism upon publication in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. Apparently, the vivid description of mental and physical violence and agony was hard to stomach, and the atmosphere was too oppressive to merit popular liking. But many later readers and critics have given ‘Wuthering Heights’ the mantle of being the best of the works of the Bronte sisters, displacing Charlotte’s ‘Jane Eyre’. One of its prime merits, at least to my eyes, lies in Emily’s ability to make Nature an eloquent party to the story-corresponding closely with a character’s emotions, with the incidents, with the movement of the plot, and thus adding to the quality of the story. Emily was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, and her love for the landscape that she grew up with is reflected in the novel in the moors and the crags, the storms and the spring. One can see an extension of this one-ness with nature, this unity, in her choice of Wuthering Hei...
Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 2003.
Mathison, John K. "Nelly Dean and the Power of "Wuthering Heights"." Nineteenth-century Literature. 11.2 (1956). Print.
Conflict as a result of class and gender division is a common theme seen throughout Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. Social contrasts and gender boundaries create oppression and tension amongst the characters, affecting their composure and behaviour throughout the novel.
Charlotte Bronte assumed the role of intermediary between her late sister and the perplexed and hostile readers of Wuthering Heights (Sale and Dunn, WH p. 267). Charlotte attempted to provide Emily’s readers with a more complete perspective of her sister and her works. She selectively included biographical information and critical commentary into the revised 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights, which gave the reader a fuller appreciation of the works of Emily Bronte. Charlotte championed the efforts of her younger sister and believed that Emily’s inexperience and unpracticed hand were her only shortcomings. Charlotte explains much of Emily’s character to the readers through the disclosure of biographical information.
Emily Bronte's master piece, Wuthering Heights, is a timeless story of love, deception, betrayal and revenge. It recognizes that life in the world is not a utopia. Revenge is the main theme in the book because it highlights important events, personality flaws, and the path to self-destruction. Bronte presents this loud and clear.