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Katie's Wuthering Heights notes from King Eds (Literary Devices…
Katie's Wuthering Heights notes from King Eds
Literary Devices
Narrative structure:
non-linear plot
with a
narrative framing device
which is complex and at times confusing for the reader
this also has a
distancing effect on the reader
past tense
non-linear structure makes
some events in the more distant past
than others
structured over
two generations
and
two key women
within each allowing the reader to
compare these characters
Narrative perspective:
narrative perspectives of Lockwood and Nelly to tell the story
at times the reader is given a more direct view of events, such as Isabella's account of her marriage in her letter (epistolary approach to telling her experience reflects the subordinate role of women in society)
differences in class, gender and status between the two narrators give the reader different viewpoints
both narrators - because of their own personal biases, backgrounds and beliefs - could be considered unreliable narrators
highlights struggles women face
Characterisation:
Bronte uses both direct and indirect characterisation
people are given physical descriptions but the reader can infer further about their characters through their actions and behaviours
the narrators' opinion of characters further aid to construct characters
however, at times it is evident that the narrator has a clear bias and therefore the reader cannot always trust their opinion
Symbolism and imagery:
windows, gates and doors symbolising freedom or entrapment
locations symbolising characters that reside there
elements and weather
books and education
weapons
Description:
places and people
language used varies by narrator or character speaking
tendency to be exaggerated/heightened, creating an emotional response from reader
Tone and Mood:
Gothic aspects of novel lend a mysterious and brooding tone
melodramatic language
tragic
tone alters to be more optimistic at the end with new hope in a new generation
Settings and locations:
- binary opposition of WH and TG
symbolise and convey significance of characters and their actions
natural world
Themes
Nature and Civilisation
Earnshaws vs Lintons
Abuse and Violence
Neglect
Verbal abuse
Love and Passion
Marriage
Romanticism
Madness
Marriage, Family and Social Class
Gender Roles
Masculinity
Heathcliff:
- archetypal Byronic hero - demonic imagery
Context:
Written by a woman writer in and about a patriarchal society
Byronic hero
Edgar:
'sucking leveret'? (animal imagery contrasts Heathcliff)
his response to his grief at Cathy's death is to retreat and read
Linton:
- sickly, effeminate child
Hindley:
- Victorian paterfamilias - abusive, drunkard -
Femininity
Catherine
Cathy
Frances:
late 18th century model of the 'Angel of the House' (Coventry Patmore)
after marrying Frances, Hindley grew
'sparer, and lost his colour and spoke and dressed quite differently'
, the phrase 'lost his colour' suggesting that she subdues his temper
According to Gilbert and Gubar, she
'incarnates the social illness of ladyhood'
- a premonition of what Catherine will become when she marries Edgar
Revenge and Redemption
Inheritance
Gilbert and Gubar feminist critique:
Heathcliff could be read as Catherine's other-self (
'she chose a whip'
, a violent instrument, a weapon - symbolic of masculine power which she desires)
Catherine is strengthened by Heathcliff, growing even more rebellious and mischievous - feminist dream of 'wholeness'
Heathcliff could be read as female as he is unpropertied, dispossessed (has no social power or place), illegitimate and subject to the rule of the father
he rebels against societal conventions of class, inheritance and marriage when he should want to invest in all as these constructs support the patriarchy
Context
Author Context:
born
1818
in Thornton, near Bradford (
end of Romantic era in literature, beginning of Victorian
)
younger sister of Charlotte
and
elder sister of Anne Bronte
, also famous authors
also had a brother
Branwell
and two sisters Maria and Elizabeth, who died aged 11 and 10 in 1825 (Emily was 8)
family moved in April 1821 to Haworth Parsonage, Yorkshire
mother
, Maria Branwell Bronte, **died September 1821 when Emily was 3
- the Bronte children were
brought up by their aunt Elizabeth Branwell**
father
, Patrick Bronte, was a
clergyman
sent to
Cowan Bridge
boarding school when she was
6
; she
stayed there barely a year
at
17
, she attended
Roe Head School in Dewsbury
where her sister, Charlotte, was teaching;
according to Charlotte, Emily fell ill there due to homesickness
Emily loved the freedom and wild beauty of the Yorkshire Moors
attempted to leave home in 1838 (Law Hill, Halifax) and again in 1842 (Brussels with Charlotte), but returned home each time
published a volume of poetry with her sisters in 1846 under the psudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (to disguise their gender)
published Wuthering Heights, her only novel, in 1846 under the psudonym Ellis Bell
died at Haworth, Yorkshire of TB in 1848 (aged 30)
Literary Context
Historical Context - Victorian Era
Ideologies
Strong religion
Paterfamilias
Coventry Patmore's
Angel of the House
Inheritance laws