NOTE: When you come to class on Wednesday, April 24th, you will be composing an in-class essay on your novel. Be prepared!
Discussion Questions
1. To what extent do you think the setting of the novel contributes to, or informs, what takes place? Do you think the moors are a character in their own right? How do you interpret Bronte's view of nature and the landscape?
2. Discuss Emily Bronte's careful attention to a rigid timeline and the role of the novel as a sober historical document. How is this significant, particularly in light of the turbulent action within? What other contrasts within the novel strike you, and why? How are these contrasts important, and how do they play out in the novel?
3. Do you think the novel is a tale of redemption, despair, or both? Discuss the novel's meaning to you. Do you think the novel's moral content dictates one choice over the other?
4. Do you think Bronte succeeds in creating three-dimensional figures in
Heathcliff and Cathy, particularly given their larger-than-life metaphysical passion? Why or why not?
5. Discuss Bronte's use of twos: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; two families, each with two children; two couples (Catherine and Edgar, and Heathcliff and Isabella); two narrators; the doubling-up of names. What is Bronte's intention here? Discuss.
6. How do Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean influence the story as narrators? Do you think they are completely reliable observers? What does Bronte want us to believe?
7. Discuss the role of women in Wuthering Heights. Is their depiction typical of Bronte's time, or not? Do you think Bronte's characterizations of women mark her as a pioneer ahead of her time or not?
8. Who or what does Heathcliff represent in the novel? Is he a force of evil or a victim of it? How important is the role of class in the novel, particularly as it relates to Heathcliff and his life?
This book was very good and so intriguing. It is crazy how everything unfolds and as you read you feel so much for the characters whether it be sadness or annoyance or hatred. I think it is interesting how Emily can make you love one character in the beginning and then totally hate that character in the end. For example, I really liked Heathcliff at first and felt like he was the only kind one in the family. But unfortunately, because of the way he was treated, he became an awful person. And this came as a surprise to me. Everytime he was introduced to a scene it made me scared for the other characters. For example Heathcliff in chapter 21 tells Cathy “Will you just turn this nab of heath, and walk into my house?”. This may not seem creepy to those who didn’t read this book, but I can just picture Heathcliff saying this in a scary voice. Nelly was, I’m sure, freaking out when he says this, but Cathy doesn’t see his darkness and thinks that he is just trying to be nice. I don’t know why, but I think of it as if Cathy is a little kid who is enticed by a guy in a white van to go in the van for some candy and Cathy innocently goes in. Another scene in the novel that I found to be like a horror movie, because of Heathcliff’s terrifying nature, was in chapter 22 when Cathy cannot get through the locked gate. Cathy was trying to get through the gate, to get back to Nelly on the other side to go home, when Nelly narrates that “an approaching sound arrested me. It was the trot of a horse; Cathy’s dance stopped also.”. Right away I knew it was Heathcliff and I was scared so much for Cathy. Heathcliff then said “‘Ho, Miss Linton!’ cried a deep voice (the rider’s), ‘I’m glad to meet you. Don’t be in haste to enter, for I have an explanation to ask and obtain.’”. I can just imagine Cathy’s heart racing because she now knew the evil ways of Mr. Heathcliff. I also like how Emily Bronte has developed the character of Mr. Heathcliff so well that right away the reader can tell that it is Mr. Heathcliff speaking. Overall I do think that Mr. Heathcliff is a force of evil, but I also believe that he was a victim of it. Hareton treated him so badly as a child that this made him want revenge. He also wanted revenge on Edgar Linton for taking his only love. This revenge that he wanted so badly, controlled his actions and emotions for the rest of his life and in turn made him a force of evil.
ReplyDeleteThis novel is does a good job of comparing two different identities of love. The examples that the book uses is the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine alongside the relationship between Catherine and Hareton.The main theme throughout the relationship of Catherine and Hareton is change. For example, at the beginning of the novel, Hareton seems to be aggressive towards all people, however, over time, he grew to become a loyal friend to Catherine, and he even learns how to read. Even Catherine sees the two of them as drastically different people when they first meet because of their differing social classes, but her opinion of them together soon grows into a love that sees past their obvious differences. Their relationship is believed to be the healthiest of the two, because in life it is natural to change. However, Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship is built on the belief that they are the same person and neither of them wish to change. For example, when Catherine is speaking to Nelly about the possibility of Marrying Heathcliff, she says, "he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Edgar's is as different as the moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire." In this quote Catherine is almost criticizing the nature of Catherine and Hareton's relationship for including to very different individuals, while she believes that her and Heathcliff are of the same body and that they themselves complete one individual. This is a very dangerous way to live your life, because their attraction is built on egoistic admiration and the need to survive with each other, rather than sincere love for each other. Heathcliff himself also shows his "need" for Catherine when she is dying at the end of the novel: he says he cannot live without his "soul." This despair of Heathcliff was hard to understand because it seemed that Heathcliff's "love" for Catherine and his pain from seeing her die was only as a result of him losing HIS own soul. It makes Heathcliff's sadness almost seem selfish and that his only emotion of sadness was coming from his need to survive with his soul (and not Catherine.)Catherine even exclaims in the novel, "I am Heathcliff" firmly stating their connection and confirming the idea that their "love" is merely a means of survival. The two very different love stories in the novel are both addressed by Bronte, however one (Catherine and Hareton's) ends happily, while the other (Catherine and Heathcliff's) ends in tragedy. I think that in this way, Bronte is condemning Catherine and Heathcliff's love, and trying to show that audience that the nature of their relationship is not natural or moral. Regardless, I was very impressed with the novel's endless displays of human truth and human nature in the novel. I think every relationship in this novel can apply anybody and I enjoyed how Bronte fearlessly allowed the reader to explore every single one, no matter how painful it would be to face the dark truths.
ReplyDeleteThis is Monique's
DeleteI liked the way this book was written and some of the meanings given by it. One things which I enjoyed was the power that love had over people. When Heathcliff was a child, it was clear to see that he was happy and rather enjoyed his life. While he didn't exactly enjoy the situation in which he lived in, he got to spend time with Catherine whom he loved. They spent lots of time together and create memories together. However, things start to slowly change once Catherine spent time at the Linton's household when she was bitten by a dog. She had changed as a person and wasn't exactly the same Catherine which Heathcliff knew and loved. When she started gaining affection for Edgar, Heathcliff started to show signs of jealousy towards them. Later on, Heathcliff runs away when Catherine admits she loves Edgar more than anyone else. After this incident, Heathcliff gradually lost his love for her and was replacing with anger. He becomes hostile and people start fearing him. As time goes on, Catherine finds herself realizing that she made a mistake and actually loves Heathcliff. But for him it is too late as he tells her she has given him great pain but not as great as the pain she gave herself. Some time after she gives birth Heathcliff takes care of his son Linton and Catherine. He turns his attention on getting his revenge on them by making them suffer. At this point it is understandable that Heathcliff is still depleted from the love he used to have. However, one time when he was going to punish Catherine, he realized how much she looked like her mother. After noticing this his character changes and he loses his hostility. His physical sense is depleting as he starts eating less but it seems as though his soul is slightly getting rejuvenated from seeing the familiarity between his daughter-in-law and his childhood best friend. Seeing this you can tell that all his life he wasn't able to get closure from the death of his best friend, but after gaining it, he gets closure and was sufficient with living out the rest of his life peacefully and end his life by refilling his empty pot of love which took such a great toll on his life.
ReplyDeleteI was strongly intrigued by Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I personally thought of this book as ahead of its time in terms of its content, ghosts and hauntings were not something commonly written about and especially not in such a deeply meaningful and beautiful manner. The complicated relationships between characters was something else that leads me to believe Emily was an extremely bright person of this era. The moors described in Wuthering Heights are constantly indicated within the text. This landscape is wide, wild and elevated yet somewhat soggy, making them barren. It’s easy to get lost in Moorland, which is part of it’s dangerous atmosphere. Another threat found in this location are the large wet patches throughout the land, that a less careful person could drown in or like the lie Heathcliff tells of how he saved Nelly and Cathy from nearly drowning “‘Well! there is a talk about you at Gimmerton. I never thought but you were sunk in the Blackhorse marsh, and missy with you, till master told me you’d been found, and he’d lodged you here! What! and you must have got on an island, sure? And how long were you in the hole? Did master save you, Mrs. Dean? But you’re not so thin—you’ve not been so poorly, have you?’”(ch. XXVIII). The moors are highly symbolic to Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship from when they were young to the very end. Everybody views the moors as confusing and tricky to navigate, however these two look at the moors and see freedom. Geographically the moors stretch on forever, much like Heathcliff and Cathy’s everlasting love for eachother, even when they’re not together their feelings are still the same. Nonetheless, the moors are still treacherous grounds, Heathcliff is just as threatening and scary as he is romantic and thoughtful, making their relationship risky. Something else I found interesting in Brontë’s novel was how she organizes some of the themes and characters into pairs. Heathcliff and Catherine are coupled together in a lot of ways, Cathy explains this to Nelly by stating she is him“...’I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.’”(ch. IX). Another striking duality in Wuthering Heights is the two seperate houses: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. One serving as a formal and well-to-do dwelling, the other is a wild and almost wicked place that represents the unpredictability of nature itself.
ReplyDeleteCaroline ^
DeleteI thought this book was great and enjoyed reading every chapter. I thought Emily Bronte did a great job of showing how people's character change depending on their environment, and she writes about things no other woman would have in her time which I thought was very mature and independent. This book dealt with themes of love, the supernatural, gender roles, class and revenge. One character who changes immensely throughout the novel is Heathcliff. He is first described as a happy and passionate young boy with his closest friend also being the girl he loves and wants to marry when he is older. However, this girl Catherine is torn between the natural Heathcliff and the civilized Edgar Linton who is a more promising partner. But Heathcliff changes into an angry and frightening man after he loses his most beloved friend and lover to Edgar. He becomes obsessed with rage and revenge, taking it out on anyone who resembles what he lost. I think that Heathcliff is the protagonist at first but actually becomes the opposite as the story unfolds. I love how this book is narrated by Nelly, the maid, who is simply observing this hysterical story. I think Emily Bronte did this to avoid having a narrator who was biased and only told one side of the story and Nelly was the perfect character for this role. From an outsiders perspective, like Lockwood, it seems as if the Heights is just a crazy and strange place which is why I believe Nelly ended up telling him the story; to change his perspective on these people. I found it surprising how Heathcliff changes again and makes a comeback in his last days before passing away. He seems to have found peace and spends long amounts of time by himself, fasting and seemingly talking to Catherines ghost. He acts nicer and more loving to Cathy and Hareton, mostly because he begins to see the similarities between them and his beloved Catherine as a good thing rather than to constantly demonize and torture him. He dies knowing he will once again be with his best friend and the love of his life.
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