advanced english

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• 1    buttro // May 24, 2007 at 3:25 pm

  Novel of Manners
  A novel of manners focuses on the customs and habits of a particular social group. This type of novel pays particular attention to the role of each character and how they fit into their social group. This is evident in Wuthering Heights as from the beginning Heathcliff is established as an outsider or “dark-skinned gypsy”. This means that does not have a sense of belonging within the social group. The social group in Wuthering Heights is very similar to the social group of Emily Bronté the author. The social group focused on in the novel is the upper class country families in Victorian England around the 19th century. Customs that are seen throughout the novel is the custom of keeping the families wealth and property within the family; this is evident as Hindley acquires Wuthering Heights after Mr Earnshaw passes away. Upper class people at the time also had slaves and this is evident in the novel in both Nelly Dean and Joseph. A sign of power for this social group was that they didn’t work and this is evident in both the Earnshaw and Linton families, as occupations are never mentioned.

  Gothic Novel
  A gothic novel is characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque as evident in stories such as Frankenstein and the novel Wuthering Heights. A gothic novel is set in a creepy location such a Wuthering Heights or Thrusscross Grange. Both these households are described as having gothic architecture and a creepy feel created by the weather. Weather is an important element when examining a gothic novel because the gothic novels have dreary weather. This is evident throughout the play as the moors are dangerous due to the number of unexpected storms. The awful weather is what forces Lockwood to stay the night at Wuthering Heights where he sees the ghost of Catherine. Ghosts are also a common element of the Gothic novel and ghosts are seen on a number of occasions throughout the book.

• 2    Harryw // May 24, 2007 at 8:35 pm

  Gothic genre

  The elements of a gothic novel are an English genre of fiction popular in the 18th to early 19th centuries, characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror and having a pseudo medieval setting. The English Gothic novel began with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1765), which was enormously popular and quickly imitated by other novelists and soon became a recognizable genre. It was regarded as a move from the traditional Romantic novels and established a new approach to literary variety. The novel Wuthering Heights is not merely a gothic novel but it contains gothic elements.

  The following are a set of guidelines of what makes a work gothic with a combination of these:

  • A castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not (the castle plays such a key role that it has been called the main character of the Gothic novel),

  • Ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing melancholy,

  • Dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics,

  • Labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,

  • Shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or, today, an electric failure),

  • Extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather,

  • Omens and ancestral curses,

  • Magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural,

  • A passion-driven, wilful villain-hero or villain,

  • A curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued–frequently,

  • A hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel,

  • Horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings.

  Considering the above guidelines, many aspects of Wuthering Heights make up its genre and it is fair to say tat the gothic overtones are very evident in the contents and issues of Wuthering Heights. In particularly Wuthering Heights is the traditional castle. Like the conventional Gothic hero-villain, Heathcliff is a mysterious figure that destroys the beautiful woman he pursues and with Gothic influence, he batters his head against a tree. There is the hint of necrophilia when Heathcliff views Catherine’s corpse and his plans to be buried next to her and a hint of incest in their being raised as brother and sister or, as a few critics have suggested, Heathcliff being Catherine’s illegitimate half-brother.

  Romantic genre

  The Romantic novel is a revolt against classicism. It aims at humanism and a return to the belief of the good in humanity. It also looks to the rediscovery of the performer as a supremely individual creator; the development of nationalistic pride; and the happiness of the senses and emotions over reason and intellect. This genre is heavily considered in Wuthering Heights

  • The antagonism or antithesis in the novel tends to reject literary conventions. often a novel verges on turning into something else, like poetry or drama. In Wuthering Heights, realism in presenting Yorkshire and life and the historical precision of season, dates, and hours as they entwine into the dreamlike and the supernatural; Brontë refuses to be confined by convention

  • The protagonists’ wanderings are motivated by flight from previous goals, so that often there is a pattern of escape and pursuit. Catherine’s marriage for social position, stability, and wealth, her efforts to evade the consequences of her marriage, the demands of Heathcliff and Edgar, and her final mental wandering are an example of the motivations of previous goals.

  • The protagonists are driven by irresistible passion–lust, curiosity, ambition, intellect, pride, envy. The emphasis is on their desire for exceeding expectations, to overcome the limitations of the body, of society, of time rather than their moral crimes. They want to escape the limitations natural to life and may find that the only escape is death. The longings of a Heathcliff cannot be fulfilled in life.

  • Death is not only a plot device, but also and primarily a psychological concern. For the protagonists, death originates in the imagination, becomes a “tendency of mind,” and may develop into an obsession.

  • As in Gothic fiction, buildings are central to meaning; the supernatural, wild nature, dream and madness, physical violence, and perverse sexuality are set off against social conventions and institutions. This may create the impression that the book is in fact two, but finally the two manors merge.

  • Endings are disquieting and unsatisfactory because Bronte desires an ambiguous conclusion, one that accounts for all loose ends and explains away any ambiguities or uncertainties. The preference for open-endedness is, ultimately a bathos and an effort to resist the limits of convention. That effort helps explain the importance of dreams and memories of other times and location, like Catherine’s delirious memories of childhood at Wuthering Heights and rambles on the moors.

  Novel of manners still coming

• 3    bert rosbenns // May 28, 2007 at 10:22 am

  Romantic
  The romantic compositions are extremely emotional, with emotions from the author being conveyed through the texts. It is very imaginative and original with different ideas from the authors being allowed to be weaved into their texts, it is very experimental in the styles and forms that they write in. Passion is a leading factor in romantic texts and emotions and senses were acted upon over intellect, reason and facts. Nature is an important part to the era. Romanticism is just against everything that classicalism literature is bound too. Classicalism having many rules about what should be included in compositions and how they should be structured.

  Romanticism in Wuthering Heights
  -The emotions of the characters are extremely high. Heathcliff is pushed to his limits when Catherine marries Edgar. He is driven into a frenzy of revenge through his love for Catherine, and this vendetta does not stop until Heathcliff dies. Edgar’s children are also doomed by Catherine’s wrong choice of husband.
  -The structure of the book is creative as the clock is wound back as Lockwood reads the diary of Nelly Dean. The narrator changes through the book from Lockwood to Nelly Dean.
  -The reactions of the characters that form a large part of the story line act from the heart and not the head. Heathcliff acts from the heart and does everything in his power to destroy Hindley’s spirit and also that of Hindley’s children and also that of the Linton’s.

  Manner
  Novel of manners are about the complex social life of society that builds the base to the social structure. It conveys the common values and customs of complex society life. The social life is important to the Bronte’s at this time as it is very strict when they lived, and to write a story of how the tables turned on the social structure would have been an easy book to read to people of the Bronte’s time.

  Mannerism in Wuthering Heights
  -There are distinct social classes between the two houses, with the Lintons being the wealthier family therefore higher on the social ladder.
  -It is seen that being rich and powerful socially is the best option to go if you can gain the status. Catherine gained this opportunity when she was bitten by the dog at Thrushcross Grange and was nursed back to health and was taught how to be a proper lady. She marries Edgar for the status not because of love.
  -If you were of a higher social class you could look down upon others as you have the status. Hindley looked down at Heathcliff as he was only a orphan and abused him when Mr and Mrs Earnshaw were out of the picture.
  -Heathcliff found his revenge by stripping both the Linton’s and Earnshaw’s of their social staus and claiming it for himself and abusing the children of Hindley and Edgar. This would have been a devastating punishment as their social class was extremely important to them at this time in history.

• 4    tim // May 28, 2007 at 10:22 am

  Gothic Literature: Romantic literature which reacts against the rigidity and formality of traditional romantic literary styles.
  Gothic literature features a deteriorating world, with foreboding landscapes and buildings along with pathetic fallacy of often bad weather, such as storms of gales, demonstrating the mood Lockwood is in when he spends the night at Wuthering Heights and sees Catherine’s ghost. There is a clear deliniation between the protagonist and antagonist in gothic literature, with the latter being the personification of villainy and evil. This convention is not recognised in “Wuthering Heights”, as Heathcliff portrays both hero and villain, which is why “Wuthering Heights” is not classified as a purely gothic novel (just has aspects of this style). Gothic literature often relates to the sublime or supernatural, themes echoed in Wuthering Heights through the appearance of the ghosts of Catherine and later Heathcliff.

  Romantic Literature: Romanticism in literature was a revolt against classicalism. It emphasised the importance and human emotion and passion over reason- reverting back to medieval thought, which was overtaken by the renaissance movement from the 1600s.
  Romanticism is characterised by passionate characters and the inclination to ignore conventional literary rules. The characters are often overcome with emotion and this often leads them to, sometimes, violent excesses, such as Heathcliff’s hanging of Isabella’s dog, and his continued harassment of Hareton. The unrequited love between Heathcliff and Catherine also demonstrates this as it is so strong that neither of them finds peace until both are dead together. Emily Bronte does not follow conventional writing either, as her protagonist and antagonist are the same person, and even her sister described her work as darker than should be written, in line with the trait of romanticism of defiance of classical literature conventions.

  Novel of Manners: This is a style of writing typified by Jane Austen which describes intricately the morals, customs and idiosyncrasies of a group of people.
  Novel of Manners features in “Wuthering Heights” as Emily Bronte clearly describes the moors and the dingy surroundings of Wuthering Heights from the outset. This enables her to create a clear picture for the reader but also demonstrates the complexities of the dramas and feuds that occur between the Lintons, Earnshaws and Heathcliff.

• 5    jgrimsto/mstewart // May 29, 2007 at 8:13 am

  1. Gothic

  Gothic literature is often dark and horrific and is also categorised under romantic literature due to the strong emotional aspects of the genre. Wuthering heights personifies these strong, dark charactoristics in the character Heathcliff and the text is often seen as being a gothic novel, however, due to the nature of the novel, it also falls under a number of other genres such as romantic and also a novel of manners.

  2. Romantic

  The romantic genre is categorised by a strong show of emotions. Wuthering heights was criticised during its composition by many critics who believed that it was not right to write about people like Heathcliff due to his withdrawn and unknown nature and his passionate revenge that explains his desire to “paint the house red” with hindly’s blood. Wuthering heights was written during a period where marriages were an agreement for the acquisition of assets and respect due to the partners family name and possessions and this is explored in the text.
  The characters in the text, particularly Catherine, show strong passion with reference all the emotions. Although Catherine has a “love for heathcliff that resembles the eternal rocks beneath” the superficial love she feels for hindly that resembles the “foliage in the woods” that is changed by winter, Catherine Earnshaw marries Edgar Linton due to his possessions because marriage was based on the acquisition of assets at the time and not necessarily for the pursuit of love and happiness, and also because Hindley has degraded Heathcliff after their father’s death to the point where Catherine believe that they “should be beggars” if they where to marry.

  3. novel of manners

  A novel of manners describes the social customs and habits of an individual or group. Wuthering heights explores the unsocial behaviour of the inhabitants of wuthering heights by presenting a situation where the central protagonists are forced to accept a visitor and due to the families isolation, they appear unfriendly and create a “perfect misanthropists heaven”.

• 6    R.M // May 29, 2007 at 12:13 pm

  “Gothic fiction is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.” according to the definition from Wikipedia. There are many indicators of gothic literature that can be seen in ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte, these are
  - terror (phsychological)
  - mystery
  - secrets
  - death
  - the supernatural
  - madness
  - hereditary curses (in this case, from the environment that the children are brought up in rather than genological hereditary symtoms, but none the less, passed from adult to offspring)

  Some examples of these gothic themes from the text include the haunting of Heathcliff and Loackwood by Catherines ghost, this is an example of secrets, mystery, terror and most importantly the supernatural.

  Characters that are a prominant part of gothic fiction include:
  - the tyrant
  - the Byronic hero, or in this case villian
  - persecuted maidens
  - ghosts

  examples of these characters that can be seen in the text, interestingly combine more than one type of character into a person, Heathcliff for example is a combination of ‘the Byronic hero’, the tyrent and the protagonist, the real hero of the novel. Another example of a typical gothic character in the text is of Catherine Earnshaw as the persecuted woman. Upon Heathcliffs return she is destroyed mentally by his barbaric and ruthless treatment.

  Other important indicators of Gothic literature are the themes of
  - isolation
  - pagonism (or just anti-catholicism)
  - fear, death, darkness
  - loss of faith in humanity.
  Wuthering Heights contains these themes throughout the novel, reflected in the interactions between the characters and the natural world that surrounds them.

  2. ROMANTICISM
  This genre was officially dated to of begun in 1798, however elements of this genre can be found in much earlier works such as Elizabethan drama’s. Elements of this genre that can be seen in the work of Emily Bronte are:
  -a break from the traditional “literary rules”, the narrative is broken up in such a way as to cause the reader to become active in piecing together the plot. Another break from the “traditional literary rules” is Emily Bronte’s use of very powerful, passionate language that would of been afronting to her earliest audience.. but also appealing as this was a new form of emotional involvement that could enguage the reader on a more personal leval.
  -this passion flows from the language used to the characters and their interactions. Wuthering Heights was ground breaking in the brutal honesty that bronte describes the passionate feelings of love and hatred between the characters in the text. These characters have been emphasised by their exhaggerated feelings and the description given of them, for example, the exchange between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw featured at the beggining of the wuthering heights wiki.
  - Another aspect of the accentuated passion is that the characters have greater motivation to pursue their romance, love, obsession. In romanticism, the pursuit their passion often comes at a great personal cost, suffering and loss for either themselves and/or their partner, for example the twisted, dark, sick “love” that grows between Heathcliff and Catherine. Often in romanticism, the pursuit is in vein, no result is achieved.
  -Romanticism contains elements of internal and external conflicts:
  ø Nature vs. Civilization
  øWild vs. Tame
  øDeep & elemental vs. Superficial & impermanent;
  øNatural impulses vs. Artificial restraint

  Romanticists were some of the first true avant-garde artists, whether in the visual arts, music or in this case literature. The writing in Wuthering Heights breaks from the norm, shocking and intruiging audiences. Why?
  for the first time, the work was not pushing a single view, a set layout that must be followed, but was encouraging the imagination of the reader to explore extreme states of being and awareness. For the first time nature was woven into the novel as a tool (metaphor) to show not only the pleasent, tranquil aspects of love, but also the wild, stormy & passionate moods explored in the novel.
  Nature vs Civilisation, a common theme of romanticism. Here, nature is shown as a living, independant, vitalising force that offers a refuge from the constaints of civilisation.
  Romanticism is also shown by Bonte’s avant-garde experiments with the structure of hurthering Heights. Not creating a linier progression through the events but a realistic journey through the history of the house-holds, stepping into Mr Lockwoods shoes, and learning with him.
  Another break from traditional styles is the repeated allusion to the supernatural. This was a bold move as it was a suggestion against the firm beliefs of the church in England at the time.

  Wuthering Heights is a piece of literature that contains elements of Romanticism and the Gothic genre, some elements of which are linked. Bronte created a novel that was way ahead of its time, the definition of “avant-garde” wasn’t even applied until 1863, which was more than a decade after Bronte’s death.

• 7    Pryor // May 29, 2007 at 10:30 pm

  Gothic

  A gothic novel is characterised by darkness, gloom, horror, a medieval setting and mystery. It is an English genre of fiction that was popular in the 18th to early 19th centuries. This type of genre can be seen in Emily Bronte’s famous and well-known novel, Wuthering Heights. The concept of English gothic novel first began with Horace Walpole’s, The Castle of Ontranto written in 1765. This was enormously popular and was very quickly pounced upon and it very quickly became a very distinguishable genre.

  It is important for viewers of Emily Bronte’s work, Wuthering Heights to understand that it is not a gothic novel, but merely contains gothic elements. There are many guidelines that are placed upon novels to determine weather a novel is gothic or has gothic elements (see Harry Warwick’s dot points referring to the characteristics of gothic novels). When you analyse the guidelines of gothic genre the viewer can quickly perceive or see that there are many aspects of Emily Bronte’s novel that have gothic overtones or elements.

  A gothic novel or gothic elements within a novel generally has a dark, spooky or creepy setting or location. This is the case within Wuthering Heights, such as the two main households, Wuthering Heights and Thruschross Grange. The two households are described as having gothic architecture and a dark and disturbing feel created by the weather, also known as pathetic fallacy. The use of weather within with in Wuthering Heights is crucial when we are examining Emily Bronte’s novel from a gothic view, angle or element. The weather within gothic novels is a prominent feature, as most gothic novels have dreary weather. This concept is very evident throughout the novel, which is explored through how dangerous the moors really are due to the vast number of unexpected storms for example. It is this treacherous weather during the novel that forces Lockwood to stay the night at Wuthering Heights, which is where he sees Catherine’s ghost. It is also important to understand that gothic novels often involve ghosts, which are seen on a number of occasions throughout the novel.

  Within gothic novels is the traditional Gothic hero/villain. In the case of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is this mysterious figure, which destroys the women he pursues. Associated with this concept is a hint of necrophilia when Heathcliff views Catherine’s corpse and plans to be buried next to her and the hint of incest in the concept of being raised as brother and sister.

  Romantic Genre/Novel

  The Romantic novel or genre was a revolt against classicism. It aimed at humanism and the belief of the return of goodness in humanity. It also simply emphasised the importance of human emotion and passion over reason, which reverts back to the medieval concept that was taken over by the renaissance movement from the 1600’s. It also focuses upon the rediscovery of the performer as a supreme individual creator and the development of nationalistic pride. This genre is widely considered in Wuthering Heights.

  The rivalry within the novel often tends to reject literary conventions. In many situations a novel often verges on turning into something else, such as poetry or drama. But on the contrary, Wuthering Heights shows realism in presenting Yorkshire and life and the precision of dates and hours, as they interlink into the dreamlike and the supernatural. This brings us to the point that Emily Bronte refuses to be constrained by convention, which in parts is why her novel is a classic.

  Within Gothic fiction, the buildings are central to the meaning; wild nature, supernatural, madness, dream, physical violence and perverse sexuality are set off against social conventions. This may create the impression of two books, but they do finally merge.

  The protagonists force or are driven by an irresistible passion, lust curiosity, ambition, envy, pride and intellect. The emphasis place upon the desire for the exceeding of expectations, to try and overcome the body’s limitations, of society rather than their moral crimes. These expectations from the characters can often lead to the overpower of emotion, which sometimes leads to violent excesses, such as Heathcliff’s continual harassment of Hareton and hanging Isabella’s dog.

  For the viewer of Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights, the ending is quite unsatisfactory or displeasing simply because she desires an ambiguous ending, which accounts for all of the loose ends and explains any uncertainties. The preference for the open ending is ultimately bathos and a last ditch effort to resist the limits of convention.

  In summary Romanticism is characterised by rivalry against literary conventions, buildings and how they relate to the central meaning, the ambiguous endings and the passionate characters within novels. All of these concepts are evident within Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, however this still does not make it a romantic genre or novel.

  Novel Of Manners

  A novel of manners simply focuses upon the social customs, idiosyncrasies and habits of an individual or social group. This type of novel focuses upon the role of each individual character and how they are a part of the social group. In relation to Wuthering Heights, there is a vast amount of evidence in relation to this concept.

  From the start, Heathcliff is labelled as an outsider or “dark skinned gypsy” or he didn’t belong in the social group. It is important for the viewer to recognise that social group or class of Emily Bronte is very similar to the social groups in her novel Wuthering Heights. Within the novel, the social group, the upper class in Victorian England around the 19th century was heavily focused upon.

  Throughout the novel customs are very evident. Custom of keeping a family’s wealth within the family, which is very evident when Hindley acquires Wuthering Heights after Mr Earnshaw, passes away. Upper class people also had slaves, which is evident in the novel through Nelly Dean and Joseph. There is also a sign of power in this social group, as they didn’t work. This is evident in Wuthering Heights as both the Earnshaw and Linton family’s occupations are never at all mentioned.

  Wuthering Heights also explores the unsocial behaviour within the novel by presenting a simple situation where the central protagonists are made to accept or take a visitor and due to the family’s isolation, they appear unfriendly and therefore they create a “perfect misanthropists heaven”.

• 8    brettasaurus // May 30, 2007 at 9:39 pm

  Gothic: Literature is often associated with a satanic evil presence. Most people feel that the gothic genre has sinister themes throughout the work. The gothic genre is closely linked to romantic works, despite the obvious irony; the gothic genre usually evokes high emotions in people.
  Wuthering Heights was written in a way to satisfy the gothic genre and way of thinking. The main reason Wuthering Heights can be studied as a gothic novel is through the characterization of Heathcliff.

  Romantic: All romantic literatures have one aspect in common; they all evoke high emotions in the reader. Wuthering Heights was criticized when it was first published because of the character, Heathcliff. Many critics thought it was socially unacceptable to right about such a person. An evil person like Heathcliff that was out for revenge was not a common theme in novels around this time. This theme creates high emotions in the readers, especially around the times when it was first released.
  As well as evil characters seeking revenge, another theme in Wuthering Heights is marriage. When Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights the concept of marriage was unlike that of today’s. Marriage was an agreement to a family name and assets from the family, it was a lot more shallow and impersonal. In Wuthering Heights, marriage plays a large part in the story, and the characters marry for love, contrary to social beliefs. The characters in Wuthering Heights act and value different ideas to the people in the time period that the book was released, and this caused great emotion in the reader.

• 9    Bailey // May 31, 2007 at 5:54 pm

  1. i) Define Gothic and show codes and signals- the gothic novel comes from England between 1790 and 1830 but extends much further than just this time period. Gothic novels include supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terror pervading the action. The setting is often a dark mysterious castle that is occupied by ghosts and sinister humans. Gothic elements include:
  * Ancient prophecy, especially mysterious, obscure, or hard to understand.
  * Mystery and suspense
  * High emotion, sentimentalism, but also pronounced anger, surprise, and especially terror
  * Supernatural events (e.g. a giant, a sighing portrait, ghosts or their apparent presence, a skeleton)
  * Omens, portents, dream visions
  * Fainting, frightened, screaming women
  * Women threatened by powerful, impetuous male
  * Setting in a castle, especially with secret passages
  * The metonymy of gloom and horror (wind, rain, doors grating on rusty hinges, howls in the distance, distant sighs, footsteps approaching, lights in abandoned rooms, gusts of wind blowing out lights or blowing suddenly, characters trapped in rooms or imprisoned)
  * The vocabulary of the gothic (use of words indicating fear, mystery, etc.: apparition, devil, ghost, haunted, terror, fright)

  2. i) Define Romantic- for a novel to be included in the romantic genre it must place emphasis on the romantic connection between two people. The conflict involved in the novel must be a direct result of the romantic connection between the two characters and the themes of development of a relationship. As well as this the story must include an ending that is emotionally satisfying for the reader. Generally Romantic novels punish those who do evil and reward those who act in a moral way. Author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying “The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, and all of those things we really want.”

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