After reading the section on feminist criticism I couldn't help notice both ideal perspectives, as well as some that seemed uniquely real. This naturally made me curious about what Lyn Pykett might have to say from a feminist perspective on Wuthering Heights. She begins with an excerpt, and thereafter immediately dives in. Her evaluation is thorough and well organized. The totality of her article is to examine both Catherines, and determine how each came to define themselves. This allows her to suggest which is meant to be the better of the two.
As she points out, the first Catherine seeks her identity in the status quo by choosing what appears to be the rational, and prudent path. However, her story is unique in the sense that the purpose is to understand the consequences of such a choice, and evaluate exactly how rational it is. The question becomes nearly equivalent to asking how much freedom should a woman give up for the sake of security. In the case of the first Catherine, she makes the decision to compromise freedom for security, and ultimately suffers because of it.
Cathy shares a similar story in terms of the decisions she is forced to make, but her history is the opposite of her mother's which has uniquely positioned her to perhaps make a better decision. Her mother's childhood was one of freedom as opposed to security. In contrast, Cathy has grown up rather privileged, and yet extremely protected with many limitations on freedom. It is ultimately for this reason that Cathy is eventually able to choose the path of passion and forget about prudence.
It is interesting how personal the subject is despite the somewhat removed nature of the story. I believe many of the choices presented to the characters are the same choices faced on a general scale, and yet the specificity of the story allows a different interpretation on how a given person should respond to those choices. On the surface it seems to suggest that love and passion triumph over rationality and prudence. I would suggest that at its core is not the abolition of rationality, but merely a reinterpretation of what is rational.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
And they lived happily ever after?
I must say unapologetically, that almost the entire read was frustrating. While it would seem likely that this is due to overly complicated character relationships, I do not believe this is the only reason. Simply put, the entire thing was both predictable, and yet incalculable at the same time.
The general tone at the beginning of this section is one of oppression and despair. One hardly believes that anything positive could ever happen for anyone who is forced, and I mean literally forced, to be among Heathcliff. As dreary as it sounds, it was actually encouraging to me that the text seemed to acknowledge that while we all have hopes and dreams, if we are not in power we cannot achieve these things except at the mercy of forces we cannot tame.
I seem to be upset about some sort of inconsistency, and yet as I reflect it seems to remain consistent in a profoundly upsetting way. The happy ending achieved is consistent with what I believed was being said about forces beyond our control determining the outcome. Heathcliff is a prominent force, but there are things which even he cannot fend off, namely love and death. His obsessive love eventually makes the other character's situations less oppressive, and his fortuitous death allows for their liberation.
As I mentioned, the ending is both predictable and incalculable. Predictable in the sense that "they lived happily ever after" is a sort of expectation, and incalculable in the sense that the oppressed characters themselves should have no reason to expect this outcome. It seems to reward a naive sense of idealism, while at the same time acknowledging the constraints of human nature. I still wonder if perhaps I'm missing something, and admit I am eager to hear other opinions. It seems that I have changed mine in the course of this post, so I must assume that there is more to be considered.
The general tone at the beginning of this section is one of oppression and despair. One hardly believes that anything positive could ever happen for anyone who is forced, and I mean literally forced, to be among Heathcliff. As dreary as it sounds, it was actually encouraging to me that the text seemed to acknowledge that while we all have hopes and dreams, if we are not in power we cannot achieve these things except at the mercy of forces we cannot tame.
I seem to be upset about some sort of inconsistency, and yet as I reflect it seems to remain consistent in a profoundly upsetting way. The happy ending achieved is consistent with what I believed was being said about forces beyond our control determining the outcome. Heathcliff is a prominent force, but there are things which even he cannot fend off, namely love and death. His obsessive love eventually makes the other character's situations less oppressive, and his fortuitous death allows for their liberation.
As I mentioned, the ending is both predictable and incalculable. Predictable in the sense that "they lived happily ever after" is a sort of expectation, and incalculable in the sense that the oppressed characters themselves should have no reason to expect this outcome. It seems to reward a naive sense of idealism, while at the same time acknowledging the constraints of human nature. I still wonder if perhaps I'm missing something, and admit I am eager to hear other opinions. It seems that I have changed mine in the course of this post, so I must assume that there is more to be considered.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Going somewhere?
Wuthering Heights begins with a man named Lockwood, who is recording life memories in his diary. He describes a rather dreadful encounter with a man by the name of Heathcliff. His general demeanor is all too appropriately summed up in the imagery evoked by the word wuther. Fierce and uninviting, Lockwood finds himself immediately dealing with conlicts from fending off dogs, to being falsely accused and thought a liar.
While many of the character relationships were difficult to grasp immediately, over time it became more concrete as the different relationships corresponded with different attitudes that were pervasive throughout Bronte's writing. It is clear that the novel was influenced by social prejudice of the day. There is a strong sense of social status, and the struggle between upper and lower classes seems to be the main conflict of the novel.
Lockwood eventually is stuck at Wuthering Heights for an evening due to an incredible snow storm. It is perhaps a simple reminder that we are all subject to nature. He eventually is led to a special section of the house where the story really starts to heat up. Three names, all with the first name Catherine, have been scratched into the paint which is just eerie in and of itself. Then he finds a diary that sheds light on the history of Wuthering Heights, and gives us information about Catherine. Once it has been put into historical perspective, Heathcliff's attitude makes a little bit more sense.
Lockwood falls asleep, and is awakened after having horrible dreams. Of course his reality gets much worse than even his nightmare because the ghost of Catherine tries to snatch him up out of the window, so to speak. Although this account seems suspicious at first, Heathcliff rushes in and begs Catherine to return, but to no avail. The next morning Lockwood is returned home, and requests that his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, tell him about Wuthering Heights.
It turns out that Heathcliff was an orphan taken in by Catherine's family known as the Earnshaw's. Her brother Hindley eventually becomes jealous because Heathcliff is treated well despite his crummy orphan history. It is at this point that the struggle between class becomes most obvious. Heathcliff is completely at the mercy of someone other than himself for social standing, and this eventually betrays him and costs him his love with Catherine.
She eventually marries a man named Edgar because of his stable social status. Although she loves Heathcliff, she still chooses the safe option. There is an ambiguous three year period in which Heathcliff apparently acquires wealth and supposedly becomes a new man. Although he certainly seems to walk the walk, there is still a subtle question mark hanging over him. It is in this suspension that we have been left.
Thus far this story is great. I have never read it before now, but I certainly do appreciate a little mystery in a story. I also am inclined to take a more realistic approach to most things, and Bronte certainly brings that to the table with this.
While many of the character relationships were difficult to grasp immediately, over time it became more concrete as the different relationships corresponded with different attitudes that were pervasive throughout Bronte's writing. It is clear that the novel was influenced by social prejudice of the day. There is a strong sense of social status, and the struggle between upper and lower classes seems to be the main conflict of the novel.
Lockwood eventually is stuck at Wuthering Heights for an evening due to an incredible snow storm. It is perhaps a simple reminder that we are all subject to nature. He eventually is led to a special section of the house where the story really starts to heat up. Three names, all with the first name Catherine, have been scratched into the paint which is just eerie in and of itself. Then he finds a diary that sheds light on the history of Wuthering Heights, and gives us information about Catherine. Once it has been put into historical perspective, Heathcliff's attitude makes a little bit more sense.
Lockwood falls asleep, and is awakened after having horrible dreams. Of course his reality gets much worse than even his nightmare because the ghost of Catherine tries to snatch him up out of the window, so to speak. Although this account seems suspicious at first, Heathcliff rushes in and begs Catherine to return, but to no avail. The next morning Lockwood is returned home, and requests that his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, tell him about Wuthering Heights.
It turns out that Heathcliff was an orphan taken in by Catherine's family known as the Earnshaw's. Her brother Hindley eventually becomes jealous because Heathcliff is treated well despite his crummy orphan history. It is at this point that the struggle between class becomes most obvious. Heathcliff is completely at the mercy of someone other than himself for social standing, and this eventually betrays him and costs him his love with Catherine.
She eventually marries a man named Edgar because of his stable social status. Although she loves Heathcliff, she still chooses the safe option. There is an ambiguous three year period in which Heathcliff apparently acquires wealth and supposedly becomes a new man. Although he certainly seems to walk the walk, there is still a subtle question mark hanging over him. It is in this suspension that we have been left.
Thus far this story is great. I have never read it before now, but I certainly do appreciate a little mystery in a story. I also am inclined to take a more realistic approach to most things, and Bronte certainly brings that to the table with this.
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