When I first began to read this novel, I would find myself beginning to become very confused. The text begins in the middle of the tale, throwing the reader off quite a bit. It would appear, however, that this is the author’s intention. The entire reading that has been done so sort of throw the reader into this world that is very uncomfortable and a bit awkward. From the introduction, Linda Peterson makes lots of references to how Emily Brontë was raised on the moors, distant from most of civilization, so perhaps this sort of tone that the novel emits could be attributed to this alone. While the reader might feel uncomfortable and distant from the text, perhaps this is where the author felt the most comfortable.
I enjoyed the minor humor in the novel the most so far. A great example of this is from the very first chapter when Mr. Lockwood becomes trapped with the dogs that are sort of hell bent on attacking him. With little help from the table that he flips in an effort to create a barrier between him and the “beasts”, he continues to call for help, but no one seems to come running to his aid for quite some time.
However, this moment is also when we are introduced to Catherine, which becomes a depressing subject to a degree because her character is one of torment. Reading how tortured she is with being in love with Heathcliff but instead forcing herself to marry Edgar is great connection material for even modern readers. It’s a sort of “love the one you’re with” moral. I wonder if Brontë realized how long her text would continue to be relevant to readers?
3 comments:
I think you make an excellent point about the author writing in a tone with which she is comfortable. How selfish of us to assume that all literature must be straightforward and appeal to our familiar tastes. I think it is extremely likely that Bronte's childhood influenced her writing; growing up on the isolated, dreary moors contributed to the dark, Gothic style and setting of /Wuthering Heights/.
I also think you raise an interesting question in asking if Bronte was aware of the impact her novel would have for decades upon decades to come. Part of the introduction explained that, out of the Bronte sisters, Emily was least interested in fame. I'm sure that attitude coupled with /Wuthering Heights'/ initially unimpressive success, she had no idea that students in the twenty-first century would be reading her novel. I wonder how she would respond to our interpretation of her book today.
This book was a little confusing to me when I read it for the first time too. But after reading it for a second time, it made a lot more sense and I picked up quite a bit that I missed the first time.
I also noticed how he was mistreated at Wuthering Heights. A lot of times, they do not seem to care about him at all. Like when he asks for help getting back to his home in the blizzard, they refuse. After getting treated like this, I am not sure i would ever want to go anwhere around that place ever again. Especially after getting attacked by a ghost and then having the owner screaming at it to come back.
I agree with the mistreatment of Lockwood at Wuthering Heights. It's sort of comical to the way that they continue to just BLATANTLY mistreat him with things like screaming at the ghost to have it come back. I suppose, looking back now on the novel, Lockwood is sort of made out to be a bit of a buffoon throughout the novel that just sort of rides along, tolerating all this harassment.
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