In chapter one we get the impression that later on in the novel Heathcliff may have a connection with the theme on violence and anger this is because of the objects in the house which are described ‘villainous old guns, and a couple of horse pistols’. This tells us that some one who possesses such items may be a fierce person or the opposite so a coward, but judging from the tone and the manner that Heathcliff‘s character portrays to us in the beginning chapters it is more likely that he is going to be a fierce character and the guns may show a sign of control or power within the character himself. ‘Uttered so savagely’ ………‘The tone….revealed such a bad nature’.
Bronte has also linked other events in the beginning chapters with the theme of violence such as the ghost supposedly Catherine Linton, who comes to Lockwood ‘let me in, let me in’ ‘rubbed it to and fro till blood ran down’ these quotes tell us that the novel defiantly contains more images and expanded themes on violence which could lead to a dramatic ending. The theme of brutality and violence is dwelled upon even further as the novel prolongs. The incident with the dogs and Lockwood is an example of violence ‘broke in a fury and jumped on my knees’ and the incident with Heathcliff and Cathy ‘clenched his fist with every appearance of a meditated assault.’ We are able to get an idea into what themes may be used in this novel and at the same time we are able to find out more about the character by their actions taken.
Heathcliff is not the only character that is introduced to us in the beginning chapters, but we are also introduced to Lockwood. We are introduced to Lockwood as the narrator, but Bronte has cleverly disguised it is him speaking until the middle of the page. This could be because she wants us to get an impression that Lockwood is going to be a character who is never a part of things ‘ I began to feel unmistakably out of place’, but always in the lives of others. We also learn that Lockwood is a bit waffled he likes to speak a lot of nonsense and puts his foot in it at times ‘a beautiful animal’ ‘unlikely a pile of dead rabbits’ this could mean that Lockwood is going to be someone who can never be taken seriously and we are forced to make our own judgments on things as he can not be trusted so say or think right.
Lockwood is a significant character as we get to learn about Catherine through him we learn that Catherine is going to play a major part in the novel too, as she is introduced into the novel not as an actual person, but as a ghost, a spirit. This again can be linked back to the theme of death, violence and haunting. The way that Catherine is introduced to us makes us speculate on why she is coming to haunt the place and especially why to Lockwood as we already know that she is or was a real character when Lockwood finds her diary ‘ took a form of a regular diary’. When Catherine is introduced Bronte refers to negative cold descriptions such as ‘icy cold hand’ and ‘shiverlingly’. These images could relate to Catherine’s character and it could resemble her. Again, Bronte may want to indirectly inform us of what her character is likely to be and from these descriptions it tells us that Catherine is going to be a cold hearted character and someone who does not care about anyone else apart from herself. ‘Though everybody hated and despised each other, they could not avoid loving me’ this tells us how self-centered Catherine may be. The introduction to Catherine was an effective and interesting way as it enables Bronte to make the readers imaginations run wild and it keeps them reading on as they want to find out why Catherine is now a ghost and why she has come back to haunt the house.
During the opening few chapters we are also introduced to another character who is Hareton. We do not learn a great deal about Hareton in the opening few chapters, but we are introduced to his appearance ‘thick brown curls were rough and uncultivated’ ‘hands were embrowned’ Hareton’s presence in the beginning chapters is vital as it creates a relationship triangle with himself, Heathcliff and Catherine and we are soon very confused with Lockwood to how each of them are related to one and other. ‘You’re amiable lady’ ‘my amiable lady!’ ‘Not my son assuredly’. Emily Bronte has purposely added Hareton to show the first signs of confusion among characters and this confusing relationship triangle is carried on throughout the novel such as the love triangle between Edgar Linton, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff where both men loved one woman and she was torn between wealth.
We are also faced with many clues into foreshadowing future events that might develop as the novel progresses. The ideas are hidden and the reader will only be able to find them if they take the events further and think about what the symbolism may be in the rest of the novel. We touch upon the theme of love and passion in the first few chapters we see signs that the novel is going to be based on love ‘come in’ ‘oh do once more my hearts darling’ the way that Bronte has written this part feels so passionate that we instantly get the feeling that a big part of the novel will contain feelings of love, but we also know that it will not be so straight forward there will be complications. We can tell this from the connection with the ghost, the ghost represents something from the dead and it makes the reader feel at unease and have a sensation of something not being true or right this can be portrayed in the novel such as Heathcliffs and Catherine love at the beginning, but Catherine soon become tied with Edgar and ends up marring him or Heathcliff’s and Isabella’s marriage, Heathcliff only married her so he can get back at Edgar but Isabella’s intentions were true. All these are signs of love existing in one place or another but it is problematic twist somewhere in-between that love, such as death, separation, jealousy, cruelty or neglect.
I have already mentioned before the fact that violence and brutality will also be linked into the rest of the novel and the clues that we are given for that are the guns and the way that Heathcliff seems to snap and his actions at times reflects anger with in him. ‘Heathcliff lifted his hand’ ‘speaker sprang to a distance’. We can also link the theme of violence with Heathcliff and Hindley. Bronte has made sure that she has informed us of a conflict that went on between two of the characters, and after reading about this it enables us to predict that as the novel develops the conflict between Hindely and Heathcliff will continue until one will win. ‘…Heathcliff went to loose the beat’…’Hindely knocked him to his feet’ this shows how we see violence and conflict between the two characters at an early stage in the novel.
These are really the main themes that Bronte has introduced us to as she has given us quite a lot of information in the opening chapters to make us carry on reading to find out what happens she has provided us with little bits of the story on what happens so that we get a taste to what are the main ideas that will be explored through the novel.
The language in the novel changes in the opening few chapters as Bronte approaches the flash back, there is a contrast between the way that Bronte presents Lockwood, and the way he speaks and the way that Nelly dean speaks. Emily Bronte has used a contrast in characters as narrators so that we as the reader can now be more certain that Lockwood’s views are unreliable ‘it’s swarming with ghost and goblins’. His views can not be taken seriously as we could say did he really see a ghost? This is because we get an account that he was dreaming before so the ghost could also been apart of his dream. Bronte makes Nelly Dean speak she gets straight to the point, on the other hand Lockwood’s character would take the space of fifty words to mean one thing for example take these two quotes ‘one fine summer morning’ compared with ‘the first feathery flakes of the snow shower’. Emily Bronte shows a distinctive difference in the two characters, this is a technique that she has used so that is forces us to believe everything that Nelly Dean will say in the flash back as she is the only character who was present all throughout the time when the conflicts, deaths, fights and marriages took place between the two families the Earnshaws and the Linton’s therefore we have only one side of the story to believe and Emily Bronte has made Nelly Dean convincing enough for us to believe her. As we read further into the novel we are faced with a letter from Isabella ‘ I got a long letter’, Emily Bronte’s idea to add a letter was very effective as we are able to get another narrator in the novel. This provides us with more information into what Wuthering heights is like
‘An untidy, dingy hole’ and what life with Heathcliff is like ‘promised me that I should be Edgar’s proxy in suffering’.
After re-reading the first few chapters of Wuthering heights I realised that the beginning chapters served as an affective introduction to the rest of the novel. This is because Emily Bronte has indirectly given us information towards forth-coming themes and she has given information into some of the main characters which will appear in the novel. She has also given a clue about the atmospheric settings and where the characters are homed.
I think that the main reason to why Emily Bronte may have written a novel like this one is due to the social and historical influences she came across during the 1800. Emily Bronte grew up in a very isolated place herself so there are personal references reflected in the novel such as the emphasis on the intensity of the settings. Also as Emily Bronte lived in a very isolated place she was not touched directly by the industrial revolution this is probably why she did not base her novel on relevant social issues such as authors like Charles Dickens and Jane Austin who did. I also think that the period of time that she wrote this novel in has reflected in some of her characters. In the 1800 women were seen as being ‘degraded to their husbands’, I think that this has affected the way that Bronte has written the novel as she has made the women in this novel to not obey and do what ever their husbands say, but to have a mind of their own like Catherine. Later on in the novel we see that Catherine’s character is of a strong headed and powerful woman. She has also given more importance to the women in this novel for example if you look at Nelly Dean, she is the narrator. Nelly Deans character has a very important part to play in this novel as without her present in all the events that have took place between the two families their would be no one to tell us what happened apart from Joseph. But again you can see that Bronte has made Nelly Dean a woman to tell the story and not a Joseph who is a man. So many aspects have influenced the writer Emily Bronte into creating such a novel that astonished everyone. Many people were astonished by the topics she wrote about and many were astonished at her work.
Over all the first few chapters of the novel have created the base for our knowledge to expand and run wild on, Emily Bronte has made sure that she has included the most bizarre and unique events in the beginning so that it make us the reader carry on with the novel. Her technique has worked and the novel only gets better from the first chapters.
