Duty and desire in Jane Eyre

How is the conflict between duty and desire explored in these texts? Desire is a term conveying a longing for a certain object, person or outcome. It is an emotion from the heart and is unaffected by social opinion. Duty, in contrast, is a moral obligation to an act, which is perceived to be selfless. The decisions made regarding these emotions are significant throughout 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wide Sargasso Sea'. However, these definitions were more extreme during the time that Brontë and Rhy's texts were written. In the 19th century, it was considered a completely selfish act for women to show desire, it was a vulgar emotion that women were expected to control and conceal. The female role during the 1800's was limited; they were expected to be passive and were passed from father to husband, similar to a possession. To perform one's duty to society was regarded as an unspoken rule imposed on all women, therefore, women never truly had the chance to express their true identity or gain real independence. The 19th century conflict between duty and desire was a key topic written about by many authors, predominately women, who illustrated personal experiences and beliefs through the characters and their decisions. In both Bronte's and Rhy's novels the authors illustrate the limitations imposed on women, society's views and expectations concerning the conflict, and the importance of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Critics suggest that Wuthering Heights is a novel concerned with boundaries. Explore the effect of these boundaries in relation to the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff.

Critics suggest that 'Wuthering Heights' is a novel concerned with boundaries. Explore the effect of these boundaries in relation to the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff. Throughout 'Wuthering Heights', physical and metaphorical boundaries are crucial in communicating Emily Brontë's moral messages about the position of women in 19th Century society and the barriers separating individuals of different social status. Both of these themes are conveyed by the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff as Catherine is forced to forsake her true love and instead marry Edgar Linton because he is socially acceptable, "And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighbourhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband" and Heathcliff is of lower social standing, "It would degrade [Catherine] to marry Heathcliff". The social barrier between Heathcliff and Catherine manifests itself in a myriad of ways during the novel and is eventually broken by Hareton and Cathy- the new generation of residents on the moors. This conclusion was clearly a statement of intent from Emily Brontë which suggested the oppressive boundaries of the 19th Century patriarchal society would ultimately be eradicated by a new generation of Britons- a view which was vindicated after Brontë's tragic death, as the Suffragettes earned women the right to vote and various

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Gothic Elements of Wuthering Heights

'The Gothic elements of Wuthering Heights are made credible by the novel's setting and narrators.' How far would you agree with this view? Some would argue that the novel's setting is particularly important in establishing the novels Gothic elements, in particular relations between past and present, the medieval and modernity. The contrast between the two houses, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, for instance, which has been seen as carrying such metaphysical significance, is not left a generalised level, but is grounded in specific details which reveal the time, place, and class of their opponents. The house at Wuthering Heights is a functional place, marked by dogs, guns and oatcakes which are part of a feudal agricultural economy, while Thrushcross Grange is a place of leisure, distinctly Victorian aristocratic, characterised by products of other people's labour - carpets, chandeliers, sweet cakes, and lap dogs. It is therefore possible to extract historical opposition between these two settings, with the Earnshaws, the yeomen farmers who work of the land, being replaced by the genteel way of the Lintons who live of their rents. This relationship with the past, which is juxtaposed with the 'new' world of Victorian decadence, is an important element of the Gothic which is brought to life by Bronte's description of these different abodes and their occupants. The

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  • Level: AS and A Level
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Wuthering Heights. The narrative tale tells the story of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

Wuthering Heights' first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell is written by Emily Bronte and it is her only novel. Emily Bronte used the name 'Ellis Bell' due to the fact that this book was published in the 1800's when women hardly had any rights therefore Emily Bronte thought it better to use a male name as both her sister's did. The word 'Wuthering' means turbulent weather in Yorkshire language; therefore it is used to describe the disastrous weather on the moors where this story is based. This book uses very old and intricate language as it is set way back in the 1800's. The haunting intensity of Catherine Earnshaw's attachment to Heatchcliff is the focus of this novel in which relations between men and women are described with an emotional and imaginative power unparalleled in English fiction. The narrative tale tells the story of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them. Catherine and Heathcliff had always been very close to each other and were always indivisible. But miserably, they were indeed separated many times due to many various reasons. Catherine and Heathcliff turned into soul mates only a few days after Mr Earnshaw found a 'black gypsy' wandering on the silent and violent streets of Liverpool and decided to

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Conflict in Wuthering Heights. The conflict between nature and culture which forms part of the thematic structure of Wuthering Heights, is played out in the relationship between the two houses: Wuthering Heights which represents nature and

The conflict between nature and culture which forms part of the thematic structure of 'Wuthering Heights', is played out in the relationship between the two houses: Wuthering Heights which represents nature and Thrushcross Grange representing culture. This conflict can be interpreted in many ways, for instance in historical terms as a rural way of life contends against industrialisation; in psychological ways as a struggle between the ego and the id and in sexual terms as a choice between experience and representation. From the very beginning the narrator, Mr Lockwood identifies himself as a man of culture, he comes from a 'civilised society' and appropriately is living at the Grange. He, like the reader, is an outsider to the Wuthering Heights and his description of the 'stunted firs', 'gaunt thorns' and the 'narrow windows' creates a chilling and unwelcoming atmosphere. The name of the place also reflects this situation; 'Wuthering' meaning stormy hinting gothic elements. Mr Lockwood states the house is 'completely removed from the stir of society'; it is surrounded by the moors which symbolise freedom posed by nature, were Mr Heathcliff and Catherine's bond first developed. There is also almost a conflict among the house with the ill-tempered characters and its description; for instance, Mr Lockwood 'detected' that the name of the house is 'Hareton Earnshaw' yet it is

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  • Word count: 997
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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