"Critic Raymond Williams has said that there can be no one definition of tragedy: tragic experiences are dependant on period and context. Examine the presentation of tragic experiences in your text in the light of this comment."
English Essay "Critic Raymond Williams has said that there can be no one definition of tragedy: tragic experiences are dependant on period and context. Examine the presentation of tragic experiences in your text in the light of this comment." Tragedy has evolved over time from the original concept produced by the Greeks, through Shakespearean Tragedy to Modern Tragedy as used by playwrights such as Arthur Miller. Tragedy is defined as a play dealing with tragic events and ending unhappily with the downfall of the protagonist. More specifically, tragedy has evolved into a specific form, typically with a prologue, two or three acts and an epilogue which tell the story of how the natural order is distorted and then restored after the downfall of the protagonist. Their downfall comes as a result of their fatal flaw, or hamartia. Examples of this include Macbeth and ambition, Hamlet and indecision and Eddie Carbone and pride. Wuthering Heights contains a variety of tragic experiences, many of which involve Heathcliff in both himself and his dealings with other characters. Heathcliff can be portrayed as the tragic hero in Wuthering Heights. If his social position is taken at face value - in that he is nothing more than a homeless orphan who is taken in by the altruistic Mr Earnshaw - then his meteoric rise in social position after initial degradation, ending with his death and
"From what you've learnt from Lockwood in the first 3 chapters, to what extent would it surprise you to learn how little Nelly's "extraordinary tale of passion" seem to affect him?
"From what you've learnt from Lockwood in the first 3 chapters, to what extent would it surprise you to learn how little Nelly's "extraordinary tale of passion" seem to affect him? We first meet Lockwood as narrator when he gives an account of his first meeting with Heathcliff. He misreads Heathcliff as a misanthropist loner, and talks in sarcastic tone when talking about Heathcliff being a "capitol fellow". The account he gives us is intended to make us sympathise with himself and to disregard Heathcliff as a jealous possessive man, incapable of friendly chat that Lockwood tries hard to engage him in. Lockwood is fully aware of his intrusion into Heathcliffs solitary world, as he is the one giving the account and includes the manner in which Heathcliff addresses him. "The walk-in was uttered with closed teeth and expressed the sentiment, 'go to the Deuce'". Here Lockwood contradicts himself by calling himself "exaggeratedly reserved", but continues to struggle to interact with Heathcliff. There is even a physical barrier - the gate on which Heathcliff leans - stopping him interacting with Heathcliff, but Lockwood continues to endure harshness of Heathcliffs language and tone, until he is invited in, and he physically breaks through the barrier with his horse. From this opening we learn that Lockwood lives in land owned by Heathcliff, and that Heathcliff is unsociable
"Different narrators affect not just how we are told something but what we are told" - Discuss the validity of this statement with reference to "WutheringHeights " by Emily Bronte.
"In everyday life, who narrates a story and how, make a very great difference...and the same is true of the novel. Different narrators affect not just how we are told something but what we are told." Discuss the validity of this statement with reference to "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. Lockwood and Nelly Dean are the two most obvious narrators in "Wuthering Heights", interwoven with Nelly's narration of the story are other narrators such as Catherine, Heathcliff and Isabella. "Wuthering Heights" is created via eyewitness narrations by the characters that play a part in what they narrate. Bronte occupies the reader directly with the feelings and reactions of the narrators; this technique is immediate and dramatic. This then allows the reader to have an insight of their life and events of it from the specific narrator's perspective. Lockwood as a narrator is symbolic of the reader, Lockwood is an outsider to the story and the reader uncovers the story at the same time as Lockwood. The majority of the story is narrated by Nelly Dean a housekeeper at "Wuthering Heights"; she herself plays a part in the story and often interferes in its events. Both could be seen as being unreliable as narrators, Lockwood because he is not a good judge of character and Nelly because she controls the perception of the reader of the various characters and the story itself. Lockwood is the
Examine the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff as presented in the first nine chapters of the novel
English Essay 7/10/01 Zenas Yiu Examine the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff as presented in the first nine chapters of the novel The relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff is central to the story of Wuthering Heights. Most events in the novel stem from this relationship and it plays a crucial part in getting Bronte's ideas across to the readers. Their physical and social difference makes their relationship fascinating and their different characteristics the more so. Their relationship was first hinted at when Lockwood reads Catherine's diary. She exclaims 'Poor Heathcliff' showing her sympathetic attitude to Heathcliff differentiated treatment - "won't let him sit with us, nor eat with us any more...he and I must not play together". Here, in the early stages of the novel, Bronte gives us a glimpse of their close relationship as childhood playmates. She elaborates further on in the novel via the mouth of Nelly Dean. Nelly first mentions the start of their relationship as a perpetually physical bond - "The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him." The reason for this close relationship was given to be Heathcliff's willingness to let Cathy act as the "mistress" and command him. This start to their relationship was convincing since Cathy's fiery and short-tempered character would not have made friends with anyone,
Wuthering Heights - The perspectives of Lockwood and Nellie
The Perspectives of Lockwood and Nellie The whole action in Wuthering Heights is presented to the reader in the form of the eyewitness accounts of Lockwood and Nellie. The narrative is complicated and interwoven because there is an intricate structure of time shifts. Lockwood provides the immediate narrative. This spans one year beginning in 1801 when he first meets Heathcliffe and ending in 1802 when he learns of the death of Heathcliffe. Nellie provides, through relating to Lockwood the back structure of the story. Nellie's back-story has a time span of 30 years. It begins in 1701 when she describes the arrival of Heathcliffe as a young boy and ends in 1802, the present day, as she recounts to Lockwood the death of Heathcliffe. Nellie's story is colourful and it is dramatically peppered with the smaller narratives of the other characters. The purpose of the narrative is to draw the reader into a position were we could judge the events from within much the same as Lockwood observes the "inner penetralium" of the Heights. We, like Lockwood find ourselves as the direct recipients of Nellie's narrative. We are immediately drawn into the dramatic lives of the characters. The background, the setting, the climate, the houses and the animals all take on a life of their own and images of past and present are flashed together like " a glare of white letters startled from the dark
Wuthering Heights is a Story About Love and Revenge; How Is The Gothic Genre Used To Create Its Dark Destructive Atmosphere.
Wuthering Heights is a Story About Love and Revenge; How Is The Gothic Genre Used To Create Its Dark Destructive Atmosphere. Introduction to the Gothic Genre The term 'gothic' originates from the Goths. The Goths were a barbaric tribe of German invaders of the third century. The word 'Gothic' symbolises cruelty, darkness and pure evil. Many of the first novels had very strong gothic themes. 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' by Anne Radcliffe is one example, which was written in the eighteenth century. The Gothic Genre doesn't just apply to novels; it also applies to architecture, culture, print and clothes. In the nineteenth century gothic genre divided into two sub-divisions, horror and detective fiction for example. Wilkie Collins 'The Moonstone' and 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Bastervilles' a Sherlock Holmes Story are both examples of detective fiction. An example of horror fiction is Bram Stoker's Frankenstein! The gothic genre is still popular in todays modern world, for example Stephen King's novels. The gothic genre is also popular in the cinema. The gothic criteria includes: isolation, brooding, eerie atmosphere, extreme weather, the supernatural, secrets, tragic past, medieval links, vulnerable central characters and an evil villain. Atmosphere Although the novel is a love story, the passion described is intense, violent and very destructive. The
Do you agree with the view that most readers despised Heathcliff?
Do you agree with the view that most readers despised Heathcliff? What are your feelings towards him? "Your cruelty rises from your greater misery! Lonely like the devil envious of him? Nobody loves you nobody will cry for you when you die." These words are spoken to Heathcliff near to the end of "Wuthering Heights" by his once - servant Nelly Dean, one of the novels narrators. By this by this stage in the novel, Heathcliff is despised; his revenge has made him hated. Yet at the beginning of the novel, hen an orphan, we sympathise with him. What is the reader's view of Heathcliff? Is he despised at all stages of the novel? Heathcliff was a young child with only one name. Mr. Earnshaw adopted him from Liverpool and brought him back a "dirty, ragged, black-haired child" to "Wuthering Heights". He lacked education and didn't have a mother or a father. He was called a "dark, shik gypsy". Although modern readers, are more sympathetic to Heathcliff. Readers sympathise with him at first, when Hindley mistreats him and he loses Cathy, but when he returns transformed, and his plan of vengeance begins to unfold, feelings change. Readers question his love for Cathy; Nelly says his love for Cathy is a "monomania". Heathcliff's name is generally surrounded with words like "hell", "devil", diabolical, infernal, and fiendish. Worst of all, he's unrepentant. "I've done no injustice,"
Wuthering Heights: Romanticism.
021 European History - Grade 10B Wuthering Heights: Romanticism The late eighteenth century saw the beginning of the romantic era, an artistic and intellectual movement. This period, shaped by political and social events such as the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, was a change from the earlier classical era of order and proportion. Such profound themes as nature, emotion, originality, and self-expression, began to influence different pieces of art and many works of writing. Authors produced literature that reflected this wild and free-spirited imagination, and their works dismissed the Enlightenment thinkers in their claims of reason, progress and universal truths. These writers, such as Emily and Charlotte Bronte, delved into worlds of superstition, the wild, the unfamiliar, the irregular and the dangerous. Other common elements involved in their works, included a renewed interest in Gothic romance elements, which explored the passionate dark sides of man. Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, is a novel of beautiful and mysterious nature, the supernatural, and extreme emotion, assembling one of the greatest Gothic novels of the late Romantic era. Nature, according to the Enlightenment philosopher Rousseau, was a source of inspiration and emotion, both stunning and mystifying. Authors of the late 18th century often described nature by intertwining
Wuthering Heights - What do we learn about the character of Heathcliff in this extract? (Chapter 15, vol.2, page 284-288)
Rob Williams Wuthering Heights: Exam Practice . What do we learn about the character of Heathcliff in this extract? (Chapter 15, vol.2, page 284-288) This extract whilst confirming and extending many of the character traits that we have previously seen in Heathcliff, also presents us with other sections of his persona that have not been revealed before in the novel. We see more examples, perhaps the most grotesque yet as it is dealt upon an innocent child, of his sadistic nature, yet we also learn of his pain and suffering inflicted on him by the dead Catherine. The younger Catherine hurts Heathcliff acutely in her naïve (but correct) criticism of him. She says that she would rather be the weak-willed Linton than Heathcliff, and says "No-one loves you-nobody will ever cry for you, when you die! I wouldn't be you!" This condemnation is too close to the truth for Heathcliff, her innocence penetrating his dour, misanthropic exterior, and in return Heathcliff says, "You shall be sorry to be yourself presently." Here we get an indication of the suffering that Heathcliff will inflict on the younger Catherine later in the novel. His sadistic nature is coming to the fore, the only way that he can relieve his pain later is the torture and imprisonment of Cathy, indeed he says to Nelly "...that lass (Cathy) owes me her services for her bread; I'm not going to nurture her in
A summary of the opening two chapters of Wuthering Heights.
The opening of the novel is started with a date (1801) and is written in first person narrative, `I have just returned from a visit to my land lord`, the novel is presented in this way to give the sense that this story is a transcript from someone's diary or memory on the events that have already occurred. This is important because it lets the feeling and emotions of the person or persons of the time and can give deeper depth to it. It can also make the emotions biased, which will give the reader certain opinions towards certain characters such as the incident between Mr heathcliff and Mr Lockwood; Heathcliff being the unwelcoming villain `walk in was uttered with closed teeth`, and Lockwood being the poor innocent gentlemen, `I hope that I have not inconvenienced you` Mr Lockwood (narrator) is presented as a vulnerable gentlemen that is almost abused by the cold unwelcoming people that seem to be maintaining a barrier towards him. There is evidence of this when he I attacked by the dogs, showing that even the dogs are unwelcoming; and all Heathcliff does to aid the man is to laugh, Heathcliff's coutence relax into a grin` The audience reading this would have been very biased because of the depth of detail Lockwood goes into about these events, this is all produced from the 1st person narrative being used. There are many occurrences throughout the play that portray a