Heathcliff has been described as both an archetypal romantic hero and an intrinsically evil villain - Explore the contradictory character of Heathcliff in “WutheringHeights”, with reference to these generic categories.

Heathcliff has been described as both an archetypal romantic hero and an intrinsically evil villain. Explore the contradictory character of Heathcliff in "Wuthering Heights", with reference to these generic categories. "She abandoned them under a delusion" he said, "picturing in me a hero of romance and expecting unlimited indulgences from my chivalrous devotion." Heathcliff is portrayed as a villain but at the same time, a romantic hero. It seems that he is double edged. He schemes to get Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, but he is not always so vengeful and rancorous. For example, when the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw came to the window, he wept for her and begged for her to come back. "Come in! Come in! Cathy do come. Oh do once more! Oh! My heart's darling! Hear me this time, Catherine at last!" in this he shows his hypersensitive side and emotional side. He begs Catherine to go to him and be with him forever. However, his vengeful side does get the better of him quite often and demonstrates him to be gothic, dark, evil and morose. "Though it's as dark, almost as if it came from the devil." This explains his gothic and dark approach. The evil and morose trait is unveiled with Hindley, where he swears revenge on him for all the grief and pain Hindley inflicted on Heathcliff. Hindley was so callous and malicious towards Heathcliff and always belittled him as well as

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Wuthering Hieghts - Why does Heathcliff change so dramatically during the course of the story?

ENGLISH COURSEWORK (PART TWO) WUTHERING HIEGHTS ESSAY ABOUT A PART OF THE STORY Why does Heathcliff change so dramatically during the course of the story? In this essay I'm going to explain the reasons why Heathcliff changes during the course of the story. Heathcliff changes from a person called "it" who's being beaten, to a man and an aggressive person. But at the end he changes again, he becomes distant and detached from the world around him. By "change" we mean how his personality, attitude and reactions towards others differs throughout the story. Now I have looked back over the whole story, there are two or three main and decisive reasons why Heathcliff's changed: his mistreatment by Hindley, Cathy's "degrading" speech making him leave, and his plans for revenge on the people who have treated him badly. Heathcliff was treated unfairly from the very beginning, by being called "it", but his treatment got worse when Hindley became master of the house, after Mr Earnshaw died. This may have been the first trigger to make Heathcliff change. Hindley and his persistent beating of Heathcliff helped this change. An example of this is when the two of them were in the stables when "Hindley put out his tongue, and cuffed him over the ears ". Another example of this was when Heathcliff was flocked by Hindley and Joseph for not going to church. At this point Heathcliff never

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Examine the significance of place in Wuthering Heights.

Sophie Johnstone Examine the significance of place in Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte uses the idea of place in Wuthering Heights to portray many themes; the three main places within the novel are Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange and the moors. Each one is very significant and symbolises it's own issue. Wuthering Heights is dark, inhospitable and fortress like, as if built for defence, "The narrow windows are deeply set into the wall and corners defended with large jutting stones", the residents of the house are also very defensive and the setting of the house frames the mood of the characters, " 'I don't want your help,' she snapped", the idea that the house changes the behaviour of the characters comes into motion at this point. However at the end of the novel I feel that this concept is reversed as the atmosphere of the house is completely changed and this is due to the characters who live there, "Both doors and lattices were open; and, yet, as is usually the case in a coal district, a fine, red fire illumined the chimney..." Wuhering Heights is a house, which is difficult to get to and where the wind blows and howls outside it, causing the 'stunted' fir trees to 'excessively slant'. The house is constantly battered by the Yorkshire weather but always manages to withstand it, just like Catherine and Heathcliff's passion for each other withstands anything. When the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Wuthering heights - Comparison, both inadvertent and direct, between the Linton and Earnshaw families - I am going to focus on the portrayal of these two families in chapter 6 of the novel.

Refer to chapter 6 of Wuthering Heights and comment upon Bronte's presentation of the Earnshaw and Linton households In Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering heights, published in 1847, there is a great deal of comparison, both inadvertent and direct, between the Linton and Earnshaw families. I am going to focus on the portrayal of these two families in chapter 6 of the novel. The chapter begins with the news of Hindley Earnshaw's new wife, Frances. We learn of this addition to the Earnshaw household upon his return to Wuthering Heights for the occasion of his Father's funeral. Already we have been introduced to the idea of the 'one out one in' theme that seems so popular when the Earnshaw family is involved. The narrator in this chapter is Nelly, and her portrayal of this new wife is somewhat scathing, describing her as 'rather thin', and telling us, 'I thought she was half silly, from her behaviour'. When we are hearing of Frances, we also hear a little about the interior of Wuthering Heights, 'his wife expressed such great pleasure at the white floor and huge glowing fireplace, at the pewter dishes and delf-case, and dog kennel, and the wide space there was to move about in where they usually sat, that he thought it unnecessary to her comfort.' This is one of the rare occasions that Wuthering Heights is portrayed as a comfortable and idealistic Victorian home. This description

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Pre-1914 Prose Study - "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë. To what extent is Heathcliff a Gothic hero?

GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE COURSEWORK Pre-1914 Prose Study - "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë To what extent is Heathcliff a Gothic hero? Gothic genre is style of fiction characterised by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious or violent incidents. It is designed to both horrify and fascinate readers with scenes of passion and cruelty with the supernatural elements and a dark and foreboding atmosphere. This new and fearful genre grew during the last decades of the eighteenth century which was a new and fearful time with the rise of Romanticism in European culture. The phantom of social revolution is manifest in the supernatural "spectre" of the gothic where a crumbling way of life emerges as a haunted manor and the loss of English identity becomes the gothic hero's or heroine's search for identity. The constitutions of a gothic novel includes an oppressive and cruel chief character whose evil characteristics and diabolical personality appeal to ones sense of owe, the melodramatic aspects of romance or more specifically in the gothic motive of a persecuted maiden forced apart from a true love. The Gothic was not just associated with literature but it is also a very famous style of architecture. In Europe, all types of buildings were constructed on the ancient architectural designs of the medieval period. Therefore, we find cathedrals such as the

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In order to understand how Austen satirises Gothic fiction it is necessary to understand what is meant by the term Gothic and why Austen is seemingly attacking this genre.

Northanger Abbey is generally perceived to be a Neo-classical parody of Gothic fiction. In order to understand how Austen satirises Gothic fiction it is necessary to understand what is meant by the term Gothic and why Austen is seemingly attacking this genre. The Gothic novel, it is said, came into existence with Walpole's Castle of Otranto although some trace it back to the supernatural events of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth. The term Gothic is taken from a highly decorative, and some would say excessive, form of Architecture. The central themes of Gothic novels are their excessiveness and their inexplicable and convoluted plot lines. They tend to be extremely formulaic with castles, chains, ghouls and the ever present heroine of questionable bloodlines. The Gothic Novel is also extreme with extremes of situation, language and feeling. This is in marked contrast with the Neo-classical mistrust of emotion. The Neo-classical age is also known as " The Age of Reason ". The Eighteenth Century saw many leaps forward in the fields of Medicine, Science and Industry. The whole era is characterised by its reason and judgement, its clearheaded pragmatism and a dislike of the superstition of the earlier periods. Those who embraced this new age felt they could achieve excellence in all fields by emulating the Classical age of the Greeks and the Romans. The Neo-classical writers were

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  • Level: GCSE
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Character Analysis of Heathcliff In Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights

Character Analysis of Heathcliff In Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights, the major character Heathcliff is a difficult to understand. He goes from a being an innocent victim to a self-centered, spiteful individual. He is determined to get revenge on many of the characters, which causes his characteristics, both good and bad, to show. Heathcliff is presented as an embodiment of dark powers. He is described by most characters as being evil or representing the devil. Edgar Linton describes him as a "most diabolical" man. His own son shrinks from him and Heathcliff exclaims, "You would imagine I was the devil himself - to excite such horror." (153) But Isabella Linton is the character that leaves the reader with the strongest impression that Heathcliff is devil-like. She writes a letter to Nelly telling of the conditions she is leaving under and the horrible way Heathcliff treats her. She says, "Is Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? If he is not, is he a devil?" (100) She also considers him to be "a monster and not a human being." Heathcliff declares that since he cannot punish Edgar for causing Catherine's illness, he will punish Isabella in his place. Heathcliff's abuse of Isabella is purely sadistic. It is amusing to him seeing how she can take his abuse and still come back for more. In these ways, he is very much like the devil. Naturally, the treatment he receives at

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Emily Bronte intend for the reader to respond to the character if Catherine in chapters 9 and 10? Examine closely her behaviour and her motives.

How does Emily Bronte intend for the reader to respond to the character if Catherine in chapters 9 and 10? Examine closely her behaviour and her motives. Bronte intends for the reader's response to Catherine in chapters 9 and 10 to be one of mixed emotions towards this centralised character. Previously she has appeared selfish, spiteful and unaware of the world around her. This is also emphasised with a different side to Catherine. She is here older and appears to be not any wiser. The reader witnesses that her feelings have matured towards Heathcliff and that she is becoming a woman. Catherine has some exceptional qualities. When she confides in Nelly she cares enough to make sure that Heathcliff does not hear her as she asks "where is Heathcliff?" Catherine also admits to being "very unhappy" and this indicates that she isn't sure what to do. She asks for Nelly's advice about the proposal from Edgar and asks "say whether I should have done so." She needs help and advice although she pretends to be sure of herself. This is showed when Nelly asks her "why do you love Edgar." Catherine replies "Nonsense I do - that's sufficient." She is very adamant that she will keep her private reasons to herself and that she doesn't need to explain. This also shows that she is spoilt and thinks that she is always right. When she finally does describe to Nelly what she likes about Edgar she

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront, symbolism is used continuously throughout, making it a brilliant, gripping story. In this essay I will be explaining how Bront uses it, like using physical appearances of each person to emphasise their character.

BRONTË USES IMAGERY EFFECTIVELY TO EMPHASISE THE CHARACTERS OF HEATHCLIFF, CATHERINE AND LINTON AND THEIR COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NOVEL. DISCUSS THIS STATEMENT In the novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, symbolism is used continuously throughout, making it a brilliant, gripping story. In this essay I will be explaining how Brontë uses it, like using physical appearances of each person to emphasise their character. I will also be writing about the way she describes the settings and how they are built or decorated to again enhance or create analogies of each character. Brontë not only uses these but also by cleverly making what each person says and how they say it, makes it be symbolic of what they are like. The weather and the atmosphere that they live in creates a picture of what is going on at certain points in the novel, like if characters are in an argumentative mood the weather will be dark which symbolises that state of mind. At the more poignant points in the text Brontë even refers to the supernatural or to natural phenomena to emphasise or illustrate the deep emotions of that person. Many metaphors and similes are used and also heaven and hell to symbolise the extreme parts of the story. All these brilliant techniques and devices create a great, powerful story of love and revenge. Firstly I will explore the ways that the buildings and settings

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  • Level: GCSE
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Wuthering Heights is a novel of comparative pairing. Discuss.

Wuthering Heights is a novel of comparative pairing. Discuss. Wuthering Heights is, in many ways, a novel of juxtaposed pairs: Catherine's two great loves for Heathcliff and Edgar; the two ancient manors of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; the two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons; Heathcliff's conflicting passions of love and hate. Additionally, the structure of the novel divides the story into two contrasting halves. The first deals with the generation of characters represented by Catherine, Heathcliff, Hindley, Isabella, and Edgar, and the second deals with their children-young Catherine, Linton, and Hareton. Many of the same themes and ideas occur in the second half of the novel as in the first half, but they develop quite differently. While the first half ends on a note of doom and despair with Catherine's death and Heath-cliff's gradual descent into evil, the novel as a whole ends on a note of hope, peace, and joy, with young Catherine's proposed marriage to Hareton Earnshaw. In the first of the chapters in this section, we witness the event that marks the dividing line between the two halves of the novel: Catherine's death. The episodes surrounding her passing-her dramatic illness, her confrontation with Heathcliff, Heathcliff's conflict with Edgar, and Heathcliff's curse upon her soul to walk the earth after her death (contrasting immediately with

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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