Literary Criticism

In Dennis Bloomfield's literary criticism, he dissects Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights by finding a common theme, and explaining how they develop the plot of the story. He proposes sickness and death as themes that develop the plot, and the meaning and reason why they would be included in a story. Death is a concept that is fairly simple to understand, however Bloomfield not only mentions physical sicknesses of the characters, but mental ones aswell. Death causes a physical and emotional imbalance between characters in the story because with every death that occurs, each character feels loneier and lonelier. For example, in the beginning of the story, Bloomfield says that Mrs Earnshaw's death causes an imbalance in the Earnshaw household. This imbalance is felt because with Mrs Earnshaws departure, Hindley no longer has that "other person" that dislikes Heathcliff as much as he does, making him feel lonelier, affecting his attitude toward the rest of the family. Mental illness is also a focus in Bloomfield's criticism bringing Heathcliff to attention as an example. When Catherine dies in childbirth, it causes Heathcliff to go insane, constantly saying how he wants Catherine to haunt him, which is very unusual in society. Having read this criticism, it makes me realize that Wuthering Heights was not meant to be a conventional love story. It was meant to emphasize flaws and problems that occurred in both families. In addition to the flaws that Bronte already shows her readers, she makes it more interesting by making "illness" a more imminent and complex theme. She engages her readers by showing a variety of sicknesses, making them more interested in how the characters deal with them. It has furthered my knowledge in the book, because it makes me realize how emotionally and physically capable the characters are, making the rest of the book much easier to