Wuthering Heights
A text which is exemplary of Victorian society struggling to reconcile past ideas and beliefs with progress and modernity regarding the individual and society is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. By looking at the genre, setting, characters and plot it can be seen how the difference between Gothic romance and Victorian realism is used to convey the struggle for individualism in an era of great social precariousness. An inspection of how these convey the social problems encountered by these characters during this era and their ability to move forward by the end of the novel is discussed.
In terms of the genre of the novel Bronte herself rebels against Victorian society by selecting to write a Gothic romance devoid of both possibility and probability as opposed to the traditional Victorian realist novel. This Gothic form versus the traditional convention of the time allows her to question Victorian society and explore taboo subjects of adultery and sexuality and discuss unlikely themes such as ghosts and the supernatural. According to an unsigned critique in the Eclectic Review, February 1851,‘As the characters of the tale are unattractive, so the chief incidents are sadly wanting in probability. They are devoid of truthfulness and are not in harmony with the actual world.’ It can be seen therefore that Bronte 's individual choice of genre was not socially acceptable.
The northern setting of the novel is Bronte’s attempt to convey a sense of crisis by questioning class attitudes towards conventional Victorian writing. By setting the novel in Yorkshire this would have been seen as uncultivated northern writing and would have been controversial for the time when most novels were set in middle class England. In that sense the setting in the novel is an extension of the class inequalities in real life. By setting the novel in the wilderness of the Yorkshire moors as opposed to the industrialised, civilised Victorian society is an attack on Victorian
In terms of the genre of the novel Bronte herself rebels against Victorian society by selecting to write a Gothic romance devoid of both possibility and probability as opposed to the traditional Victorian realist novel. This Gothic form versus the traditional convention of the time allows her to question Victorian society and explore taboo subjects of adultery and sexuality and discuss unlikely themes such as ghosts and the supernatural. According to an unsigned critique in the Eclectic Review, February 1851,‘As the characters of the tale are unattractive, so the chief incidents are sadly wanting in probability. They are devoid of truthfulness and are not in harmony with the actual world.’ It can be seen therefore that Bronte 's individual choice of genre was not socially acceptable.
The northern setting of the novel is Bronte’s attempt to convey a sense of crisis by questioning class attitudes towards conventional Victorian writing. By setting the novel in Yorkshire this would have been seen as uncultivated northern writing and would have been controversial for the time when most novels were set in middle class England. In that sense the setting in the novel is an extension of the class inequalities in real life. By setting the novel in the wilderness of the Yorkshire moors as opposed to the industrialised, civilised Victorian society is an attack on Victorian
Bibliography: Bronte E, [1847] 2009. Wuthering Heights. Oxford University Press. Oxford Dellamora, Richard [2007.] Earnshaw 's Neighbor/Catherine 's Friend: Ethical Contingencies in Wuthering Heights. The Johns Hopkins University Press. East Baltimore Fegan, Melissa [2008]. Wuthering Heights: Character Studies. Continuum. London www.novelexplorer.com