Intro to Wuthering

HeightsWhat are the conventions of a Romantic Gothic and why are they important?

How can our passions destroy us?

Context• Author: Emily Bronte• Publish Date: 1847• Country of Publish: England • Style: Romantic Gothic Novel• Time Period: Victorian England (mid-late 1800s)

– Post-Romanticism– Inspired by the French and American Revolutions, the Spanish

Inquisition, Industrialization, Social Change, and Scientific Advancement

• Interesting Facts:– Emily died a year after her novel was published– Emily and her sisters Charlotte and Ann were both accomplished

writers, although they originally published under male pseudonymns

Brief Overview of Plot/Structure

• Story: Follows the multi-generational love story of Heathcliff and Catherine

• Setting: The wild moors of England

• Structure—Frame Story: Begins from the perspective of Mr. Lockwood, an anti-social man renting a room from Heathcliff

Symbols, Motifs, Thematic Ideas

• Motifs– Doubling and Pairs– Repetition and Cycles– Nature vs. Culture OR

Savage vs. Civilized

• Symbols– Moors– Ghosts

• Thematic Ideas– The precariousness of

social class– The dangers of refusing

to change– The destructiveness of

nature – Destructive passion– Cycles of pain

Reception• THEN…– Too dark! Too violent! Too

sexual!– Jane Eyre was waaayyy better!– Women can’t be writers!

• NOW…– Finest example of a Victorian

Gothic!– Women write the BEST

Gothics!

The Victorian Gothic• Emerged from the Romantic tradition in the late 1700s-early 1800s

• What is Romanticism?

• Victorian Gothic=mid-late 1800s• Characteristics include the following:

• The Supernatural• Extreme Emotion• Violent Passion• Aristocratic Decay• Evil• Mystery• Physical and Psychological Terror• Madness• Hereditary Curses• Doubling (duality within a character; good vs. evil)

• The Victorian Gothic evolved from previous forms of Gothic in that it moved the elements of a traditional Gothic from fantastical to relatable/average settings and characters.

• What is the effect of this move?

Influences on the Victorian Gothic

• Skepticism towards traditional religious values – Corruption in the church– Developments in science,

technology, and anthropology

• Increase in beliefs in unconventional viewpoints– Evolutionary theory

(Darwin)– Spiritualism– Atavism

The Byronic Hero: The Ultimate Bad Boy

• Lord Byron• Inspired by Milton’s Satan (Paradise Lost) and

Napoleon Bonaparte • Extreme version of the Romantic Hero

– Think Indiana Jones

• Examples of the Byronic Hero– Heathcliff, Captain Ahab, The Phantom,

Frankenstein’s Monster, Dylan McKay

• Characteristics of the Byronic Hero:– Highly intelligent (ruthless, arrogant, cynical,

cunning, manipulative, doubting)– Self-Aware (self-critical, tortured, traumatized, prone

to substance abuse, suicidal, do not acknowledge their good qualities)

– Passionate (reckless, emotional, easily angered, violent, emotional, dark)

– Attractive (sexually appealing, sensual, aggressive)– Strong values (unwavering belief in core beliefs,

justice at any cost)– Anti-Authority (alienated, rebellious, vengeful)

Assignment• Read Chapters 1-17 (Prologue=1-3;

Childhood=1-17)• Maintain a two-sided reading journal of

approximately 30 entries that addresses the following:

Interesting/important/significant quotation OR specific text reference (chapter number and page number)

Explanation of how it progresses any of the following:• Victorian Gothic• Byronic Hero• Characterization• Symbol/Motif• Theme• Significant Personal Reaction

Resources

• University of Oxford• New World Encyclopedia• Norton Anthology of English Literature