Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Marxist Criticism-Review
The Marxists criticisms about Wurthering Heights are very interesting. I found Terry Eagleton's comment on page 396 to be very interesting, "Wurthering Heights, on the other hand, confronts the tragic truth that the passion and society it presents are not fundamentally reconcilable" because these are two factors that Emily Bronte successfully tackles in her novel. I think that the comparison of Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte's writing shortly before the above quotes does a good job of describing the difference in their writing. I believe that there is an "unevenness" (396) out in Charlotte Bronte's writing. I feel that she was trying to write Jane Eyer as a gothic novel but that she decided that she wanted a happy ending. Where as in Wuthering Weights Emily Bronte grasps the concept of a gothic novel though her use of passion and society. Obviously there was some form of passion between Heathcliff and Catherine, but due to societal standards there was no way that they could actually be together. This is where Emily Bronte achieves an evenness that Charlotte Bronte did not have.
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I liked that quote as well. That entire essay by Terry Eagleton made a lot of greats points about Wuthering Heights.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with your comparison between Emily and Charlotte Bronte. Emily seemed to have striven to achieve a gothic genre, but ultimately, she had to succumb to the happy ending that she set up. Emily does an amazing job of allowing Wuthering Heights to be considered gothic.
Dear Billi Jo,
ReplyDeleteThank you for mentioning the comparison between the Bronte sisters. (I beg to differ that Jane Eyre is "uneven" since it is one of my favorite novels. Also, I like the happy ending!) However, I want to point out the preface Charlotte Bronte wrote for the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights. My perception that it was a bit of 19th century "spin" was supported by Nancy Armstrong's remarks that "Charlotte infused her [Emily] with nostalgia. She reframed the novel . . . [developing] something on the order of a cult . . . around Emily (450)." Charlotte was attempting to acquaint the readership with "how [the novel] appears to other people [with its] rough, strong utterance, the harshly manifested passions . . . (21)." Apparently she succeeded because with the endurance of this novel, we can continue to enjoy and debate it even today. By the way, Billi Jo, have you read Jean Rhys' novel The Wide Sargasso Sea? It is a "prequel" to Jane Eyre.
(I apologize for not knowing how to italicize the titles!)
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ReplyDeleteI enjoy the quote you selected, because I agree "that the passion and society it presents are not fundamentally reconcilable," although I disagree that this is a quality specific to Wuthering Heights. (I'm also having somewhat of an issue with italics!) I feel that in most cases, society at large does not condone such excessive amounts of romantic passion, especially that which acknowledges so frankly the passions of a woman. For many, the discussion of such overtly sexual energy is frightening, even threatening, and Emily Bronte's direct confrontation of this issue is admirable.
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