Gothic Literature and Wuthering Heights
What makes Gothic Literature Gothic? A castle, ruined or in tack, haunted or not ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing melancholy, dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics, labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,
shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric failure), extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather,
omens and ancestral curses, magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural, a passion-driven, willful villain-hero or villain, a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued frequently,
a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel, horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings.
Terror vs. Horror Ann Radcliffe: Terror and Horror are so far opposite that the first expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes and nearly annihilates them... And where lies the difference between horror and terror, but in the uncertainty and obscurity that accompany the first, respecting the dreading evil?
Terror vs. Horror Linda Bayer-Berenbaum: Both involve fear and repulsion, but terror is more immediate, more emotional, and less intellectual. You may be horrified by what your friend tells you but terrified by what you see yourself.... Terror is more potent and stimulating and thus the more Gothic emotion.
Wuthering Heights as Romantic The literary movement traditionally dated 1798 to 1832 in England, affected all the arts through the nineteenth century. The Brontës were familiar with the writings of the major romantic poets and the novels of Sir Walter Scott.
Wuthering Heights as Romantic Death is not only a literal happening or plot device, but also and primarily a psychological concern. For the protagonists, death originates in the imagination, becomes a "tendency of mind," and may develop into an obsession.
Wuthering Heights as Romantic Endings are disquieting and unsatisfactory because the writer resists a definitive conclusion, one which accounts for all loose ends and explains away any ambiguities or uncertainties. The preference for open-endedness is, ultimately, an effort to resist the limits of time and of place. That effort helps explain the importance of dreams and memories of other times and location.
The protagonists' wanderings are motivated by flight from previously-chosen goals, so that often there is a pattern of escape and pursuit. The protagonists are driven by irresistible passion lust, curiosity, ambition, intellectual pride, envy. The emphasis is on their desire for transcendence, to overcome the limitations of the body, of society, of time rather than their moral transgressions. They yearn to escape the limitations inherent to life and may find that the only escape is death.
The Byronic Hero Based on Lord Byron s depiction of himself in his poetry.
The Byronic Hero The Byronic hero is an outsider, wanting to be virtuous, but dragged into darker realms by his irrepressible passions. To his lover he is devoted, but equally unfaithful. He can show kindness, and in turn, cruelty. He must constantly move on, forever seeking new sensations. Women find his lack of fidelity repellent but are irresistibly drawn to his fiery passion and intense good looks.
Guiding Thoughts / Questions How does Heathcliff suit the characteristics of a Byronic hero? How does point of view change throughout this book? What impact does point of view have on the effect of the book? How does Wuthering Heights embody both romantic and gothic characteristics?
Guiding Thoughts / Questions Juxtaposition is a key element used. When? Where? And for what effect? Symbolism, both traditional and nontraditional where are the symbols?