CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Emily Bronte 's novel 'Wuthering Heights ' did not depict just the Victorian life and society, but also it reflects the fundamental and crucial parts of human life, “this is the conflict between civilized and uncivilized life, between the rich and the poor between order and chaos, between storm and calm, between light and darkness, between wild vitality and modern sterility.’’(Nasir Uddin, 2014). Lord George Gordon Byron in his first poem “Childe Harold 's Pilgrimage” initiated the concept of Byronic Hero whose status is that of a social outcast with strong disgust for social norms and strong inclination to vengeance. Generally, it is some bitter experience of life that causes a Byronic hero to exile himself from the society, (Nasir Uddin, March 2014). Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is a Byronic hero, as one critic states that the issues of race and social class in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are main focuses for how Heathcliff is perceived and how they influence his actions (Malin, 2013). The significance lies in how both issues are fundamental in dealing with the character of Heathcliff .He is not treated basically on account of his social class nor his race, yet a mixture of both.
Essay option 1: The concept of class One single word which solely defines our place within society: class. Class describes the hope or the despair for our futures. It is what dictates your anticipated success or failure in life. It decides your friend circle; your hobbies; your interests; your clothing style; your attitude….ultimately; it decides you. Class ideology has existed throughout the ages thus before exploring the concept of class through the writing of Marx and Bourdieu it is vital to firstly establish exactly what class is and what it means to individuals in societies.
Class influences every aspect of our lives, from the educational resources we can access, opportunities available, the friends we make and the way we think. Class is relative in the framing of how we see others and how others see us. There are different ways of classifying class, for example according to occupation, power, values, consumption, culture or self-identification. The book is an attempt to identify common themes in narratives about the lived experiences of the writes. The writers are from different races, ethnicities, cultures occupations, ages and orientations therefore representing different social classes in America.
The working class, through trade unions and other struggles becomes conscious of itself as an exploited class. As Marx’s theory suggests exploitation of this kind will result in revolution in the favour for social change. Elster’s criticises this as he explains how at times, surplus can be thinly spread over the exploiters trade partners. Moreover, an independent farmer producing more than he can consume may not know of his exploitation status and therefore may not be motivated to revolt. One may argue that this way, Marx’s requirement for us to compare the amount of labour a person performs and the
Social classes were more of a social relationship rather than a position or rank in society. The bourgeoisie could not exist without the proletariat, or vice-versa. Classes are an essential aspect of production, the division of labor and the labor process. The relationship between the rich and the poor is further contradictory in that it is not just two sets of interests, but there is no resolution of the capital-labor contradiction within the organization of capitalism as a system. As stated by Rummel (1977), Marx observed the society to its main classes, and the struggle amid them as the engine of modification.
Marx argues that due to division of labor and class struggle, “man comes to objectify himself through this mere one-dimension he has created and identifies with” (Marx p.475). The class struggle resulted from division of labor created an inequality where some will own the means of production, and the lower class who provides or sells their labor or “self” to survive working for those owners of means of product. This two groups are simply explained as bourgeoisies and proletariats by Marx. As the industrialization and society modernizes, the inequality will prevail observably. Marx argues that the proletariats will revolt against bourgeoisies and lead to the fall of capitalism and rise of communism.
Wuthering Heights and Mary Barton have no themes in common but the innovation of their themes is what makes these novels timeless. Wuthering Heights central theme is love, a passionate love that survives all difficulties and which through its strength and vision, and through the overriding value accorded it by their protagonists, transcends time and space to testify to the spiritual potential of humanity. Much of the excitement and terror and tension of Wuthering Heights surely depends on its power of supernatural suggestion. In some texts ghosts do have a dramatic presence, interacting with characters, affecting the development and meaning of events. What can be agreed about Wuthering Heights is that belief in ghosts, as evident in both rural and urban eighteenth century England, has a vital dramatic function.
Emily Brontë’s masterclass of Wuthering Heights’ is renowned as a classic Victorian era novel. In the novel, Lockwood is told the story of two families by Nelly Dean. The book follows Nelly’s experiences at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The book contains the experiences of Heathcliff, who comes to the Heights, makes friends, enemies and ultimately, dies alone. In between, a lot of tragic events occur which strongly impact the novel.
Sally Mitchell, a professor of English and Women 's Studies at Temple University states: “Distinguishing factor of the class hierarchy in Victorian England was not necessarily how much money people owned, instead the class one belonged to was revealed through his/her manners, speech, clothing, education, and values.” In Emily Brontë 's novel, Wuthering Heights, Catherine and Heathcliff’s tumultuous relationship serves as the backdrop of the class struggle occurring in Victorian England. They are driven by the overwhelming passion of furthering their positions in life to achieve the goals that were previously not offered to them. The characters represent the different social classes of England; such as the working, middle, and upper class and are forced to confine to the roles that society has given to them. This unhealthy nature of class and gender roles leads to an endless cycle of abuse and toxicity that many of the characters of Wuthering Heights endure. Hindley’s mistreatment towards Heathcliff throughout Wuthering Heights shows the bigotry that many of the lower class faced by others with a
Wuthering Heights written by Emily Brontë and published in 1847, tells of a story of love, obsession, hate and revenge. The author was told to be of a mysterious and reclusive character whereby biographers found it to be a challenge to source information on her shortly lived life. The protagonists of Wuthering Heights, formed a dark love, as the book is a gothic novel which aims to horrify and fascinate readers by integrating passion, cruelty and even supernatural elements. This classic fiction tale, was adapted as a film in 2009 by ITV with screenplay by Peter Bowker, directed by Coky Giedroyc and produced by Radford Neville. This essay attempts to analyse and evaluate Neville’s film adaption of Wuthering Heights, based on the points