SỰ CÔ LẬP VÀ NHỮNG ẢNH HƯỞNG TÂM LÝ CỦA NÓ TỚI CÁC NHÂN VẤT TRONG TIỂU THUYẾT ĐỒI GIÓ HÚ CỦA EMILY BRONTE

Wuthering Heights, the only novel written by Emily Bronte, is considered one of the masterpieces in English literature. The novel was published when the Romantic Age was taken over from Realism. It still reflected the British’s society during the Victorian era, albeit this novel was written in the Romantic style. Wuthering Heights touches upon many issues in the society during the 19th century. Today, there have been studies about Wuthering Heights in many aspects such as setting, characters, the love and revenge between Catherine and Healthcliff. In 1992, Peterson referred to Sigmund Feud’s claim in his work that understanding human psychology can help people appreciate works of literature more. Basing on Freud’s theory, it is possible to apply the knowledge in psychology to explain change in character’s psyche and behaviors. Therefore, the writer has decided to examine the novel in terms of characters from psychological perspective. In this study, the researcher aims at analyzing the reasons why the main characters are isolated and finding the influences of isolation on people’s life presented in the novel. After completing this study, it can be seen that, the characters in the novel experience isolation and loneliness imposed by other people as well as by themselves. In addition, the isolation has big influences on characters’ lives, personalities, and behaviors. It also causes them troubles in maintaining relationships with people. Therefore, their lives are despaired and miserable.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

ISOLATION AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS ON THE CHARACTERS IN WUTHERING HEIGHTS BY EMILY BRONTE

Supervisor: Đỗ Thu Hương M.A Student: Kiều Thị Hà

Course: QH2010.F1.E1

HÀ NỘI - 2014

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮKHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

SỰ CÔ LẬP VÀ NHỮNG ẢNH HƯỞNG TÂM LÝ CỦA

NÓ TỚI CÁC NHÂN VẤT TRONG TIỂU THUYẾT

ĐỒI GIÓ HÚ CỦA EMILY BRONTE

Giáoviênhướngdẫn: Đỗ Thu Hương M.A Sinhviên: Kiều Thị Hà

Khóa: QH2010.F1.E1

Ha noi May, 2014

Signatures of Approval:

_Supervisor

_Second Grader

ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Kiều Thị Hà, QH2010 F1.E1 being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper.

Signature

Date: 05/05/2014

I have taken efforts in this study However, it would not have been possible withoutthe tremendous support and help of individuals I would like to extend our sincere thanks toall of them

I am highly indebted to my honor supervisor, Ms Đỗ Thu Hương, for her guide,advice and suggestions as well as correction during the course of my writing Secondly, Iwould like to express my gratitude to my close friend for helping me get access tonecessary information regarding the topic and their support in completing the study.Thirdly, my thanks go to Ms Nguyễn Huyền Ly for her comment and corrective feedback

on my work Last but not least, I also would like to thank my family for their indispensablesupport and encouragement Therefore, it is possible to state that without the help from theaforementioned people, this paper would never have been finished

Wuthering Heights, the only novel written by Emily Bronte, is considered one of the

masterpieces in English literature The novel was published when the Romantic Age wastaken over from Realism It still reflected the British’s society during the Victorian era,

albeit this novel was written in the Romantic style Wuthering Heights touches upon many

issues in the society during the 19th century Today, there have been studies aboutWuthering Heights in many aspects such as setting, characters, the love and revengebetween Catherine and Healthcliff In 1992, Peterson referred to Sigmund Feud’s claim inhis work that understanding human psychology can help people appreciate works ofliterature more Basing on Freud’s theory, it is possible to apply the knowledge inpsychology to explain change in character’s psyche and behaviors Therefore, the writer hasdecided to examine the novel in terms of characters from psychological perspective In thisstudy, the researcher aims at analyzing the reasons why the main characters are isolated andfinding the influences of isolation on people’s life presented in the novel After completingthis study, it can be seen that, the characters in the novel experience isolation and lonelinessimposed by other people as well as by themselves In addition, the isolation has biginfluences on characters’ lives, personalities, and behaviors It also causes them troubles inmaintaining relationships with people Therefore, their lives are despaired and miserable

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Statement of research question 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Significance of the study 2

4 The scope of the study 3

5 Research methodology 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1 Psychoanalysis theory 4

1.1 Sigmund Feud’s theory 4

1.2 Karen Horney’s theory of neurosis needs 6

2 Isolation and its impacts from psychological perspective 8

2.1 What is isolation? 8

2.2 What are the influences of isolation on human? 9

3 Characters in Literature 11

4 Psychological approach to character analysis in Literature 12

CHAPTER 3: EMILY BRONTE AND THE NOVEL “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” 14

1 Emily Bronte 14

2 The novel “Wuthering Height” 15

2.1 Setting 15

2.2 Summary 17

Chapter 4: DEVELOPMENT 19

1 Isolation in Wuthering Heights 19

1.1 Geographical isolation 19

1.2 Emotional isolation 22

2 The impacts of isolation on the characters in Wuthering Heights 24

2.1 The reasons for the characters’ isolation 24

2.1.1 Being kept in isolation 24

2.1.2 Isolating themselves 28

2.2 The impacts of isolation on the characters 31

2.2.1 Personality of the characters 31

2.2.2 Characters’ relationship maintenance 40

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 43

1 Conclusion 43

2 Limitations of the study 44

3 Recommendations for further study 45

LIST OF REFERENCE 46

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of research question

Wuthering Heights is the only novel written by Emily Bronte and it is consideredone of the masterpieces in English literature The novel was published when the RomanticAge was taken over from Realism Although this novel was written in the Romantic style, itstill reflected the British’s society during the Victorian era Like other literary works of thisperiod, this masterpiece is also set in a new conventional context when a brand new flow ofmoral values is stemmed from the Industrial Revolution (Shapiro, 1969) Considered a

social novel, Wuthering Heights touches upon the class structure and the treatise on

women’s role in society as well Bronte also mentioned other matters in society at that timesuch as the effects of racism on people’s relationships, social class and spouse selection.The social and cultural contexts of the novel are significant elements that can somehowexplain the characteristics of the characters For a long time, this work of art has beenappreciated for its literature values and its place among readers of all generations

Today, there have been studies about Wuthering Heights in many aspects such assetting, characters, the love and revenge between Catherine and Healthcliff In 2003,Tamura touched upon the love between the two main characters of the novel, Catherine andHealthcliff, their perception of life and the ways they behave toward other people Thearticle would be more persuasive if the author could present reasons to explain thecharacters’ behaviors and reasons that drive them to react in these ways rather than others.While Dawson (1989) was attracted to find ways to approach this novel, Adam would like

to dig further into the use of fictional factors like dreams in the work which wasdemonstrated in an article “ Wuthering Heights: the Land East of Eden”, (1958) In this

novel, other aspects offer good topics for further studies as well Among those aspects arethe psychological features which are depicted in the novel There are studies on thepsychoanalytical criticism of Bronte’s work Abdulkareen in 2011 conducted research forhis master degree thesis entitled “A psychoanalytical reading of Wuthering Heights” Inthis thesis, the researcher concentrates on analyzing denial, repression, sublimation as well

as projection in characters Apart from that, in Peterson’s work (1992), he refers toSigmund Feud’s claim that understanding human psychology can help people appreciateworks of literature more Since it is possible to apply the knowledge in psychology toexplain change in character’s psyche and behaviors, the writer has decided to examine thenovel in terms of characters from psychological perspective Factors which drive thecharacters to behave in some certain ways in Emily’s novel will be investigated in this

study which is entitled “Isolation and its psychological impacts on the characters in

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte”

2 Aims and objectives of the study

By conducting this study, the researcher aims at finding the influences of isolation on people’s life presented in the novel In addition, the researcher also analyzes the reasons why the main characters are isolated To achieve these aims, the researcher carries out the study to address the following questions:

 What are the reasons for making characters isolated?

 What are the psychological effects of isolation on the characters?

3 Significance of the study

Once completed, this study would bring about some certain benefits for teachersand students and for those interested in this novel to understand more about thecharacteristic features and the nature of the main characters The research is conducted

from a new perspective It would be a useful source for reference Therefore, third yearstudents will probably have more materials to support them during the first semester of thethird year when they study “English Literature” in general, and the novel “WutheringHeights” in particular.

4 The scope of the study

It can be seen that “Wuthering Heights” mentioned families, the relation betweenfamily members and society, the conventions in society and others However, this studywill concentrate on the investigation into isolation factors and how these factors affect thelife and the personality traits of the main characters such as Catherine, Heathcliff and Edgar

in some aspects of life as love, behaviors, and their ways of thinking by understandinghuman psychology to explain those matters

5 Research methodology

To conduct this research, the researcher has had to collect and read the novel andother research about this work of art to have a deeper understanding about it Apart fromthat, research in psychology about personality, isolation and its effect under the view ofpsychology are also sources of materials for the study The theories by psychologists such

as Sigmund Feud and Karen Horney are backbones for the researcher to analyze characters’thoughts and behaviors They provide significant background knowledge for the researcher

to conduct the research paper The types of sources include such as books, journal articlesand previous studies related to the topic

With adequate knowledge and information gained from extensive reading, thewriter has started to analyze and synthesize these sources of information before arriving atsome conclusion After being analyzed, the result would be presented in chapter 4 named

“Development”

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Psychoanalysis theory

1.1 Sigmund Feud’s theory

Sigmund Freud is an Austrian psychologist, who is considered the father of modernpersonality theory known as psychoanalysis theory The theory deals with human conflictswith other people and in himself

In Freudian theory, the basic concept that needs to be understood is the concept of

“unconscious” which is part of personality that a person is not aware of Unconsciouscontains instinctual drives which are wishes, desires, and demands (FettiJohn, 1997) Heclaims that people’s behaviors are made by thoughts, ideas in their brain (unconsciouspart) However, this part is not always linked to the conscious part of their mind

The relationship between the two parts is reflected in his structure of personality.According to his structure, personality consists of three separate but interacting parts which

are Id, ego and superego.

The Id is the unconscious component of human psyche Freud shows that the Id is

always inside each person It consists of all initial actions that seek for pleasure, happiness,

avoid being hurt and painful The Id can be simply understood as the answer to human instinct Because the Id operates according to pleasure principles which aim at minimizing

tension, anxiety and maximizing satisfaction, it is considered an important part in humanlife It somehow guides them to meet the first layer of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.However, it appears to be impossible to meet all people’s needs and wishes Some needscan be satisfied but others cannot As a result, people feel blissful and happy when their

demands are satisfied and they may become aggressive when they are not Since it belongs

to human’s unconscious part, it is fairly difficult to be affected by any laws

In reality, there are many obstacles which prevent demands of pleasure being

fulfilled The relationship between the Id and reality is referred to the term “Ego” The Ego

is considered a pre-conscious part of human psychology It is driven by reality principles in

which it takes reality into consideration to make people behave in acceptable manners

Because the Ego attempts to mediate between the id and reality, it somehow helps people

integrate into the society (Freud, 1933) In 1997, FettiJohn wrote in his book that “it [theego] makes decision, controls actions and allow thinking and problems solving of a high

order than the id is capable of” (p 356) It indicates that the Ego is a part of the mind

controlling human instinct- the unconscious part to match with the community’sacceptance

The last part of structure of personality is the Superego which represents the

morality or ethnicity of the society given by caregivers such as parents, teachers and others

This part of the mind operates by moral principles The Superego consists of two parts,

conscience and the ego ideal The conscience causes the feelings of guilt when a personbehaves in inappropriate manners and the ego ideal is the picture of a person that he wisheshimself to become (McLeod, 2008) Therefore, the superego is partly unconnected to the

real world It can be seen that the superego is opposite to the Id The Superego is to make people’s behaviors more civilized and perfect while the Id is driven by the instinct.

However, it is only the difference in the surface of two terms; in fact, they share thecommon of not considering the reality in society The lack of reality in the superego pushes

a person to behave better but it can also be the reason for creating perfectionists who cannot

make a compromise that life requires Similarly, the unrestrained Id can make people

primarily seek for satisfying their pleasures without delay (FettiJohn, 1997) According to

Freud (1923), the balance of the Ego would keep the Id and the Superego in check The influential Id can affect interpersonal relationships but the dominance of the superego can

make people obsessive about moral restriction which can lead to straining relationshipamong people in the community

Understanding Freudian theory, the readers can have a link to the characters inEmily’s novel Healthcliff is a representative of id- driven personality and in contrast,

Edgar Linton is a typical person who is dominant by the Superego Last but not least, Catherine Earnshaw is an outstanding example of struggling Ego (See Chapter 4 for

detail analysis)

1.2 Karen Horney’s theory of neurosis needs

Karen Horney is a German psychoanalyst, who along with other psychologists such

as Car Jung, Alfred Adler, formed the Neo Freudian discipline She had developed twomajor theories in psychology world, theory of neurosis and mature theory basing onknowledge about Freudian personality theory

According to Freud, the Id is controlled by seeking for safety and avoiding pain.

Horney called this conditions “basic anxiety” which is “insidiously increasing, pervading feeling of being lonely and helpless in a hostile world” (Horney, 1937, p 89) It

all-is the foundation for the development of neuroses To feel safer, people try to protectthemselves from basic anxiety by “securing affections and love, being submissive, attainingpower, withdrawing” (Schultz & Schultz, 2004, p 157)

By securing affection and love from other people, the person has a feeling that ifsomeone loves him, he will not be hurt by that person Therefore, people try to gain

affection by doing whatever the other person wants, paying kickback to other or threateningothers to gain desired affection

Another way to seek safety is to submit People avoid criticizing and makingoffense or saying anything that may be against others People who act submissively oftenbelieve that they are “unselfish and self-sacrificing” (Schultz & Schultz, 2004, p 157)

Some people believe that attaining power over other people will help them achievesecurity through success and sense of superiority In addition, they also believe that if theyhave power in their hands, no one can harm them

Last but not least, withdrawing is also a way to protect oneself from basic anxiety.Those people withdraw from other people and from society physically but notpsychologically They desire to achieve independence concerning psychological needs butnot emotional demands

The four self-protection mechanisms serve the role of defending against basicanxiety Horney believed that any of those mechanisms could become a part of personalitywhich can drive people behaviors in certain ways She listed ten needs which can also becalled neurotic needs and grouped into three main categories or “trends” as Horney calledthem, which are moving to toward other people, against other people and away from otherpeople (Schultz & Schultz, 2004)

The first trend, moving toward others or compliant personality, contains the needs

of affection, love and a dominant partner Those people need approval, affection as theydoubt about their opinions, criticisms and even about themselves Therefore, they need apartner such as friends, parents, or spouse who can give them protection and guidance Inrelationship with other people, this type of people can blame and agree with others as well.They are never critical and demanding

The second trend is moving against others or aggressive personality It is about theneeds of “power, exploitation, prestige, admiration, and achievement” (Schultz & Schultz,

2004, p 159) This type of people tends to be hostile and cunning to survive They aretough and domineering, especially have no concern about others They often forcethemselves to word hard to become the best or even perfectionists Aggressive personalityappears confident of their abilities Simply understanding, they are driven by anxiety,feeling of being unsafe and hostility

The last trend is detached personality or moving away from other people This trendincludes needs of self-sufficiency, perfection and narrow limits to life (Schultz & Schultz,

2004, p 159) Those people move away from other people and often keep emotionaldistance They try to avoid all constraints, long-term commitments such as marriage ormortgage These struggles of emotion put great stress on this type of people in manyaspects

Generally, there are three trends of neurosis needs and in each neurotic person; one

of these trends is dominant but the other two more or less present to a certain degree

Horney’s theory helps readers understand characters psyche and the reasons whythey react in certain manners

2 Isolation and its impacts from psychological perspective

2.1 What is isolation?

From psychological perspective, environment or living condition is one of thefactors that has a big influence on character formation and development Besides, characterformation and development can only happen in certain environmental conditions.Therefore, environment plays an important part in deciding the level of possibledevelopment in a person (Nguyen et al, 2009) Isolation is also one factor belonging to

environment condition in psychology Hence, it also has impacts on a person’s character.Scientists are still working on this field to find out an appropriate definition for this term.According to Psychology dictionary, “isolation is the state of being isolated from othersand social isolation in psychoanalytic theory is a defense mechanism that relies on keepingunwelcome thoughts and feelings from forming associative links with other thoughts andfeelings.” In literature, isolation is described as the feeling which is associated with “loss ormarginality”, besides, apartness and loneliness are also considered a part of the concept ofsocial isolation (Biordi &Nicholson, 2013) Therefore the isolation discussed in this part isnot only physical isolation but also social isolation It can be seen that two definitions ofisolation share commons in some aspects; however there are differences in definingisolation In psychology, there is a clear-cut distinction between isolation and solitude Inliterature on the other hand, solitude is regarded as a part of isolation Biordi and Nicholson(2013) also state that the definition of isolation depends on the study and the researcher’spoint of view.

Generally, isolation can be simply defined as a constant lack of interactions withpeople in community Isolation can range from voluntary isolation which refers to thechoice to distance himself from the community physically or emotionally or both, toinvoluntary isolation imposed or forced by others

2.2 What are the influences of isolation on human?

According to a study by Cacioppo (2008), there is a wide range of negative effects

of isolation on both physical and mental health For example, chronic loneliness or isolation

is the cause of depression and suicide, especially among young people It also results intension, stress and decreased memory and learning In addition, long term isolation cancause people troubles in impersonal relationships Those people appear to communicate

with others in an aggressive manner as a way of self- protection and makes the Id part

dominant the others Thus, being isolated can drive people to behave instinctively orunconsciously Isolation not only harms people’s mental health but also physical health Inthe same work, Cacioppo also pointed out that isolation can be the cause of cardiovascular

disease, malfunctioning the human brain Additionally, Shankar, et al (2011) also showed

that health-risky behaviors such as drinking and smoking are also the consequence ofchronic loneliness In 2006, Berkman and Melchior indicated that “social conditions [can]create risky environments which in turn create vulnerable subgroups of the population whomay be both more susceptible to other specific exposures and/or be more heavily exposed

to a range of environmental risks”(p 62) The people in isolation can fall into anxiety andpanic in new environment and the anxiety and panic can force them to find ways toovercome agitation as in Horney’s theory of neurosis trends in order to seek for pleasure

Isolation is the factor of living condition so it can affect a person’s level ofdevelopment In impersonal communication, the isolated people can have difficulties incommunicating, adjusting, and mediating social relationships and even family ones.According to Biordi and Nicholson, marriage is the short cut to reduce social isolation andloneliness because there is a partner by their side Unfortunately, the partner is not alwaysthe person who will protect them from loneliness if he is not supportive enough (Tillburg,1988) Therefore, only when partners are supportive network members can isolation inmarriage be alleviated Another relationship is between children and parents Hagestad(1981) argued that communication and conversation among generations in a family canmaintain the sense of caring and belonging That provides children with companionship,closeness and makes children feel safer Hence, it is not wise to keep children in isolation intheir own house Besides, it is also vital to involve in a certain set of social network, as it

can lower the risk of isolation Friends, colleagues and other non-kin relationships willconnect people in a network outside the family

In conclusion, the lack of kin and non-kin relationships can increase the chance ofbeing isolated

3 Characters in Literature

In Literature, imaginary people who are created by writers are called characters(DiYanni, 2000) Characters in literature are unreal but they are often inspired by realpeople or a group of people To understand the plot, it is necessary to understand characters

in fiction

According to Russell (2009), characters are categorized into three main types Theprotagonist or major character is the center of the story’s theme Generally, there is onlyone protagonist in a story but occasionally, there is more than one center characterdominating the story then the relationship between them will need to be analyzed tounderstand the theme The protagonist is not always godlike It can be ordinal person andlack nobility called anti-hero such as Healthcliff in “Wuthering Heights” Representing theopposition to protagonist is the antagonist who often causes trouble for protagonist toovercome Last but not least, foil character or minor character is the one whose function is

to make major character outstanding and shining (DiYanni, 2000)

Characters in literature are often developed in two ways, flat and round characters.Flat characters are often unchanged in their personality during the development of the plot.They can play a major or a minor role Unlike flat characters, round characters havecomplex personality which exhibits changes of attitude, behaviors as the story progresses

The personality of characters is revealed in many ways which depends on writers’purposes Normally, readers can understand characters’ personality though their words,

actions, reactions, attitudes, behaviors and feelings, especially, characters can be revealed

by physical and psychological description and by their environment

4 Psychological approach to character analysis in Literature

Tracking back to the Ancient Greece, Aristotle is widely considered as the pioneer

of psychological approach to literary works Nonetheless, it was Freud that had heavilyinfluenced on applying the knowledge of psychology to understand characters in Literature

As stated above, the main characters in a novel belong to some certain types of characters

in Literature such as flat or round, stable or dynamic, protagonist or antagonist or foilcharacter Although these characters are imaginary people existing in fiction, they parallelwith people in real life While psychoanalytic theory provides “formulation about humanbehavior”, characters in literature work reveals “truth to experience” (Paris, p 6) Inaddition, literature enables us not only to observe people other than ourselves but also toenter their mental life and to discover what these people tend to do to confront their life.For those reasons, human psyche in literary works also obeys the law of humanpsychology For instance, according to Freud’s theory, Healthcliff is an id-driven personwho wants whatever feels good at the time with no consideration for the others’ situation

At Wuthering Heights, the only person that Healthcliff cares about is Catherine and he falls

in love with the girl Healthcliff does not care about the judgments from the society, theconventions; he simply sees what he wants and the one he is fond of From these examples,

it is possible to approach literature characters with the same concerns with approachingpeople

Throughout the novel Wuthering Heights, the characters experience both physical

and emotional isolation Physical isolation implies the location of two houses and the status

of being kept isolated by other people The Heights is located in the moorland surrounded

by bogs and it is difficult to travel back and forth between Wuthering Heights andThrushcross Grange even to people who are familiar with the territory That somehowmakes people living in two houses isolated from the outside society In addition, physicalisolation also refers to social isolation when the characters lack social relationships Theymay do not have friends, close friends, and other relationships During the childhood, therelationship between Catherine and Healthcliff can be considered friendship; however,Hindley, Edgar, Isabella, young Catherine, Heraton and Linton do not have any friends.They are limited to family members For instance, Edgar Linton keeps close eyes on hislittle daughter, she is kept away from the society outside “Mr Linton would take her withhim a mile or so outside, on rare occasions; but he trusted her to no one else Gimmertonwas an unsubstantial name in her ears; the chapel, the only building she had approached orentered, except her own home” (Bronte, p 160).

On the other hand, emotional isolation refers to mental distance from other people

or chronic loneliness Some of them are responsible for their isolation like Catherine,Healthcliff, Edgar and Isabella All of them choose to be isolated in their marriage.Catherine is not in love with Edgar but she decides to marry him After getting married forsuch a short time, she experiences loneliness in her own room Others are kept in isolation

or imprisoned (social isolated) by others Both Hareton and Cathy are kept in isolation byparents or adopters The lack of contacts with the outside world leads to depression andother psychological effects, which will be analyzed in this study

CHAPTER 3: EMILY BRONTE AND THE NOVEL “WUTHERING HEIGHTS”

1 Emily Bronte

Emily Jane Bronte was born in July, 30th, 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England.She was the fifth child in a literary family After the death of her mother in 1821, Emilyand her sibling lived in a bleak moorland rectory They started writing stories and delvedinto the land of fantasy as a way to escape from the hardship of life The children were welleducated during their early life at home by the Irish father who prized learning and thepower it had to change lives Her father encouraged his children to read and write

In 1835, Emily accompanied her sister, Charlotte, to Miss Wooler’s school at RoeHead where she was offered a teaching position However, Emily just stayed there for threemonths because of homesickness In 1838, she worked as a teacher in Miss Patchett’sschool near Halifax After six exhausting months, she resigned Then, she helped her sisterwith her own school girl at Haworth Four years later, she went to Brussels to learn foreignlanguage and school management In 1845, Charlotte found some of her poetries andpersuaded her to publish her work

There was evidence which indicated that Emily began writing Wuthering Heights in

1845 and accomplished it the next year In July 1847, this novel was accepted to publishbut it was not until December that the work was printed In the fall a year later, EmilyBronte left home to attend her brother’s funeral She went down with severe cold thatspread to her lungs On 19 December, 1848 she died of tuberculosis

Emily Bronte was the most introverted and least social among the Bronte childrenwith few friends outside her family She pined for home and for the wild moorland whereshe lived

Her personality and her living environment influenced directly on what she had

written and Wuthering Heights was an example All these elements make both her poetry

and the novel Wuthering Heights” more attractive

2 The novel “Wuthering Height”

2.1 Setting

In writing fiction, writers bring the world they know into their writing and thestories can be imagined as happening at somewhere and sometime According to DiYanni(2000), setting in literature is “[the] place or location of a story’s action along with the time

in which it occurs is it setting” (p 41) Wuthering Heights is not an exception The readerssomehow can find the geography and the weather of the moorland in her novel.Understanding the setting can help readers decode messages underneath In addition,setting also reveals characters and gives clues to help readers understand characters

The environment of Yorkshire has a big influence on Emily She practically makesthe characters out of its geography It can be seen that in Wuthering Heights there are twomain locations, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, which are full of conflicts inagreement with the plot The two main sites of action are depicted as being opposite inmany aspects For example, while Wuthering Heights on a hill high above is dark, cold, and

a bit wild, Thrushcross Grange gives the expression of brightness and warm welcome Thetwo estates are only four miles apart; however traveling between the two is not convenient.There is continuous back and forth movement on horse and foot Gimmerton is the nearest

town and the only element that shows the connection of two houses with the world outside.

It is the location for other characters like the doctor, the lawyer to come from and appear inthe novel Liverpool is a further port city, the place that the gypsy child - Heathcliff isfound The weather plays a big role and tends to reflect some of the desolate attitudes of thecharacters It not only shows the severe condition of the moorland but also a factor thateffectively supports the setting to convey its metaphoric message

Wuthering Heights was written during the 19th century when there were changes invalues, conventions, and land ownership It was not always the man who earned money andbrought wealth to the family and it became easier for people to belong to elite class Themore money that a person had, the more easily he could climb on the social ladder Thisbackground information about the social environment can explain what happens toHealthcliff when he comes back to conduct his revenge plan or the framing of characters inthis novel

Wuthering Heights is considered both a social novel about class structure and thetreatise on women’s role in society The novel depicts two sides of the society throughsharpening the main characters The people living at Wuthering Heights are described asstrong and passionate but gloomy and doomed On the other hand, the people living atThrushcross Grange set a typical example of the ways of behaviors that society expectsfrom people, in elite, noble and gentle ways There exist other issues in society to becultivated For instance, the effects of racism on relationship between Catherine andHealthcliff when Catherine is afraid of being criticized for her love and acceptance ofHealthcliff, she decides to marry the socially accepted Linton Healthcliff is despised byHindley, judged due to his race, and is called “gipsy” or “brat” Social class and spouseselection are also demonstrated when Catherine talks to Nelly about who she should get

married to, “he [Linton] will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of theneighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband” (Bronte, p 66) and it willdegrade her to marry Healthcliff

In conclusion, exploring the main elements of setting which are place, time andsocial context can help readers prepare for what will be written in the novel and understandcharacters’ psyche and the development of the plot

2.2 Summary

Wuthering Heights is the story about people living in two estates, Wuthering

Heights and Thrushcross Grange Lockwood, who rents Thrushcross, visits the home of hislandlord, Healthcliff During the next visit to the house, there is an accident so he has tostay at his landlord’s house, Wuthering Heights He meets the ghost of Catherine and he iscurious about the story of the two estates When coming back to Thrushcross Grange andrecovering from his illness, Lockwood tells Nelly Dean, a servant caring for the Grange,about what he has experienced at Wuthering Height and begs her to tell him the story of hislandlord Nelly recalls and tells him the main plot of Wuthering Heights

Mr Earnshaw is the first owner of Wuthering Heights On one business trip toLiverpool, he brings an orphan home The boy is christened Heathcliff and lives with theEarnshaw children, Hindley and Catherine Catherine is so fond of Heathcliff but Hindleyhates him because he thinks that Heathcliff has replaced him in Mr Earnshaw's eyes Then,Hindley is sent to an elite school Three years later, Mr Earnshaw dies so Hindley returnsand inherits all the property including Wuthering Heights He plans to revenge onHealthcliff and destroy him However, Catherine and Heathcliff do not care about that, theyare still together, play on the moorland and do what they like Until they encounter theLintons, everything changes The Lintons has two children, Edgar and Isabella Linton

They live at Thrushcross Grange which is completely opposite to Wuthering Height andeven the people here as well The Lintons welcome Catherine to their home but driveHeathcliff way because of his Gypsy origin After living with Linton family for severalweeks, she comes back to the Heights without her wildness but turns into a real lady WhenHeathcliff overhears Catherine tell Nelly that she can never marry him because of the socialconventions, he leaves Wuthering Heights After Catherine gets married to Edgar, hereturns with his plan of revenge The happy marriage is short-lived Their relationship getsworse and worse as Catherine still loves Healthcliff The relationships between three peopleare even more complicated as Heathcliff marries Isabella, Edgar's sister after he winds upliving and gains Hindley’s property including Wuthering Heights when he is sunk indrunkenness and gambling Soon after Heathcliff’s marriage, Catherine gives birth toCathy, and dies.

After Catherine’s death, Heathcliff desires to gain control of Thrushcross Grangeand destroy everything Edgar Linton holds in his hand Because Edgar does not have a son,Isabella will be the next person to inherit after Linton Heathcliff must wait 17 years toconduct his revenge He forces Cathy to marry his diseased son, Linton and lives at theHeights By this way, he gains control of the Heights and the Grange after the death ofEdgar

After sickly Linton dies, Cathy becomes closer to her cousin, Hareton who isHindley’s son Healthcliff is deep in isolation with daily life and he desires to reunite withCatherine At the end of the novel, Heathcliff and Catherine are united after death and thereexists a story of two ghosts wandering on the moorland Hareton and Cathy are going to getmarried

Chapter 4: DEVELOPMENT

1 Isolation in Wuthering Heights

1.1 Geographical isolation

In Wuthering Heights, Bronte brought the land where she lived into the novel She

depicted Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange as isolated societies from all othersocieties in the world due to their geographical locations, which were the same as that ofYorkshire The two houses were both located at such bleak and desolate place, whichrendered them difficult for people to get access to

As regards Wuthering Heights, even its name reveals the severe conditions,

“Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult

to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.” (Bronte, p 4) The name alsoforeshadows something bad will happen in that house This is the land of wide moor andharsh wind blowing day after day, surrounded by bogs The location of the house causesdifficulties for people to traverse even for those who are familiar with the territory For anoutsider as Lockwood, when visiting the Heights in a snow storm, he will run the risk ofbeing lost in the marshes without any proper guidance That information about the Heightsshows the isolation of the estate as being located in such a wide moor and inaccessible tomany people In addition to that, the surrounding area is depicted as a bleak landscape with

“with a long line of mist winding nearly to its top […], the sough that runs from themarshes joins a beck which follows the bend of the glen.” (Bronte, p 79) With those dull

features, Wuthering Heights and the surrounding moorland add further to the sense ofisolation It also helps readers predict that inhabitants of the house have little contact withthe outside world In fact, just Mr Earnshaw and Hindley have chances to go on trips faraway from the house and they somehow escape from the isolation for a time The otherpeople in the house such as Catherine, Healthcliff, and Nelly have nowhere to go They just

go to the church on Sunday or play around the moors

Like Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange is also described as an isolated housefrom the society although it gives readers the sense of brightness, civility and snobbishness

In addition, its name conveys the impression of a country house in such a remote area It is

a Grange, which is bordered by valleys and trees From the entrance gate to the house, it isonly two miles; however, Lockwood seems to make it four when going through the trees,

“sinking up to the neck in snow: a predicament which only those who have experienced itcan appreciate” (Bronte, p 27) He emphasizes that no word can describe the rough roadconnecting the two houses The road to travel back and forth from the Heights toThrushcross Grange is not easy It takes “exactly an hour for every mine of the usual way.”The location of the Grange also makes it difficult for other people to visit the house, whichcocoons the people in the house in their own world with little contact with other society.For instance, although Edgar gets married to Catherine, he visits Wuthering Heights fewtimes before the wedding and he even never comes to the Heights again after that Overall,the isolation of the Heights causes troubles for the inhabitants of the house and theoutsiders as well

Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are two main sites where conflictshappen However, Emily placed the houses in such isolated places, even for people living