Wuthering Heights Critics Flashcards
Why other authors used the supernatural?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote in 1814 that his aim in writing poems for Lyrical Ballads (1798) that he aimed to write the emotions of characters who ‘from whatever source of delusion, has at any time believed himself under supernatural agency’
How is Thornfield Hall used?
Sets the stage for the past to physically and psychologically haunt the characters
Lockwood’s ghostly vision?
Supernatural moment made more terrifying due to mundane details such as the loud wind and Lockwood’s struggle to open the window. However this is a dream, which undermines the supernatural. Lockwood is able to dismiss the vision whereas Heathcliff is left begging for her to return
Quote describing Lockwood’s ghostly visitation?
Sheila Smith - ‘the whole passage is a nice balance between nightmare and actuality.’
What were the critical interpretations of Heathcliff?
Heathcliff was seen by early critics as a devilish figure
2nd generation of critics surmised Heathcliff to be more morally grey - Heathcliff was ‘part of the social struggle of Bronte’s time’
Twitchell
Context around vampirism?
This was a popular myth in Yorkshire
Works like Varney the Vampire were published serially from 1840
Purpose of supernatural?
Sheila Smith argues supernatural was used to give ‘objective expression to the strength of sexual passion’
Poetry reflects her passionate rhetoric that describes love as supernatural?
Mimetic of poems such as her poem The Philosopher - ‘No promised Heaven, these wild desires / Could all or half fulfil
Historical context?
Events coincide with the American Revolution which symbolised the common man prevailing over the old established power, mirroring Heathcliff’s revenge
Gypsy context?
Arrived in England from India from early 16th century
Nomadic lifestyle was outside Victorian norms
