Wuthering heights

1. Wuthering heights Our extract: pg 288 to 291

2. Reader’s point of view • We’re inclined to feel sympathy for Heathcliff- “Nobody loves you- nobody will cry for you, when you die!” • He is portrayed as a passionate character, bordering insane-“I’ll have her in my arms again! If she be cold, I’ll think it is this north wind that chills me; and if she be motionless, it is sleep.” • He is a troubled character-”Disturbed her? No! She has disturbed me, night and day, through eighteen years-incessantly-remorselessly-.” • Aggressive- “ ‘You shall be sorry to be yourself presently,’ said her father-in-law, ‘if you stand there another minute.’ ”

3. Character’s attitude towards heathcliff • Catherine doesn’t respect or likes Heathcliff. - “He’s your son. But I’m glad I’ve a better, to forgive it.” • Catherine is not afraid of him, despite Heathcliff’s violent speech. • Nelly has a motherly relationship with Heathcliff. • She is not afraid to give him a scolding- “ ‘You were very wicked, Mr. Heathcliff!’ I exclaimed; ‘were you not ashamed to disturb the dead?’ ” • Nelly still sees him as a savage, due to use of the word, “wicked.”

4. Diction used by Catherine • “Catherine spoke with a kind of dreamy triumph.”- Juxtaposing behaviorism, as dreary is associated with sadness, and to be triumphant is positive. • “Draws pleasure from the grief of her enemies.”- Paradox idea of sadness being the cause of her happiness. • “She scornfully withdrew.”-Use of short sentences replicates sharpness of Catherine's movements. • Contradictory diction used to describe Catherine represents her unstable nature, like a storm. • Reflects the late Catherine’s qualities as well.

5. Diction used by HeathCLiff • Use of dashes within disjointed speech shows that he struggles to talk about the painful topic. • Lack of connectives shows that he is-to-the point. • “She showed herself, as she often was in life, a devil to me! And, since then, sometimes more, and sometimes less, I’ve been the sport of that intolerable torture!”- Contradictory, as he describes love of his life as a devil, and says that loving her is torture. • “Relinquished by labor of agony and turned consoled at once: unspeakably consoled.”- Contradicting, as he finds consolation in agony. • Heathcliff’s juxtaposing diction mirrors Catherine’s. • Diction portrays complexity of Heathcliff and late Catherine’s relationship.

6. Other diction • Use of old English- “yesternight” meaning yesterday night. • Use of intense diction and plosive sounds- “casting back a look that cut my heart.” • Cutting also refers to when the late Catherine cut her hand on the window. • Shows her refusing to let go of her hold on Heathcliff.

7. Themes- Nature • Constant references with Catherine and the earth. – “she had been dissolved into the earth.” • Emphasizes that she is a woman of nature, untamable. • Reference of how Catherine and Heathcliff used to in the dirt. • Theme of nature portrays the advancing of time and development of feelings- “The day she was buried there came a fall of snow. In the evening I went to the churchyard. It blew a bleak as winter –” • With advancing of time comes theme of renewal.

8. Themes- Death • Religious references to death. - “Lonely, like the devil, and envious like him?” • Direct references to Catherine’s death. • Mention of graves and coffins. • Theme of death gives a realistic edge.

9. Themes- Supernatural • During the 18th century, gothic novels were a craze. • Wuthering Heights has gothic elements. • Heathcliff has, “a strong belief in ghosts”. • Shows his dismissal of the fact that Catherine has left him and the mortal world. • Supernatural theme corresponds with the motif of renewal- Catherine,“enters into the spirit of her new family.” • Supernatural elements could merely be hallucinations- “I was wild after she died.”

10. Devices- Repetition • Repetition of “nobody” and “dead”. • As if he was thinking aloud. • Repetition for clarification. • Repetition for emphasis.

11. Devices- Alliteration • “It blew bleak as winter.”-Soft ‘b’contrasts with the harsh image of winter. • “A sudden sense of relief flowed”- Sibilance represents sound of water flowing. • Relief is compared to nature.

12. Devices- Submission • “Heathcliff is me.”- Catherine is being submissive. • They are both, “Children of the storm”. • Soulmates- becoming each other, as one. • Sacrifices her identity and becomes Heathcliff.