WH - Edgar Linton quotes

when was WH written?

1846-1847

where did Emily Bronte grow up?

Haworth parsonage in West Yorkshire

who was in the Bronte family?

Emily, Anne, Charlotte and Branwell. their father, Patrick Bronte, was an Irish vicar

when was Emily Bronte alive?

1818-1848. she was 30 years old when she dies

what period was WH set written in?

set in the Georgian era, but was written in the Victorian era

what was Branwell Bronte like?

was an opiod and alcoholic, he painted a portrait of his sisters, and painted himself out of it - demonstrates the family dynamic - we can only presume that this had effects on Bronte’s life and writing

what was Haworth like in the mid-19th century?

unclean, unsanitary and with alarmingly high mortality rates, on par with some districts of densely populated London.

average life expectancy was 25 years old and 40% children born would not live beyond the age of 6

where does the term ‘gothic’ originate from?

first used in relation to a Medieval style of ornate and intricate architecture that originated in France around the 12th century

was gothic originally a good thing?

no. initially, the term gothic was used to criticise works as overly passionate, dark and mysterious

what are the features of a gothic text?

mystery, fear, omens and curses. as well as supernatural/paranormal activity and the atmosphere and setting, which often entails the use of pathetic fallacy. other important features are romance, a damsel in distress, the anti-hero and emotional distress

how did Bronte publish WH?

WH was strongly disliked in the Victorian era, and so Emily Bronte and her sister Anne paid the substantial sum of 50 pounds to publish their works together

what was the class system like in the Georgian and Victorian era?

-very difficult to move up into a different class

-social sphere determined by your gender and social class

-in the middle classes and aristocracy, often you would eat your breakfast with your spouse, and then spend your days and nights separately

what were the separate spheres like?

-men would go to work, hunting, spending the day at your club

-women spent their days at home. they had domestic chores and were considered physically weaker but morally superior, and so were perceived to be more suited to the domestic sphere

-the spheres didn’t mix

how does WH reject societal norms?

rejects the idea of what a woman should be in society, possibly because it was written by an unmarried woman unconcerned by domestic chores.

Catherine lives extravagantly, roaming the moors and doing what she wishes

Isabella, however, does represent what a woman would’ve been

there is several reversal of gender roles in the novel

how did societal roles change in the Victorian era?

men and women’s roles became more sharply defined than at any time in history. in earlier centuries it had been usual for women to work alongside their husbands and brothers in the family businesses

however, as the 19th century progressed, men increasingly commuted to their place of work, leaving their wives, daughters and sisters at home all day to oversee domestic duties that were increasingly carried out by servants. from the 1830s, women started to adapt the crinoline, a huge bell-shaped skirt that made it virtually impossible to clean a grate or sweep the stairs

what accomplishments were expected of middle-class women?

-must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing and modern languages. must also possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions

-important for women to soften their erudition with a graceful and feminine manner

what were the financial laws that affected women?

-laws of primogeniture have had a huge effect on women throughout the centuries. right of succession went to the firstborn child, but the successor must be male, and so if the firstborn was a woman or none of the children were male, the women of the family could well become destitute if they turn them out

-however, if a man marries the first-born daughter of the estate, the husband will inherit the house. everything you own becomes the property of your husband, dictated by the property rights governed by English Common Law

-women could not will anything away

what was women’s education like?

women would focus on becoming an “Angel in the House”. they learnt accomplishments at boarding schools or with a governess

Cathy subverts this in chapter 24, when she teaches Hareton to read - unusual as women would not usually be seen to teach people

what was motherhood and marriage like for Victorian women?

-women weren’t allowed to be seen to want marriage or want sex. they wore unattractive clothing and had to be unbothered about male attraction

-women typically married in their early 20s to a man roughly 5 years older - this maintained the idea of men being superior as they will have been more established in the world already

-men would go to prostitutes and then bring home diseases to their wives and cause them to die

-many women died in childbirth and so did the children from things such as infected water

what brought the sisters together in their writing?

Charlotte discovered poems Emily had written - Charlotte realised they could earn a living writing together - this brought the sisters together

why did they all decide to embark in writing?

now or never situation; all at home, no jobs, spinsters, no money, all confident in their writing ability - decided to embark on their novels

were the Bronte’s creative children?

Bronte children created their own fantasy world - inspired by Branwell’s toy soldiers, they wrote stories in the form of a magazine for the toy soldiers

glass town was the name of the fantasy land - periodicals based off what they had read, Charlotte wrote of sexual and brutish men

Emily and Anne made a land of their own called Gondal - it was ruled entirely by women - heavily fed into WHs exile, death, imprisonment, separation from a loved one

what were the sister’s education like?

Cowen Bridge in Lancashire - founded by William Carus Wilson, a religious zealot - attended by all Bronte sisters except Anne

aggressive sermons - terrifying for young children - he believed a child would be lucky to die young so they cannot commit sins in their lives

when did the Bronte sisters leave home?

winter of 1845 - they all left to find work

what did Emily Bronte work as?

Emily had a short-lived job as a school teacher - ended in sickness (possible breakdown)

she returned to Haworth and ran the house for her father

what responsibilities did Emily Bronte have in her home?

she had another unusual job as well as cooking and cleaning: she had to discharge, clean and reload her fathers pistol - which he kept in case to ward off unruly mill workers - she wrote WH while she lived at home, in Haworth

only Bronte sibling ever instructed to clean and fire the pistol - provided a spark of excitement in an otherwise dull existence of household chores

this could reflect how she wrote a book in a seemingly boring domestic setting, with an exciting and often violent plot

how do the characters of WH reflect Emily herself?

Emily was reluctant to leave her life - her characters in WH rejected heaven, they stayed as ghost

how did Emily Bronte die?

at Branwell’s funeral, Emily developed tuberculosis and died 3 months after her brother

what does Heathcliff represent to the upper classes?

seems to embody anxieties of middle and upper class readers of the novel about working class

reader would easily sympathise with Heathcliff as a child, when being bullied by Hindley, but he becomes the villain when he acquires money and a gentleman’s status - corresponds with upper classes’ ambivalence towards lower classes

what was the upper class attitude toward the lower classes?

had charitable impulses when miserable, but feared the prospect of the lower classes trying to escape their misery by acquiring political, social, cultural or economic power

as members of the gentry, Earnshaw’s and Linton’s have a precarious position in the late 18th century and early 19th century society

why did the Bronte’s publish their works under male pseudonyms?

in the 19th century, a double critical standard operated: the power which stunned contemporary readers of WH if written by a man was one thing, possible to be admired - but by a woman, it could easily cross the line of taste and become ‘coarse’.

the fact a respectable woman could write such a tale of physical violence like WH was inconceivable to Bronte’s readers

how are traditional gender roles subverted in WH?

-Heathcliff could represent a stereotypical masculine role in his Byronic savagery and Isabella provides an exact counterpart of femininity in her tragic infatuation

-Edgar is able to rely on patriarchal privilege. and Heathcliff is an outcast with no social position/family until he makes his own

-Linton Heathcliff is constantly described as effeminate.

-Catherine’s energy, daring and mobility are more suggestive of conventional masculinity in the 19th century

-in romantic and gothic literature, an antagonistic opposition of male sexual rivalry is expected - in WH the antagonism would be between the legitimised patriarch Edgar Linton and the outsider Heathcliff

how is Catherine presented as rebellious and selfish?

Catherine starves herself due to rebellion and despair - selfish and passionate, she refuses to eat when others refuse to let her have her way

what is the Byronic hero?

-an idealised but flawed character as exemplified by the life and writings of Lord Byron.

-Heathcliff represent many of the qualities of the Byronic hero

what are some of the characteristics of the Byronic hero?

-high levels of intelligence and perception

-cunning and able to adapt

-self critical and introspective

-mysterious, magnetic and charismatic

who was Lord Byron?

born in 1788 and died in 1824

British poet and leading Romantic figure

how does WH protest gender appropiation?

initiation into conscious gender recognition disrupts the synergy of Catherine and Heathcliff, torn apart by gendering it into two halves

the socialisation of sexual identity relies on a child’s interaction with their parents

Heathcliff and Catherine do not undergo this socially construed process gender identification

what major organised vehicles for resistance to British state power existed in the late 1830s/40s?

the Chartist and the Young Ireland repeal movements

who does Lockwood represent in WH contextually?

provides a middle-class readers guide to typical reactions that would be had by those in his social standing - the appearance of WH, Heathcliff’s dark skin but gentleman’s manners would be confusing in terms of socio-economic standing

Lockwood’s inability to comprehend to the social standing of the inhabitants in his visit, being the middle classes reading guide, shows a total subversion of gender, class and family expectations in WH

what are some ways in which both Cathy’s defy typical gender roles?

both Cathy’s repudiate female domesticity particularly early on

Catherine Earnshaw is ‘mischievous and wayward’ and even after her apparent transformation at Thrushcross Grange, Nelly refers to her as ‘haughty’ ‘headstrong’ and ‘proud’

Cathy Linton also refuses to play hostess to Lockwood on his 2nd visit to WH - she stares at Lockwood ‘in a cool, regardless manner'‘ not as a young lady should