Wuthering Heights

Reading Wuthering Heights was difficult in the beginning. Especially in terms of keeping all the characters in order in my mind. Once I got to reading more into the character of Catherine, I came to the conclusion that she wanted the life others wanted for her, rather than the life she wanted for herself. Maybe this plays into the role of a woman in the days this novel was written. As a child she enjoyed Heathcliff's company and adored him. Their personalities matched, even though Heathcliff was brought in to their family, and she, was supposed to have been a woman of great eloquence and class. Her stay at Thrushcross Grange turned her into the woman that she was expected of being. I understand up to this point, however, it is when she continues to toy with Heathcliff. If she genuinely had no interest, she should have buried the love she had for him and let him go. Her conversation with Nelly, "It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and [Edgar’s] is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire." Should not have placed emphasis on her love for Heathcliff, also saying that he and her will never part. Letting him go, would have not made him seek revenge, or have lack of closure. He needed that closure so he could live his life properly. He was obviously capable of all the riches and happiness, but this love for Catherine held him back from so many things. I didn't like her character at all, and felt apologetic for Heathcliff and Edgar for having to have dealt with her.

The Beginning....

Ok, now that I've got this blog up and running, which took me a minute because I am not too familiar with blogs or blogging. Lets get started. Before getting started on The Monk, I do want to say that the essay that was assigned, Introduction: the Gothic in western culture by Jerrold E. Hogle, was a great way to begin to understand the culture itself. Being a psychology student, I found the relation from goth to Freud's early theories to make a lot of sense. I could literally visualize, and begin to analyze the underlying Gothic tones in books & movies relating to this subject. I began to wonder if that's why I chose this field of study, because it was so close to something I was very much interested in.

Anyways, I am going to start from the beginning. I came up to reading it half way through, and then started the book all over again to gain a better understanding of it. Though let me tell you, once you have an idea of what's going on, and then go back to read it, you can begin to see it unfold, kind of like a movie playing in your mind.

Instead of jumping into the book at the first chapter, I began to read Lewis's short biography, to get a better perspective on who he was, and why he came to write such literature. The biography was excellent in doing just that. Mostly I was really surprised he wrote this in a space of just 10 weeks! Having such a difficult childhood during that time period, surely does explain his above the average intelligence. I only read one gothic novel before, so I wasn't too familiar with gothic literature and what it entailed. I loved all the elements therefore I joined the class to further my knowledge in the subject. When I continued to read, and came upon the first chapter, I became more and more excited to actually begin reading the novel itself.

Finally, I had finished the first chapter and throughout reading it, I became concerned if maybe I was not understanding it the way I should be. Or maybe that it's because it's just the beginning that I feel completely lost. I was wondering why an old woman would spill her mind so openly to two complete strangers, when they didn't really show interest as much as sarcasm in her story. They were more interested in her younger companion than her. The guy practically started to fall in love with her just in that short duration. Also what seemed a little odd to me was Antonia, knowing not much of the priest, begins to fall for him while he delivers his sermon. I don't know if because I was expecting this book to be of goth nature, that I was feeling dark undertones in already the first chapter, or that maybe I was not yet ready to pick out the elements just yet, and I figure that, that is what this class is for! =]