Wuthering Heights: Romanticism
Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontė, can be classified as a
Romantic novel, because it contains many tenets of Romanticism.
Romanticism was the initial literary reaction to changes in society caused
by the industrial revolution: it was an attempt to organize the chaos of
the clash between the agrarian and the industrial ways of life.
Romanticism was developing in a time in which all of society's rules,
limits, and restraints on how each person should act where being questioned,
tried, and twisted. Wuthering Heights is a Romantic novel which uses a
tale of hopeless love to describe the clash of two culturesNeo-Classicism
and Romanticism.
One of the most significant tenets of ...
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to the time she spends with Edgar.
After Catherine's death, both Heathcliff and Edgar wish her back even if
they must return to fighting each other for her love. The Romantics had a
love of the past, because it is stable and predictable: all possible
scenarios have already happened.
Mr. Earnshaw's act of taking care of Heathcliff contains many
aspects of Romanticism. A key tenet in this act is Mr. Earnshaw's will to
enter into the mind of a child. Mr. Earnshaw tries to do this when he
takes Heathcliff home. Mr. Earnshaw sees a humble child in need of help.
He is not concerned with the constrains of society, which is another tenet
of Romanticism, but rather the welfare of the child. Brontė gives Mr.
Earnshaw's benevolence relatively high moral value, also a trait common to
Romantic works. Mr. Earnshaw cares for the child despite its dark
appearance, because he believes in the instinctive goodness of humanity,
which is also a characteristic of Romanticism. Mr. ...
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thy brother. Go,
say thy prayers, child, and ask God's pardon'" (46). Much later, in a
symbolic replay, Cathy says to Linton, "'this [the moors] is something like
your paradise'" after she spends the day on the heath with Heathcliff to
avoid scorn (249). Nature, specifically the heath, is shown as being a
religious haven for those, like Linton, Catherine, and Heathcliff, who wish
to contemplate or hide.
The Romantics especially the Graveyard School had an elegiac
interest in mutability, mourning, and melancholy. Emily Brontė also had an
interest in stressing and manipulating these qualities of man. Throughout
his life, Heathcliff is the one character who not only realizes ...
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"Wuthering Heights: Romanticism." Essayworld.com. March 10, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Wuthering-Heights-Romanticism/80337.
"Wuthering Heights: Romanticism." Essayworld.com. March 10, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Wuthering-Heights-Romanticism/80337.
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