Concetti Chiave
- The novel's originality lies in its divergence from typical Victorian themes, focusing instead on the duality of love and hate.
- Characters are defined by their relationships with time, nature, and mortality, reflecting the impact of social conventions on their true nature.
- Pre-moral philosophical concepts highlight a universal harmony, with nature and life as expressions of spiritual principles.
- Emily Bronte portrays an immortal love that transcends physical existence, emphasizing the soul's eternal nature.
- The novel offers a critique of Victorian social norms, using a dark and atmospheric setting akin to a Greek tragedy to underline hypocrisy and social constraints.
Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights –Notes
What are the Originality and Duality of the Novel?
It was a very original work, in fact, it was not characterized as a Victorian novel.
The novel is characterized by a focus on two contradictory feelings: love and hate.
One of the main feature of the novel is imagination, expressed through motifs, themes and suggestive settings (a clear example is Yorkshire’s moors)
Characters are in relations with time, eternity, fatality , nature, essence and death. They do not stop their violent passions, in fact, they are not naturally mean: the social conventions have destroyed their true nature, provoking violent and selfish instincts.
Pre-Moral Philosophical Concepts
Emily Bronte’s novel is based on two main philosophical concepts, that can be defined as “pre-moral”:
- Nature and life are expression of some living and spiritual principles
- There is a harmony between every element, although the appearance shows that some elements can be polar opposites of each other: they become contradictory because their true nature is not realized (as the protagonists of the novel become mean because historical events don’t allow them to realize their true nature).
Universal Harmony and Immortal Love
Emily Bronte believes that man and nature are part of a same universal harmony.
We can understand that there isn’t a sexual connotation of the love of the main characters: their bond is special and immortal, it isn’t connected with life or death: they were born to be together.
Emily Bronte believes that soul is immortal because life is the expression of a spiritual principle.
Social Critique and Atmosphere
The novel links the psychological analysis to the social criticism against the hypocrisy and the social conventions of Victorian Age.
The atmosphere is dark and suggestive as a Greek tragedy
Domande da interrogazione
- What makes "Wuthering Heights" an original work compared to typical Victorian novels?
- How does "Wuthering Heights" critique social conventions of the Victorian Age?
"Wuthering Heights" is considered original because it diverges from the typical Victorian novel by focusing on the duality of love and hate, and employing imagination through motifs, themes, and settings like Yorkshire’s moors.
The novel critiques Victorian social conventions by linking psychological analysis with social criticism, highlighting the hypocrisy and destructive nature of these conventions, set against a dark and suggestive atmosphere reminiscent of a Greek tragedy.
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