Influenza della società sull'individuo tesina

INTRODUZIONE

Partendo da un breve excursus su cos’è la società, sulla sua struttura sociale e

su come possa influenzare la vita di un individuo, si è cercato di individuare

degli esempi concreti di tale influenza nelle opere letterarie studiate nel corso

dell’anno scolastico.

Gli esempi individuati riguardano sia figure femminili – Catherine, Effi, Emma –

sia figure maschili, prendendo ad esempio Baron von Innstetten. La società in

cui tali personaggi vivono è quella del XIX secolo, un periodo in cui le norme

sociali erano in grado di determinare la vita di un individuo sin dalla nascita, a

seconda che egli fosse di bassa o alta estrazione sociale. Ciò avviene nel caso

di Catherine, una donna che per tutta la vita sarà combattuta tra un animo

romantico e un folle amore e, dall’altro lato, le ambizioni sociali e la volontà di

non perdere la sua posizione. E sono sempre le ambizioni sociali che spingono

Effi a sposare un uomo molto più grande di lei, che conosce appena. Dopo il

tradimento, il marito si vede costretto ad agire: non ha scelta. Se fosse

solamente una questione fra lui e la moglie, potrebbe sorvolare; ma qualcuno

sa e lui non può permettersi di perdere il suo posto nella società. Nel caso di

Emma, invece, si può vedere come la società influenza il destino di una donna:

deve sposarsi. 4

Infine, si è individuato un filosofo, sempre del XIX secolo, che, attraverso la sua

analisi dell’essenza umana, mostra come la società sia uno degli elementi che

la determinano. Wuther

ing

Heights

(E.

Bronte)

L'influe

Madame Effi

nza

Bovary Briest

della (T.

(G.

Flaubert) Fontane)

società

Marx e

la

natura

umana

Che cos’è la società

L’essere umano è per sua natura un “animale sociale” (Aristotele), senza la

società non potrebbe sopravvivere. Anche quando si isola e cerca di sfuggire

alla società, infatti, l’individuo porta con sé le idee e le tecniche che ha appreso

dagli altri.

In senso generale, una società è un sistema sociale ben determinato e dotato

di propri tratti distintivi strettamente correlati a variabili linguistiche e culturali.

Difatti, ogni società esiste in primo luogo grazie all’esistenza di un sistema

linguistico comune e conseguentemente a un complesso di valori e norme

culturali condivise che hanno conosciuto una ben precisa evoluzione nel corso

del tempo.

La struttura sociale

Tutte le società umane presentano una struttura sociale, costituita da un

insieme di parti tra loro interrelate che formano un insieme organizzato. In esse

esistono dei modelli di comportamento che si ripetono con regolarità e

costituiscono le fondamenta di quel grande edificio che è la società. La

5

struttura sociale corrisponde quindi a una grande rete organizzata di relazioni

sociali e di componenti stabili nel tempo, ad esempio gli status, i ruoli, i gruppi

e le istituzioni.

Status e ruoli

Nella società le persone si differenziano l’una dall’altra, non solo per le

caratteristiche individuali (età, sesso, religione, ecc.), ma anche in base

all’appartenenza a determinati gruppi sociali. Quando si parla di gruppo, si

intende un insieme di individui che interagiscono gli uni con gli altri in modo

ordinato per il perseguimento di fini comuni. In base al gruppo di appartenenza

si attribuisce alle persone una posizione sociale superiore o inferiore. Ogni

individuo, quindi, occupa nella società una determinata posizione in base

anche alla valutazione sociale che ne danno gli altri. Tale posizione, lo status, è

vincolata da un insieme di modelli comportamentali attesi che costituiscono il

ruolo sociale. La nostra condotta sociale è, perciò, influenzata dalle aspettative

altrui.

Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s only novel; it was published in 1847 but it

was not an immediate success. Not only did it not have any clear moral

purpose, as novels were expected to have during the Victorian Age, but it

appeared to imply that social and moral conventions should yield to the forces

of passion.

General context: Victorian Age and society

In the 19 century, more specifically in the Victorian Age, social norms were

th

something every person had to live up to, to keep their reputation and respect

of their peers intact. The fate of an individual was set from the day they were

born, depending on the family they were born into; in fact social status had

great influence on what was expected of people in the 19th century. For

example, a woman in an upper or middle class family had to be taken care of

by men, first by their fathers and then, once married, by their husbands. What

is more, they were not supposed to have (and show) the wilder instincts that

6

were then tolerated in men. So, the education of girls of good Victorian families

aimed at inhibiting those instincts. A man, instead, was expected to be the

head of the family, and his rules were to be respected as such. In addition to

this, it was a norm that a man and a woman could be married only if they were

from the same social class.

In this period there were two kinds of middle class families because a family's

wealth could either be achieved or inherited. The inherited one, however, was

considered more respectable since a certain way of living comes with wealth: in

order to be a gentleman it was necessary not only to be wealthy but also to act

in a certain way.

Summary

The novel follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious gypsy-like person, from

childhood (about seven years old) to his death in his late thirties. Heathcliff

rises in his adopted family and then is reduced to the status of a servant,

running away when the young woman he loves decides to marry another. He

returns later, rich and educated, and sets about gaining his revenge on the two

families that he believed ruined his life.

Catherine Earnshaw

Catherine Earnshaw, the female protagonist of the novel, embodies the conflict

between romantic love and social conventions. Her actions are driven in part by

her social ambitions, which eventually compel her to marry Edgar Linton.

However, she is also motivated by impulses that prompt her to violate social

conventions—loving Heathcliff, throwing temper tantrums, and running around

on the moor.

Catherine should be very restrained in her romantic life, because of the era she

was born in, and the social class she inherited at birth; but her personality has

great similarities with Heathcliff’s, as she can be very crude and selfish. This

selfishness, combined with her being accustomed to the wealth of her family,

led her to choose for Linton over Heathcliff.

Heathcliff

Heathcliff, an orphan brought to live at Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, is

“Catherine’s impossible love”. The male character embodies the “dark”

Romantic hero dominated by his self-destructive passion for Catherine.

As a foundling he was never truly accepted because he wasn’t from the same

social status as the rest of the Earnshaws. So, he had no possibilities of

marrying his beloved. When she decided to marry Linton, he left and

disappeared for three years. When he returned he had become a rich man but

7

it was still socially excluded. This was due to the fact that Heathcliff's wealth

was considered less prestigious than the wealth of the Lintons, since the

Lintons had “old” money.

Extracts from chapter IX

Catherine, already in love with Heathcliff, has accepted Linton’s proposal.

However, she is so uneasy about it, that she must open her heart to Nelly, the

housekeeper at Wuthering Heights.

'I accepted him, Nelly. Be quick, and say whether I was wrong!'

'You accepted him! Then what good is it discussing the matter? You have pledged your

word, and cannot retract.'

'But say whether I should have done so - do!' she exclaimed in an irritated tone; chafing

her hands together, and frowning.

'There are many things to be considered before that question can be answered

properly,' I said, sententiously. 'First and foremost, do you love Mr. Edgar?'

'Who can help it? Of course I do,' she answered.

Then I put her through the following catechism: for a girl of twenty-two it was not

injudicious.

'Why do you love him, Miss Cathy?'

'Nonsense, I do - that's sufficient.'

'By no means; you must say why?'

'Well, because he is handsome, and pleasant to be with.'

'Bad!' was my commentary.

'And because he is young and cheerful.'

'Bad, still.'

'And because he loves me.'

'Indifferent, coming there.'

'And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the

neighbourhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband.'

'Worst of all. And now, say how you love him?'

'As everybody loves - You're silly, Nelly.'

'Not at all - Answer.'

'I love the ground under his feet, and the air over his head, and everything he touches,

and every word he says. I love all his looks, and all his actions, and him entirely and

altogether. There now!'

'And why?'

'Nay; you are making a jest of it: it is exceedingly ill-natured! It's no jest to me!' said

the young lady, scowling, and turning her face to the fire.

'I'm very far from jesting, Miss Catherine,' I replied. 'You love Mr. Edgar because he

is handsome, and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves you. The last,

however, goes for nothing: you would love him without that, probably; and

with it you wouldn't, unless he possessed the four former attractions.'

As Nelly Dean mentions in the last lines, Catherine only loves Edgar for what he

has to offer, but she doesn't love him for the love he has to offer, as that isn't

what attracts her; it is his wealth and good name that she loves. She wants for

herself what society would expect and want from her, to marry into a good

family. 8

'I don't want your permission for that - I SHALL marry him: and yet you have not told

me whether I'm right.'

'Perfectly right; if people be right to marry only for the present. And now, let us hear

what you are unhappy about. Your brother will be pleased; the old lady and gentleman

will not object, I think; you will escape from a disorderly, comfortless home into a

wealthy, respectable one; and you love Edgar, and Edgar loves you. All seems smooth

and easy: where is the obstacle?'

'HERE! and HERE!' replied Catherine, striking one hand on her forehead, and

the other on her breast: 'in whichever place th