Emily Bronte Uses the Opening Chapter of `Wuthering Heights',.
Summary:
The novel involved many different themes, including the supernatural, jealousy, and the way in which people live, some of which are hinted upon in the first chapter. The novel has a complex plot although you can get some idea about what it is about by looking at the first chapter, as there are many hints.
In the first chapter of Wuthering Heights Emily makes clear a lot about how the story is going to follow by the way it is written. She created a first person narrator, in the character Lockwood, which we know would be the storyteller and an onlooker into a story not really concerning him. We know this because Emily created Lockwood to appear a rather "nosy" character, who was a bit too interested in other people's business. In the first chapter we get to learn a lot about Wuthering Heights and its occupants, but not so much about Lockwood himself, which therefore suggests the story would carry on in much the same way. Lockwood is shown to be a nosy and intrusive character, who seems quite sure of himself. We can see this by little phrases he uses such as "more exaggeratedly reserved than myself", although we know Lockwood in certainly not reserved. He uses sarcasm such as "a capital fellow", to look down upon others. He comes over as being very opinionated and judging. Examples of this is when he uses phrases such as "some people might suspect...", "That tells me...", "I know, by instinct...." He acts like he knows the characters inside out even though he barely knows them. He is quick to look down upon people.
Also in the first chapter we are introduced to Wuthering Heights and the character of Heathcliff. Heathcliff is portrayed as being a very "closed off" character, and that is one of the main themes in this novel. We can tell this because of little gestures he's said to make and words he uses. When Lockwood was introducing himself to Heathcliff, Heathcliff's "fingers sheltered themselves with a jealous resolution still further in his waistcoat", this shows that he was unwelcoming and not willing to open himself up. He also talked through "closed teeth", which shows further unwillingness to be polite or friendly. The first impression of Wuthering Heights comes from its name. Wuthering sounds very similar to the word "withering", which means dying, drooping. Therefore before we've even read the text we get a feeling that Wuthering Heights isn't a nice place to be. As we read on further into the text we get a lot more information about the place. A lot of negative language is used, "grotesque", "wilderness", "crumbling", which give an image in our minds of it not being a nice place to live. However, this is in the viewpoint of Lockwood, as Heathcliff would look upon it very differently as it could be said to be a true expression of his character. Thrushcross Grange which is mentioned in this chapter, later on became a good comparison of Wuthering Heights and can be described as being certainly the more "comfortable" however as we later find out for people such as Catherine it can be too suffocating. Wuthering Heights is described as having " a few stunted firs at the end of the house", this suggests that as well as the firs being stunted, and Heathcliff is also stunted, emotionally, as the owner of the place. The firs are stunted by the powerful north wind, which could also suggest that Heathcliff is emotionally stunted because he has had a rough life, which has caused him to be so emotionally closed off. Moreover, it says, "gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one-way, as if craving the alms of the sun." This is personification, which we can also argue applies to Heathcliff, who longed for Catherine, who could be seen as his sun. The "gaunt thorns", also impress upon us the roughness of Wuthering Heights and the fact it's well protected. This is also like Heathcliff - hard to get into, protected, hardened, there's many barriers to overcome. It is described as having "narrow windows", which again implies that it is shut off, and hard to get into, again like Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights is not in any way homely, as stated there was "grotesque carving", "no signs of roasting, boiling or baking." There were items of value, "immense pewter dishes", but not at all chosen for beauty. It reflects the "up-tightness" of its owner. Reading the text made me feel there was a lot of tension in the place, from previous events that may have happened, which brings me onto my next point. There is a lot of mystery behind Wuthering Height's, as its full history does not become uncovered until later on in the novel. We discover its old, not only by the descriptions of its appearance, but by the date above the door, with the name Hareton Earnshaw, which makes us wonder how it came to be in Heathcliff's hands.
There is the beginning of another theme - jealousy. It is mentioned twice; saying the dogs' show "a jealous guardianship" and his fingers sheltered themselves "with a jealous resolution." This is also a hint at the plot later on, Heathcliff later becomes jealous of Linton for the soul reason that he married Catherine, however it could be said that Linton was also jealous of Heathcliff as he had Catherine's real affections.
Another possible theme is that of the supernatural. Wuthering Heights is given a rather gothic feel, and words such as "haunted" and the fact it was so old, and empty in feeling gave a ghostly feel.
The novel involved many different themes, including the supernatural, jealousy, and the way in which people live, some of which are hinted upon in the first chapter. The novel has a complex plot although you can get some idea about what it is about by looking at the first chapter, as there are many hints.
This is the complete article, containing 946 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
