《呼啸山庄》英语文学赏析论文

AbstractEmily Jane Brontë was an English novelist and poet, now best remembered for her novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. It's a story about love and revenge, which narrates love and hate of Earnshaws and Lintons between generations. The novel follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious gypsy-like person, from childhood to his death in his late thirties.Key words: Wuthering Heights; novel; Emily Brontë; Heathcliff; Cathy1.About the authorEmily was the second eldest of the world-famous Brontë sisters, between Charlotte and Anne. She published under the androgynous pen name Ellis Bell. She was born in 1818 and died in 1848. It’s a pity that she died when she was only thirty years old. Emily had deep love for writing poems since she was only a child. She was quiet and shy, but her poems and novel are full of rebellious spirits. We can read her thirst for freedom, equality and love between the lines.Emily Bronte was not only shy but also independent, firm and persistent. Her life is very short and she didn’t get a complete education or get married during her short life, so people suspect that how can she accomplish such a novel, a story filled with deep love and hate, a story so complicated and intricate. Therefore, Emily has been considered a talent in literature all the time.However, her talent is reasonable. Emily has read a lot of books and fairy tales when she was a child. What’s more, although the three sisters lived in a poor family, their parents had talents in literature. Their father once published his own poetry anthology, and their mother had written many beautiful love letters to their father before they got married. Influenced by her parents and the wasteland around theirhouse, Emily became a literary genius. The Brontes lived a poor life but they encouraged each other and discussed literature together, so they lived happily and improved their writing ability at the same time.2.Writing characteristics and style of the novelThe novel is full of author’s fantastic imagination. In this novel, ferity and civilization, imagination and reality, there are strong differences between them. MysticismOne of the characteristics of the novel is mysterious. Almost all of the people and things in the novel are mysterious. The wasteland where the story happened is very gloomy, horrible and windy. The characters in the Wuthering Heights are mysterious, too. They have strange behaviors, strange words and strange emotions. Even the dog in their house was also fierce. Mr. Lockwood had bad dreams when he slept in Heathcillf’s house. Besides, at last, Heathcliff said that he met the ghost of Cathy, and then he died. The description style and narrative style in the novel has the color of mysticism.EllipsisEllipsis is a writing technique that novelists love to use in their novels. And we can see many examples in the novel Wuthering Heights. Such as the experience of Heathcliff before he came to the Wuthering Heights; how can he became rich and gentle during the three years after he left the Wuthering Heights; what did Hindley Earnshaw do during his three years in college; how did he meet his wife…Emily Bronte didn’t tell us about these details, just because of this, the novel became more mysterious and left us a larger space to imagine.Different narrators and perspectivesAt the beginning of the novel, the author started the story through Mr. Lockwood’s eyes. The novel is narrated by Mr. Lockwood, who also takes a subsidiary role in the action. His housekeeper, Nelly Dean, provides a secondary narrative that is embedded within Lockwood's.The author described the characters from different perspectives, and we can readstories within stories. Such a structure is quite attractive and unique.3.The major charactersThese six characters are two triangles in the two generation and they are the more important than other characters.HeathcliffHe is Catherine's love and the antihero of the story. The book essentially follows his story from first appearance at Wuthering Heights to his death there. He is badly treated by Hindley and his love for Catherine (which is more like a twin's than a lover's) becomes all-enveloping. But she prefers to marry Edgar for his position and breeding, and he vows vengeance on Hindley, Edgar and their children.When he was a child, he was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw. He was thankful to Mr. Earnshaw and Catherine Earnshaw, and then fell in love with the girl. However, Catherine’s brother Hindley hates him very much. But Heathcliff gave all of his love and attention to Catherine, his Cathy, so he didn’t care about this at all.Before long, things became terrible. Mr. Earnshaw passed away, and Hindley became the owner of the Wuthering Heights. Then Heathcliff was treated as a servant. Unlike before, Heathcliff had Cathy’s love at this time. Except her love, he didn’t have anything else.The second strike came soon. The love from Cathy was not faithful enough. She married with Edgar Linton just because he is a gentleman and he is rich. Then Heathcliff was heart-broken. His deep love all turned to be fierce hate. He became stubborn and cruel, and wanted to revenge for all of this unfair treatment.However, when he has the ability to revenge for himself, his innate goodness gradually awaken and stopped him from tormenting the children of Edgar, Catherine and himself. At last, he died in inner pain and mind disorder.Heathcliff is just like a devil. He is cruel, fearful and selfish. But at the same time, he is a poor man, too. He had nothing at the end of the story and lived in inner pain and memory of his Cathy everyday. Just because the love is too deep, therefore thehate is as fierce as the love he paid. He lived in a dark and miserable world all his life, except the earlier days he spent with his true love.Catherine Earnshaw(Known as Catherine Linton after her marriage.)She is Heathcliff's love and heroine of the story although she dies part of the way through the book. Her character, both alive and dead, haunts Heathcliff. She is free-spirited and beautiful, but can also be spiteful and arrogant. Growing up alongside Heathcliff, their love is more like that of twins than lovers, and she marries Edgar because he is rich and gentle.“My love for Edgar is like the foliage in the woods, in the winter when the trees change, time will change into the leaves; my love for Heathcliff is like the rocks under the tree forever, although it looks like it is not pleasant to you more, but this pleasure is necessary and permanent.”Catherine said this to describe the differences between the two men she loves. She loves her husband, but her true soul mate is Heathcliff. They are just like twins in mind. They are all wild, free-spirited, eager for freedom, have fierce love and hate. However, she was too naive and vain, so she betrayed her heart and chose Edgar Linton. When Heathcliff came back, she was trapped in a miserable and contradictory condition. At last, she was ill and then died after she gave birth to her daughter, Cathy Linton.Edgar LintonHe is Catherine's husband. His breeding and wealth attracted Catherine though Heathcliff was her true love. He is a spoiled, cowardly man although tender and loving to Catherine and his daughter. He is a contrast to Heathcliff both physically and spiritually.He is well bred and weak. He loves Catherine but his life is destroyed for his love by Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff all consider him as a coward, but I think he is a normal one in the story, not as crazy as Catherine and Heathcliff. He did nothing wrong, but his life is terrible, either. Luckily, he has a lovely daughter that can accompany him before his death. Although he didn’t have the ability to protect her as last, he gave all of his love to little Cathy after her mother died.Cathy (Catherine) Linton(Known as Catherine Heathcliff after first marriage, and Catherine Earnshaw after her second marriage)She is the daughter of Catherine and Edgar. Heathcliff hates her ad plans his revenge around her. She inherits her mother's beauty and headstrong behaviors but Edgar and Ellen turn her into a gentler character. When she is taken to live with Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights, her treatment turns her into a reserved, unfriendly person until her growing friendship with Hareton brings out her former traits.Little Cathy was forced to marry with Heathcliff’s son, Linton Heathcliff by Heathcliff. But at last she fell in love with her cousin, Hareton Earnshaw. She is a reproduction of her mother, and this character is a symbol of hope and normal love. At last she got freedom and lived a peaceful and happy life.Hareton EarnshawHareton is Hindley and Frances' only child. Raised as an uneducated farm worker by Heathcliff, he is basically a kind soul beneath the rough exterior although he does not like being slighted. He is one of the few that Heathcliff likes or respects. After initial reluctance, he takes to Cathy's attempts at education to improve himself.Heathcliff wanted to destroy Hareton to revenge. He is the son of Hindley, and it was Hindley that treated Heathcliff badly, so Hareton was involved by his father. ButHeathcliff can always see himself from Hareton, and he considered Hareton as another himself. Heathcliff was treated unfairly when he was young and became an uneducated and rude man, but has a kind heart. So does Hareton. Actually, Heathcliff likes Hareton, and he treats him like that is only for making reprisals. Hareton is a symbol of hope and freedom, too. At last he fell in love with little Cathy and they have a happy ending. The two children are like Heathcliff and Catherine---they don’t have equal position and their love is difficult, but their ending is much better than their elder generation. At last, the “hope” beat the “dark”.Linton HeathcliffLinton is the son of Heathcliff and Isabella. Both physically and mentally weak, he is despised by Heathcliff who uses him simply to gain control of Thrushcross Grange.He is the poorest and innocent character in the novel. He’s just a tool of Heathcliff, and hated by his father. Threatened and hated by his father, he was ill and died early. Linton Heathcliff had never been happy during his short life after his poor mother died.4. ConclusionWuthering Heights is a bright pearl of English literature. There’s so much charm and writing technique in the novel that I can’t state all of them clearly and correctly in my paper. The love and hate of the characters are deep, fierce, and even crazy. I’ve never read an impressive story like this. It’s a unique and brilliant novel. We can walk into the England in 18th Century as soon as we open the novel, just like we are in that dark, windy, mysterious wasteland---Wuthering Heights.Bibliography/view/29398.htm#6/view/832806.htm朱坤领.A Journey in English Literature,英语文学赏析.重庆大学出版社,2008.(Introduction to the Novel on Page1.and 2.)。