Emily Bronte: Life and Inspiration

1818 July 30, Emily Jane Bronte born at Thornton, near Bradford, Yorkshire. 1820 April, the Bronte family moves to Haworth. Father is the curator for the parsonage. (reverend) 1821 September, Mrs. Bronte dies. 1824 November, Emily Bronte enrolls at the Cowan Bridge School. 1825 Emily’s sister Maria dies, Emily and Charlotte leave Cowan school. Sister Elizabeth dies shortly after. 1826 Father brings home toy soldiers. Beginning of children’s imaginary worlds -By age 7 Emily has endured the deaths of 3 family members and ill-treatment at school

-Emily, her two remaining sisters Charlotte and Anne and their Brother Branwell are quite alone on the English Moors and turn to their imaginations for entertainment. -The children have limitless imaginations and spend free time creating intricate imagined worlds complete with history, culture and battle (Imagine places like from Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was likewise inspired by his native England and the scenery) -Emily begins writing

-Emily, Anne and Charlotte all inspired by their home and write poetry and books. -Charlotte writes Jane Eyre, Anne writes Agnes Grey and Emily of course writes Wuthering Heights. -These women published under male pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Many female writers did this because many wouldn’t take female writers seriously. (appealed to a wider audience this way) -Wrote about social issues of the time period that others did not acknowledge -Victorians did not like the violence and rawness of Wuthering Heights. Later become a classic and people recognize its great literary importance

The Victorians -A time period in England named for Queen Victoria’s reign at the time -Victorians were rigid and proper, often seen today as prudish and hypocritical -Women were supposed to be perfect and pure. -Emily Bronte and her sisters had two options: Be a governess or teacher or get married. Writing was not seen as a career for women https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOm9qLwlvSc

-Emily and her sister were teachers and governesses and even tried to begin their own school. It never worked out and Emily and her sisters moved home after the death of their aunt. -Emily cared for her father and devoted her time to writing -Her brother Branwell suffers with alcoholism and eventually dies of tuberculosis and effects of alcohol and laudanum in 1848

TUBERCULOSIS!

Tuberculosis- kills everyone, is extremely contagious Tuberculosis- kills everyone, is extremely contagious. Basically you cough up blood for sometimes years before you die. Killed everyone that Edgar Allen Poe loved. (Emily Bronte’s sisters, herself and brother die of this disease also) -Health was very precarious in this day and age, especially in the cold, rainy climate. -Emily Bronte catches a cold during her brother’s funeral and dies from that as well as complications from tuberculosis. -Also, the family’s drinking water supply was contaminated from the graveyard up the hill from their house. She refuses medical help and dies at age 30 in 1848 -Wuthering Heights is published in 1848. Sister Charlotte praises it as a masterpiece and writes an introduction for it.

Think of movies and books you have read. Who is a character you admire or identify with? Why do you feel this way? What makes a character or person admirable or easy to identify with?

-Emily was greatly influenced by loss and grief as well as her home -Her great imagination is nurtured by her childhood -Characters of Wuthering heights are multifaceted-they seem real, have real personalities, real faults and virtues. Multifaceted- having many facets or sides. People are often like this. People are not necessarily villians and heroes, there is a grey area. These are the characters we can relate to because they are human. -Stereotyped characters often serve as examples of the ideal, but again often aren’t true to real life

2 different narrators. Begins with Mr. Lockwood who rents Thrushcross grange to get away from the business of London and a recent breakup. -Meets his unfriendly landlord Heathcliff and Nelly a maid who grew up there, tells Lockwood the story of what has happened over the last 20 years. Story ends with Lockwood finishing narration. Present, goes back to past, returns to present and goes into the future.

Nelly condemns Heathcliff’s love for Cathy as immoral. -His never changing love for her causes many of the conflicts in the story -It is not clear, however, if the author suggests the reader to condemn Heathcliff as guilty or to praise him as a romantic hero whose love exceeds social norms and conformist morality. (Is he really bad? Or a rebel hero?) -It is up to the reader to judge the characters and their choices in the novel -We learn the history of the characters and their motivations. Lets us see all sides

Reliable vs. Unreliable Narrators Reliable: Narrators who tell the story in an unbiased fashion, have a depth of knowledge about the story and characters, are often “outside” of the action or drama, they are impartial and objective. Nelly is unbiased and cares deeply for all the people in the book (she presents them fairly and understands their motivations) Unreliable: Biased, brags about self, is mentally unstable, directly involved in action or drama, jealous, lack of experience.

Reliable...maybe

Unreliable

Character Motivations Think about Cinderella. -Why is the stepmother so cruel? -Why are the stepsisters mean to Cinderella? -How is it possible for Cinderella to remain unembittered by her circumstances? Think of reasons for why these characters might act the way they do. Use your imagination

Instability of social class -Heathcliff goes from adopted son to servant to gentleman -Cathy marries up and gains social status and wealth -Social class can change quickly for better or worse -Social class is a societal construct (high school is kind of like this)

Pairs and cycles -Catherine and Heathcliff are very similar and see themselves as identical -Catherine’s character is split in two: her conflicting love for two different men, her rational and passionate side -Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange represent conflicting worlds and values, eventually they meld together because of intermarriages. -Nothing ever ends in Wuthering Heights. Tragedies of the past repeat themselves in the present.

Nature and Culture -Nature symbolizes Heathcliff and Catherine’s wildness. Characters live by their desires not reflection. Passion vs. Restraint -Romantic elements: Heathcliff and Catherine spend time on the moors, to escape home and their love grows (Romantics believed people find their true selves in nature) -Religion is mocked by Catherine and later by her daughter. Joseph (the servant who teaches them) teaches with force and brutality. Religion is portrayed as stern and restrictive. Romantics suggested that divinity and spirituality could often better be found, and personally connected with in nature than in traditional study. -Catherine and Heathcliff in a sense try to create their own world and morality.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6eTho1jxuM