Metafunctions On The Realization Of The Theme Of Wuthering Heights

Since the generation and development of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG),which is put forward by M. A. K. Halliday, it has been widely applied to analyzingdifferent types of discourse. Meanwhile, its combination with stylistics, namely,functional stylistics, has attracted great attention from scholars both at home and abroad.Moreover, Emily Bront’s Wuthering Heights has been mainly studied by applyingliterature theories such as feminism and new criticism, and with rare studies of it withinthe scope of functional stylistics.Therefore, the present study attempts to analyze Emily Bront’s Wuthering Heightsbased on Halliday’s SFG by adopting a quantitative, qualitative, demonstrative as well asdescriptive approach. Such an attempt is of certain significance, for its study ofapplication of ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textualmetafunction will provide a new view and credible insight into the prominent linguisticand stylistic features so as to understand the novel better from the systematic andfunctional angle.Through the in-depth analysis of metafunctions, it is found that the foregroundedstylistic features of Wuthering Heights can be summarized from the following threeaspects:In terms of ideational metafunction, the types and distributions of differentprocesses are closely related to the theme of the novel, namely, the co-existence ofviolent love and extreme hatred. The most frequently used process type is the materialprocess which represents the actions and events involved in the development of the plots.Other predominant types are relational processes, which provide the readers a picture ofthe delicate evolution of relationships among different characters, and mental processes,which present the change of characters’ inner world, further pushing forward thedevelopment of plots. The verbal processes make a vivid presentation of the dispute ordiscussion among different characters. It is the shift of the topics of their conversationthat reveals the shift of focuses. As for behavioral and existential processes, they are involved with a limited number.In terms of interpersonal metafunction, the interpersonal meaning of interaction inthe novel between the narrators, between the narrators and the main characters, andbetween the writer and readers at the micro/macro social level is analyzed. Throughanalysis of mood and modality of the conversation between Lockwood and Heathcliff inthe first three chapters of the novel, a double role can be found in Lockwood, for as astranger of Wuthering Heights, he is full of curiosity and inquiring about the eccentricatmosphere in the Heights. In addition, as a second writer, Lockwood fulfills EmilyBront’s function of opening the first leaf of the story to the reader in the interpersonalmeaning and prepares the foreshadowing of the complicated events for the novel.Meanwhile, by analysis of mood and modality in Mrs. Nelly Dean’s conversation withHeathcliff, Catherine and Edgar Linton, it is found that she is not only the narrator of thestory, but also a participant connecting the two-generation lovers and transferring EmilyBront’s notion of moral and value to the reader. Besides, the functional stylistic featuresare analyzed. It is found that the interpersonal metafunction plays a very important partin the realization of the stylistic features and the theme of the novel.In terms of textual metafunction, it can be seen that the themes in WutheringHeights is full of changes, which indicates the change of the author’s perspectives fromnarrator to other people. Besides, the marked themes are used with high frequency,because the action and behaviour of the protagnists are the major concern of the writer. Aseries of texts of retaliation committed by Heathcliff are pervaded with multiple themesand themes in clause complex. As for the rheme, it is complicated in most cases. Inaddition to these findings through theme and rheme analysis, the present study also findsthat the thematic progression patterns in Wuthering Heights are complicated, whichmeans that simple linear, constant thematic progression pattern, split theme pattern,coordinate theme pattern, and combined theme and rheme coexist. In addition, beingparallelled with the theme-rheme structure, the information structure forms a perfectcomplement through the interactive transmission between the given information and newinformation. They both pave the way for the Heathcliff’s revenge and Catherine’s tragedy.As for the cohesive devices, they play an important role in constructing the text. In Wuthering Heights, five commonly recognized devices, namely, reference, ellipsis,substitution, conjunction and lexical cohesion, are employed. It is these devices thatmake the whole novel organized in a fluent way and facilitate the insights into thestylistic value of language patterns. This dissertation also explains how the textualmetafunction helps to realize the theme of the novel.To sum up, the significance of the present study lies in that theoretically speaking, ithas proved the feasibility of the theoretical framework of functional stylistics; practicallyspeaking, it has provided a fresh insight into the effect of metafunctions on therealization of the theme of Wuthering Heights.