Study Of The Artistic Innovation In Wuthering Heights

The thesis is titled "Study of the Artistic Innovation in Wuthering Heights".Based on closing reading of the novel, the thesis has studied the innovation in the artistic form of expression by emphatically analyzing the transcendence over Gothic novels, the abundant use of symbols and the original narrative technique in Wuthering Heights. It follows that Emily is an innovative writer.The thesis is composed of three chapters. Chapter One "The I(?)ovatlve Applications for Gothic Novels" analyzes Emily's innovative applications for Gothic novels in the light of the characteristics of Gothic novels. In the novel, Emily combines the Gothic form with the intense emotion, thus deepens the theme of the novel: the strong theme on Human's sorrow and thirst has been revealed, which has transcended the traditional Gothic theme—revenge, by depicting the unusual love beyond common people between Heathcliff and Catherine. Emily has portrayed the main characters' deep state of mind: the heroine Catherine is a unity of opposites. The developmem of her personality has outstripped the previous Gothic heroines. She has broken the habitual Gothic pattern. Her marriage has aggravated her psychological conflict rather than solved it: she has not only been put between two lovers, but been divided by her two lovers. Her psychological conflict has reached the climax before she dies: the self-lost Catherine struggles in sorrow and phantom and shows nervous disorder. The description of the sorrow before death and the succession of dreamlike reality gives the novel a new field and new feature. Heathcliff is an extreme Byronic Hero. He devotes all his love,passion,loyalty and sacrifice to Catherine, but is cold-hearted enough to others including his own son. He is unwilling to be subject to the social morals and customs. After Catherine accepts Edgar's proposal, his personality begins to be twisted and separated. He determines to take revenge. He uses an extreme way, alienating himself into a "bloodsucker'. His human nature is temporarily stifled by his revenge fire, and his revenge results in an abnormal psychology: the greater pain others suffer, the more joyful he is. Emily's depiction of the setting is also different. She adds realistic contents and intense feelings to the Gothic pattern. Everything in the Wuthering Heights comes from the natural wilderness and people around Emily, which has protruded the novel's realistic meaning and sense of times and thus made the novel greatly ahead of the tradition, presenting its unique artistic fascination.Chapter Two discusses "The Abundant Use of Symbols in Wuthering Heights". Symbol is an artistic expression in literature since the ancient times, but the witting, abundant use of symbols belongs to the contemporary literature, so the abundant use of symbols is its another distinctive feature. The use of symbols has almost perfectly combined the mysterious, wild and vast natural environment with the complex, contradictive and sorrowful inner world of the characters: "Wuthering Heights" and "Thrushcross Grange" symbolize respectively two different worlds, two different forces. "Wuthering Heights" is the symbol of storm, the mental homeland of superhuman love between Heathcliff and Catherine. Its master Heathcliff symbolizes some mysterious but irresistible ancient force in the depth of human nature which refuses to be controlled by the man-made moral civilization. "Thrushcross Grange" is the symbol of calm, the common paradise of love on earth, it represents social morals, models and customs. Its master Linton is the representative of civilized society. When two quite different forces meet, it's inevitable that conflicts appear. What's ingenious is that when Cathy --the daughter of Catherine is married to Hareton, her name becomes Catherine Earnshaw from Catherine Linton, the same name as her mother before she marries, which symbolizes that two forces have reached quietness and harmony after conflicts just like all the circles in the nature. What's more, Emily has used many images to depict the inner world of the characters. The wilderness and storm are the most basic, typical and meaningful images; "the lost child" hints Catherine's self-lost sorrow; "window" is the Yin and Yang boundary between Catherine and Heathcliff. The implications of these images are rich, complicated and profound. The use of symbols and the construction of the images have better portrayed the characters, expressed the theme and developed new field in the expressive techniques of novels.Chapter Three "The Original Narrative Technique" focuses on the narration of the novel. In Wuthering Heights, Emily applies a "space-time inverted, multi-angle narrative pattern" --narrating the story from different time and different angles. Meanwhile the structure of the whole story takes on a clear dramatic feature. The multi-angle narration makes the story full of suspense while the dramatic plot makes the story soul-stirring. This kind of narration supplies a good platform for the revelation of the theme and the profound meaning of the novel. We can say that this non-traditional narrative pattern is a bold innovation in English novels of that time.The three chapters are independent and interrelated at the same time. It is based on the analysis and discussion of these three chapters that the innovative writer-Emily appears in front of us. It's a hope that this kind of study will be more helpful to understand the literary charm of Wuthering Heights. If such effect happens, it shows that this thesis is of value.