The Narrative Strategy Of Wuthering Heights

Emily Bronte wrote only one novel in her life. Yet this novel, Wuthering Heights, printed her name onto the canon of English literature. Her daring imagination and passionate writing stirred the emotions of millions of readers of all ages. Yet modern development in literary theories has fashioned readers to forsake the overemphasis on the plot of the novel and focus more on the close reading of the text. Starting from this point, the author reinterpret the narrative of Wuthering Heights, with particular focus on the time scheme and selection of narrators.This thesis falls into five parts. In the Introduction part, the author first briefly reviews the studies on Wuthering Heights since its publication and then states her synopsis.Chapter One briefly explains the general development of western literary theories on fictional narrative. Studies before the twentieth century tend to be either too practise-based to have a systematic study of the fiction as a form of art, or too theoretical to have any concrete enlightenment on practice. Yet the twentieth century witnessed a huge change on literary theories on fictional narrative. In particular, Russian formalism and French structuralism greatly influenced people's views of literature. Modern theories tend to focus more on the text itself. Thus, the author hopes to, through close reading of Wuthering Heights, have a deeper understanding and better appreciation of the structure of the novel.Chapter Two focuses on the time scheme of Wuthering Heights. There are two time lines in it. The first time line—concerning Mr. Lockwood—follows its natural chronological order. The second time line starts from the recollection of the past events, and generally follows the development of the story. Each line develops in the chronological order, yet with these two time lines twisted and twined together, the order of this novel does not fall into the stereotyped pattern. With the interchange between past and present, the readers can, on the one hand, indulge themselves in the passions between Heathcliff and Catherine and, on the other hand, take a break from the engulfing past from time to time. The selection of narrator, which Chapter Three deals with, is a long-time focus of fictional studies. The narrative structure of Wuthering Heights is in the complicated mode of "Chinese box". In the first layer, the novel is narrated by Mr. Lockwood in the first person to the readers. In the second layer, the main story is related to him by Ellen Dean, the housekeeper of Thrushcross Grange he rented. Between these two layers emerges the third layer, which is composed of various minor narrators dotted throughout the novel. If this kind of frame is out of artistic design, what is the purpose of such design? This question is addressed in full details by analyzing each narrator and his or her functions.Up to present, many critics have written on Wuthering Heights and some of them exclusively commented on the reliability of Ellen Dean's narration. Yet there has been no systematic and profound analysis of the time scheme and narrative structure of this work. The author hopes to, through this kind of detailed analysis and reinterpretation, provide a new insight into the exploration and appreciation of the narrative aesthetics of classic works.