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Another Existential Reading Of Wuthering Heights

Posted on:2013-10-06Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:J B JiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2235330371489389Subject:English Language and Literature
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Emily Bront is one of the most prominent English authors in the world. As “sphinx ofliterature”, her only novel Wuthering Heights attracts the attentions of many scholars andcritics alike. Owning to its advanced narrative techniques and the subtle themes, it is one ofthe most profound novels for the analytical approach. Researchers comment the novel fromvarious perspectives. From the mytho-archetypical criticism to feminism, from Freud’spsychoanalysis to structuralism, from metaphysical analysis to romantic analysis, there is nocommon consensus on the interpretation of the novel. The diversifications in the researchenrich the study of the novel, and new dimensions and perspectives are expected on theeverlasting novel. The thoughts of existentialism fit into the novel perfectly. Existentialism isa school that takes human fate, value and freedom as its concern. It asserts human’s position,value and meaning in the universe. The novel also highlights these points. They match quitewell. Trying to examine the novel in a comprehensive way in the light of existentialism, wecan find a whole picture of existentialism will be fully unfolded during the analysis of thenovel in the thesis.The thesis consists of three chapters except an introduction and conclusion. In theintroduction, the thesis presents the life of Emily Bront and summarizes the plot of the novel.Then, the thesis covers the literature reviews at home and abroad chronologically. Next, thethesis goes through the literature review and points out that using existentialism to analyze thenovel in a new perspective enables us to understand it better. Finally, the thesis gives a briefintroduction to the framework of the existentialism that we will employ in the thesis. In thispart, it also includes the significance of the thesis.Chapter One employs existentialists’ views on absurdity to examine the novel. First, it introduces the origin of absurdity and its embodiment in the novel. Absurdity results from theopposition between man and the world and the examples in the novel illustrate the point.Then, it relates the biggest absurdity-death and different characters in the novel choosediverse attitudes towards it. Next, it lists the attitudes towards absurdity-suicide and revolt.Finally, it focuses on the essence of existentialist Camus’ philosophy–revolt and the limit ofit. It also tells us how revolt shows itself in the novel and in the end using the example ofHeathcilff, the thesis reminds us of the limit of revolt, which is a thin red line forbidden totread.Chapter Two examines Sartre’s assertion: hell is other people. First, it points out theorientation of the assertion: hell is other people and the theory about it. Then, the thesis givesa general introduction on the abnormal relationships in the novel. It goes on illustrating thispoint with the examples of Heathcliff and Hindley, Heathciff and Linton and exploring theunderlying reasons. At the end of this part, the thesis corrects the misunderstandings towardshell is other people by giving the examples of Heathcliff and Catherine, Cathy and Haretonand draws an conclusion that human relationship, if badly dealt with, hell is other people; ifproperly dealt with, and heaven is other people.Chapter Three includes six sections. It circles around many aspects of freedom. In theintroduction, the thesis introduces two fundamental concepts of Sartre: being-in-self andbeing-for-itself and how they show themselves in the novel. The first section is about thepremise of freedom. As an atheistic existentialist Sartre, on one hand, denies the existence ofGod, which is his first pass to human freedom. The characters Catherine and Heathcliff don’tbelieve in God at all. On the other hand, he refuses to take the general moral norms, which isthe second pass to freedom. Heathcliff in the novel is a perfect example. In the second section,the thesis is on the theoretical basis of freedom: existence precedes essence and the behaviorsof many characters in the novel confirm the principle. In the third section, the thesis is about the implication of freedom, which means human is free to choose. In the novel, differentcharacters have different choices and these choices lead to diverse outcomes. In the fourthsection, the thesis pays attention to the limit of freedom. The choices made by people arerestricted to several factors, such as My place, My past, My neighbor, My surroundings andMy death and the novel fully illustrates these points. In the fifth section, it emphasizes on thedemand of freedom. Man is free to choose, so he is bound to take the responsibility. Thecharacters in the novel pursue their freedoms and assume their responsibilities. In the lastsection of the chapter, it concerns the consequences of freedom. Man is free to choose andtheir choices lead to the responsibilities, which imply anxiety. Most of the characters’behaviors support the point. All these show that existentialist Sartre’s views are in agreementwith those of Emily Bront’s.In the conclusion, we find something in common between existentialists Camus andSartre. Existentialist Camus realizes the absurdity of the world putting forward the principleof revolt and sets a limit to it while existentialist Sartre emphasizes a lot on action which isalmost the same as revolt,he notices that actions are restricted to some situations. Theseviews of existentialists are vividly presented in the novel. But these alone cannot solve theproblem. Fortunately, Emily provides us another solution to the problem, which is love that isa complementary to revolt and action. In a word, Emily’s thoughts not only agree with thoseof existentialists’ but also they are complementary each other. With revolt, action and lovecombined, all the rough problems are dissolved and a new ideal heaven is at hand.
Keywords/Search Tags:Emily Bront, Wuthering Heights, Existentialism
PDF Full Text Request
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