For Monday: Bronte, Wuthering Heights, Chs.7-11

NOTE: If you missed class, the handout I gave everyone is posted below these questions. The first two passages are from the biographical/editorial preface that Charlotte Bronte published with the reprint of the book in 1850. It shows how she was trying to defend and in a sense apologize for the book's tone and outlandish "rustic" ideas. The third passage comes from Emily Bronte herself, and is a satirical essay about cats and why anyone who says they don't like cats is a hypocrite. It relates in many ways to our reading of Wuthering Heights. 

Answer two of the following: 

Q1: How does Nelly characterize Cathy throughout these chapters?  Has she become corrupted by society?  Or does she remain a primal, ‘innocent’ woman throughout?  How much of what we see is her, and how much is how Nelly ‘reads’ her?

2. A similar question, but this time for Heathcliff: can we be sure that his emergence as the true ‘villain’ of the story is not of her making?  What passages might be less empirical fact than Nelly’s Romantic imagination? 

3. How should we respond to the love of Catherine and Heathcliff?  Is this passionate, ‘romantic’ love, or is it something more masochistic and even dangerous? Would this be the kind of relationship that Wollstonecraft or Austen would sanction? Or would they warn her to run away? Consider Cathy's famous statement, “my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath—a source of little visible delight, but necessary.  Nelly, I am Heathcliff!” 

Q4: An anonymous reviewer of the book in 1848 wrote, quite critically, that "The book sadly wants relief. A few glimpses of sunshine would have increased the reality of the picture and given strength rather than weakness to the whole. There is not in the entire dramatis persona, a single character which is not utterly hateful or thoroughly contemptible. If you do not detest the person, you despise him; and if you do not despise him, you detest him with your whole heart." Why do you think Emily Bronte avoided the "relief" the reviewer craved, and only let us choose between "despising" and "detesting"? Or is this a very 19th century view, that couldn't appreciate characters who flirted with darkness? 

A FEW CONTEXTUAL PASSAGES TO CONSIDER AS YOU READ: 

From Charlotte Brontë’s “Biographical Notice” (1850):

“Neither Emily nor Anne was learned; they had no thought of filling their pitchers at the well-spring of other minds; they always wrote from the impulse of nature, the dictates of intuition, and from such stores of observation as their limited experience had enabled them to amass. I may sum up all by saying, that for strangers, they were nothing, for superficial observers less than nothing; but for those who had known them all their lives in the intimacy of close relationship, they were genuinely good and truly great.

From Charlotte Brontë’s “Editor’ Preface to the 1850 Edition of Wuthering Heights”:

“With regard to the rusticity of Wuthering Heights, I admit the charge, for I feel the quality. It is rustic all through. It is moorish, and wild, and knotty as the root of heath. Nor was it natural that it should be otherwise; the author being herself a native and nursling of the moors…Where delineation of human character is concerned, the case is different. I am bound to avow that she had scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasantry amongst whom she lived, than a nun has of country people who sometimes pass her convent gates. My sister’s disposition was not naturally gregarious, circumstances favored and fostered her tendency to seclusion…Had she but lived, her mind would of itself have grown like a strong tree; loftier, straighter, wider-spreading, and its matured fruits would have attained a mellower ripeness and a sunnier bloom.

From Emily Brontë, “The Cat” (May 15, 1842)

“I can say sincerely that I like cats; also I can give very good reasons why those who despise them are wrong. A cat is an animal who has more human feelings than almost any other being. We cannot sustain a comparison with the dog, it is infinitely too good; but the cat, although it differs in some physical points, is extremely like us in disposition…A cat, out of self-interest, sometimes hides its misanthropy under the guise of amiable gentleness; instead of tearing what it desires from its master’s hand, it approaches with a caressing air, rubs its pretty little head against him, and advances a paw whose touch is soft as down. When it has gained its end, it resumes its character of Timon [Timon of Athens, from Shakespeare]. Such artfulness in it is called hypocrisy; in ourselves, we give it another name, it’s politeness, and he who would not use it to disguise real feelings would soon be hunted out of society…

I have seen you embrace your child ecstatically, when he came to show you a beautiful butterfly crushed between his cruel little fingers; and at that moment, I really wanted to have a cat, with the tail of a half-devoured rat hanging from its mouth, to present as the image, the true copy, of your angel. You could not refuse to kiss him, and if he scratched us both in revenge, so much the better…The ingratitude of cats is another name for discernment. They know how to value our favors at their true price, because they guess the motives that prompt us to grant them, and if those motives might sometimes be good, undoubtedly they always remember that they owe all their miseries and all their evil qualities to the great ancestor of humankind. For assuredly, the cat was not wicked in  Paradise.”

For Friday: Bronte, Wuthering Heights, Chs.1-6

We'll start with our next novel slowly, just reading the first six (or so, get as far as you can) chapters for Friday. This novel is a little trickier to read than Frankenstein, though it has a lot in common with that equally famous work. I think you'll see shades of Wollsonecraft, Austen, and Shelley here, though Bronte offers us an even more complex view of human relationships than we've seen so far in this class (though she's probably more like Wollstonecraft than anyone else). 

NOTE: You can also read the Biographical Notice and the Preface by Charlotte Bronte that precedes the novel if you like; it will give you some unique insights into the work by Emily Bronte's sister, who had a difficult relationship with her sister (and the novel itself). 

Q1: Like Frankenstein, this novel employs a frame narrative, with Lockwood telling his story, which is also his account of Mrs. Dean's narrative of Heathcliff and company. Why do you think Bronte chooses to have a man introduce the story, but a woman tell the brunt of the tale? Why not simply have her tell the entire story and do away with Lockwood entirely? (note: Shelley does more or less the same thing, but excludes female narrators entirely). 

Q2: In Charlotte Bronte's 1850 preface of the novel (Charlotte was her sister, who wrote Jane Eyre), she writes that "Whether it is advisable to create things like Heathcliff, I do not know: I scarcely think it is" (xlix). Based on our previous readings, what might strike readers as shocking about this novel? Why is Heathcliff so objectionable? Other aspects?

Q3: When Lockwood meets Mrs. Heathcliff, he reflects, "she has thrown herself away upon that boor, from sheer ignorance that better individuals existed! A sad pity--I must beware how I cause her to regret her choice" (13). What does this reveal about Lockwood's character and reliability? Is he a Victor-like character, or something quite different? Do we trust him as our principal narrator? 

Q4: All of our novelists are interested in the idea of education, particularly the education of children. How does Bronte take up this theme in the novel? Does she believe that children are inherently bad or evil, as Earnshaw and Joseph clearly do? Or is innocence corrupted by cruel experience? 

For Monday: Shelley, Frankenstein: Finish the Book!

NOTE: Finish the book  or come as close as possible, since Monday is our last full class on the novel. But don't worry, you'll be able to write about it soon enough! :) 

Answer two of the following: 

Q1: When Victor bids farewell to Elizabeth (after planning to marry her), the 1831 text says that she “acquiesced; but she was filled with disquiet at the idea of my suffering, away from her, the inroads of misery and grief...she bade me a tearful, silent farewell.” However, the original 1818 version of the novel reads: “Elizabeth approved of the reasons of my departure, and only regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience, and cultivating her understanding...We all, said she, depend upon you; and if you are miserable, what must be our feelings?” What does the original text seem to communicate about Elizabeth’s experience that the 1831 version wipes away?

Q2: When Victor finds Elizabeth slain by the Creature, he “rushed toward her, and embraced her with ardour” (166). Her also spends quite some time in describing her body as left flung lifelessly across the bed. This echoes many 19th century novels and stories were men are seemingly infatuated with female corpses. Why might Shelley add this detail to the novel? How does it compare to the dream of his mother when he gives life to the Creature?

Q3: After the death of Clerval, when Victor is languishing in an Irish prison, he reflects, “The whole series of my life appeared to be as a dream; I sometimes doubted if indeed it were all true, for it never presented itself to my mind with the force of reality” (149-150). How does Shelley complicate the matter of Victor’s innocence or guilt in the final chapters? Is their more evidence for his crimes—or the Creature’s existence?

Q4: Victor claims that his narrative is a warning for Walton, so that “the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been” (17). However, the end of the novel seems to contradict his aim in telling his story—and Victor’s actions seem less than repentant than would first appear. What is his hope in telling Walton his story, and what advice does he leave the young Romantic with?

For Friday: Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapters 8-9 (of Book 2) & Chapters 1-4 (Book 3), pp.129-178

NOTE: No questions this time, since we'll have an in-class writing response. We're getting close to the end, so read as close to Chapter 4 of Book 3 as possible. 

For those who missed class, or simply want to see it again, here's the handout I gave out in class today about the changes Shelley made between the 1818 and 1831 versions of the novel. These are only two significant ones, and there are many more minor ones that still change how we read the novel. 

I. Volume One, Chapter Seven (or Eight in 1831)

[1818] “Oh, Justine! forgive me for having for one moment distrusted you...I will try to comfort you; but this, I fear, is an evil too deep and poignant to admit of consolation, for there is no hope. Yet heaven bless thee, my dearest Justine, with resignation, and a confidence elevated beyond this world. Oh! how I hate its shews and mockeries! when one creature is murdered, another is immediately deprived of life in a slow torturing manner; then the executioners, their hands yet reeking with the blood of innocence, believe they have done a great deed. They call this retribution. Hateful name! When that word is pronounced, I know greater and more horrid punishments are going to be inflicted than the gloomiest tyrant has ever invented to satiate his utmost revenge. Yet this is not consolation for you, my Justine, unless indeed that you may glory in escaping from so miserable a den. Alas! I would I were in peace with my aunt and my lovely William, escaped from a world which is hateful to me, and the visages of men which I abhor.”

[1831] Oh, Justine! Forgive me for having one moment distrusted you...Justine shook her head mournfully. “I do not fear to die,” she said; “that pang is past. God raises my weakness and gives me courage to endure the worst. I leave a sad and bitter world; and if you remember me and think of me as of one unjustly condemned, I am resigned to the fate awaiting me. Learn from me, dear lady, to submit in patience to the will of heaven!”

II. Volume Two, Chapter Eight (or Nine, in 1831)

[1818] “...I perceived a woman passing near me. She was young, not indeed so beautiful as her whose portrait I held, but of an agreeable aspect, and blooming in the loveliness of youth and health. Here, I thought, is one of those smiles bestowed on all but me; she shall not escape: thanks to the lessons of Felix, and the sanguinary laws of man, I have learned how to work mischief. I approached her unperceived, and placed the portrait securely in one of the folds of her dress.”

[1831] “I entered a barn which had appeared to me to be empty. A woman was sleeping on some straw; she was young: not indeed so beautiful as her whose portrait I held; but of an agreeable aspect and blooming in the loveliness of youth and health. Here, I thought, is one of those whose joy-imparting smiles are bestowed on all but me. And then I bent over her, and whispered, “Awake, fairest, thy lover is near—he who would give his life but to obtain one look of affection from thine eyes: my beloved, awake! The sleeper stirred; a thrill of terror ran through me. Should she indeed awake, and see me, and curse me, and denounce the murderer? Thus would she assuredly act, if her darkened eyes opened, and she beheld me. The thought was madness; it stirred the fiend within me—not I, but she, shall suffer; the murder I have committed because I am forever robbed of all that she could give me, she shall atone. The crime had its source in her: be hers the punishment! Thanks to the lessons of Felix and the sanguinary laws of man, I had learned how to work mischief. I bent over her and placed the portrait securely in one of the folds of her dress. She moved again, and I fled.”

For Wednesday: Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapters 7 through 12 (or Chapter 5, in Volume 2), pp.70-127

NOTE: I want to spend more time on Chapter 7, since we didn't talk about it in class, so if you already read it, you have one less chapter to read! If you were behind, make sure to read it for Wednesday. And remember, even if you can't read all the chapters, at least read some of them closely. It's better to read some of the assigned reading with focus than to simply skim all of it (or worse, just get the summaries from Spark Notes--which robs you of the pleasure and the intellectual rigor of reading). 

Answer two of the following as usual: 

Q1: In Chapter 7, Victor and Elizabeth interview Justine in prison, and learn of her false confession. How might this chapter be a discussion of justice and cruelty comparable to what we find in Maria? Why doesn't Victor, who knows the truth, tell the court what he knows? Does he admit his cowardice to Walton? 

Q2: How does Elizabeth change in these chapters from what he was? Victor notes that "She was no longer that happy creature,"  and that she had "become grave." Is it just the death of her loved ones that causes this change? As one of the few women in the novel, what does Shelley want us to see through her character and its degradation?

Q3: One of the great debates of the 18th century was about the inner nature of men and women: were they a 'blank slate,' which was simply imprinted with their immediate surroundings? Or did they come into this world fully formed, with morals, values, and inclinations toward good or evil? How is the Creature a way of testing this theory in a dramatic way? As a truly blank slate (random body parts given life), what does Shelley feel is the intrinsic nature of men and women? (consider, too, the themes of innocence vs. experience we saw in Blake and Wollstonecraft). 

Q4: Many find the story of the De Lacys somewhat puzzling and far too "sentimental" to make sense in the novel. So why does Shelley include it? Though it seems hopelessly unrealistic, how might it, too, become a crucial part of the Creature’s education? Besides books and language, what does he learn from the strange family and their exotic visitor? 

For Monday: Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume I (Chapters 1-7)

NOTE: If you have a different edition, read the first seven chapters, to the end of Volume (or Book) One. 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Most first-time readers of Frankenstein are surprised to find that the novel begins with a frame narrative: that of Walton, the arctic explorer, who is writing home to his sister, Mrs. Saville. What purpose does this frame serve, especially since it could have all been narrated from Victor’s point of view? Also, why is a narrator like Walton a horror-story (or Gothic story) convention even in films today? 

Q2: According to the story of his early education that Victor gives to Walton, what set him on the path of creating new life? How did he go from an earnest, naive young man to a “modern Prometheus” who would “pour a torrent of light into our dark world”?

Q3: Immediately after he creates his “monster,” Victor ends up falling asleep and has a nightmare of Elizabeth, where as soon as he kisses her, “her lips...became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms." How might the dream relate to his creation? Why is he tormented by visions of dead women?

Q4:Is Victor telling his story to Walton as a warning--a kind of "don't follow my example" story? Or does he want Walton to record his greatness for posterity? Consider the passage in Chapter Four when he writes, "if this rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved; Caesar would have spared his country; America would have been discovered more gradually; and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed."  

For Wednesday: Austen, Northanger Abbey, Chs.16-22

"Mad Kate" by Henry Fuseli, an artist with whom Wollstonecraft had an affair

NOTE: If we have a snow day on Wednesday, we'll just push this to Friday's class. ALSO, check the post below this one for the Paper #1 assignment and the Schedule Changes. 

Answer TWO of the following...

1. In Chapter 21, we encounter Austen’s spot-on imitation of a Gothic novel, complete with many of the hallmarks of the genre from works like The Castle of Otranto and The Mysteries of Udolpho.  How do we read this chapter in particular—as a parody or a legitimate attempt to conjure up a sense of horror for her readers?  Does the tone of a giggling narrator lie behind this, or is Austen allowing herself, audaciously, to write like a Mrs. Radcliffe? 

2. How do you feel the Catherine/Henry romance is progressing in these chapters?  Is it a dance of mutual respect and admiration, or does he appear more condescending and dominating?  Consider the conversation in Chapter 20: is he mocking her Gothic sensibility or using it to woo her more effectively?  In other words, does he want to correct her taste or share it with her? 

3. Do you think Austen is more critical toward the women in the book than the men?  Consider the portrait of Isabella that emerges in Chapter 18, when Isabella remarks, “A little harmless flirtation or so will occur, and one is often drawn on to give more encouragement than one wishes to stand by...What one means one day, you know, one might not mean the next.  Circumstances change, opinions alter” (138).   Why might Austen have more of a bone to pick with her own sex? 

4. Consider the passage in Chapter 22 when Henry is praising Catherine’s love for a hyacinth: “And though the love of a hyacinth may be rather domestic, who can tell, the sentiment once raised, but you may in time come to love a rose?” (165).  What is he trying to teach Catherine here, or perhaps, what is he hoping she has learned to appreciate/admire in this chapter?