THE ENGLISH GOTHIC NOVEL: A BRIEF OVERVIEW

The English Gothic novel began with Horace Walpole's The Castle of
Otranto (1765), which was enormosl! poplar an" #ic$l! imitate" b!
other novelists an" soon became a recogni%able genre& To most mo"ern
rea"ers, however, The Castle of Otranto is "ll rea"ing' e(cept )or the
villain *an)re", the characters are insipi" an" )lat' the action moves at a
)ast clip with no emphasis or sspense, "espite the spernatral
mani)estations an" a !ong mai"en's )light throgh "ar$ valts& +t
contemporar! rea"ers )on" the novel electri)!ingl! original an" thrillingl!
sspense)l, with its remote setting, its se o) the spernatral, an" its
me"ieval trappings, all o) which have been so )re#entl! imitate" an" so
poorl! imitate" that the! have become stereot!pes& The genre ta$es its
name )rom Otranto's me"ieval,or Gothic,setting' earl! Gothic novelists
ten"e" to set their novels in remote times li$e the *i""le -ges an" in
remote places li$e .tal! (*atthew /ewis's The Monk, 1706) or the *i""le
East (William +ec$)or"'s Vathek, 1716)&
What ma$es a wor$ Gothic is a combination o) at least some o) these
elements2
a castle, rine" or intact, hante" or not (the castle pla!s sch a
$e! role that it has been calle" the main character o) the Gothic
novel),
rine" bil"ings which are sinister or which arose a pleasing
melanchol!,
"ngeons, n"ergron" passages, cr!pts, an" catacombs which, in
mo"ern hoses, become spoo$! basements or attics,
lab!rinths, "ar$ corri"ors, an" win"ing stairs,
sha"ows, a beam o) moonlight in the blac$ness, a )lic$ering
can"le, or the onl! sorce o) light )ailing (a can"le blown ot or,
to"a!, an electric )ailre),
e(treme lan"scapes, li$e rgge" montains, thic$ )orests, or ic!
wastes, an" e(treme weather,
omens an" ancestral crses,
magic, spernatral mani)estations, or the sggestion o) the
spernatral,
a passion3"riven, wil)l villain3hero or villain,
a crios heroine with a ten"enc! to )aint an" a nee" to be
resce",)re#entl!,
a hero whose tre i"entit! is reveale" b! the en" o) the novel,
horri)!ing (or terri)!ing) events or the threat o) sch happenings&
The Gothic creates )eelings o) gloom, m!ster!, an" sspense an" ten"s to
the "ramatic an" the sensational, li$e incest, "iabolism, necrophilia, an"
nameless terrors& .t crosses bon"aries, "a!light an" the "ar$, li)e an"
"eath, consciosness an" nconsciosness& 4ometimes covertl!, sometimes
e(plicitl!, it presents transgression, taboos, an" )ears,)ears o) violation, o)
imprisonment, o) social chaos, an" o) emotional collapse& *ost o) s
imme"iatel! recogni%e the Gothic (even i) we "on't $now the name) when
we enconter it in novels, poetr!, pla!s, movies, an" T5 series& 6or some
o) s,an" . incl"e m!sel), sa)el! e(periencing "rea" or horror is thrilling
an" en7o!able&
Elements o) the Gothic have ma"e their wa! into mainstream writing& The!
are )on" in 4ir Walter 4cott's novels, 8harlotte +ront9's Jane Eyre , an"
Emil! +ront9's Wuthering Heights an" in :omantic poetr! li$e 4amel
8oleri"ge's ;8hristabel,; /or" +!ron's ;The Giaor,; an" <ohn =eats's
;The Eve o) 4t& -gnes&; - ten"enc! to the macabre an" bi%arre which
appears in writers li$e William 6al$ner, Trman 8apote, an" 6lanner!
>'8onnor has been calle" 4othern Gothic&
THE GOTHIC AND WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Whether or not Wuthering Heights shol" be classi)ie" as a Gothic novel
(certainl! it is not merley a Gothic novel), it n"eniabl! contains Gothic
elements&
.n tre Gothic )ashion, bon"aries are trespasse", speci)icall! love crossing
the bon"ar! between li)e an" "eath an" Heathcli))'s transgressing social
class an" )amil! ties& +ront9 )ollows Walpole an" :a"cli))e in portra!ing
the t!rannies o) the )ather an" the crelties o) the patriarchal )amil! an" in
reconstitting the )amil! on non3patriarchal lines, even thogh no
conterbalancing matriarch or matriarchal )amil! is presente"& +ront9 has
incorporate" the Gothic trappings o) imprisonment an" escape, )light, the
persecte" heroine, the heroine wooe" b! a "angeros an" a goo" sitor,
ghosts, necrophilia, a m!sterios )on"ling, an" revenge& The weather3
b))ete" Wthering Heights is the tra"itional castle, an" 8atherine
resembles -nn :a"cli))e's heroines in her appreciation o) natre& /i$e the
conventional Gothic hero3villain, Heathcli)) is a m!sterios )igre who
"estro!s the beati)l woman he prses an" who srps inheritances, an"
with t!pical Gothic e(cess he batters his hea" against a tree& There is the
hint o) necrophilia in Heathcli))'s viewings o) 8atherine's corpse an" his
plans to be brie" ne(t to her an" a hint o) incest in their being raise" as
brother an" sister or, as a )ew critics have sggeste", in Heathcli))'s being
8atherine's illegitimate hal)3brother&
A FEMINIST THEORY OF THE GOTHIC AND
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Ellen *oers has propon"e" a )eminist theor! that relates women writers
in general an" Emil! +ront9 in particlar to the Gothic& *i""le3class
women who wante" to write were hampere" b! the conventional image o)
la"ies as sbmissive, pios, gentle, loving, serene, "omestic angels' the!
ha" to overcome the conventional patroni%ing, smg, nempowering,
contemptos sentimentali%ing o) women b! reviewers li$e George Henr!
/ewes, who loo$e" "own on women writers2
Women's proper sphere o) activit! is elsewhere ?than writing@& -re there no
hsban"s, lovers, brothers, )rien"s to co""le an" consoleA -re there no
stoc$ings to "arn, no prses to ma$e, no braces to embroi"erA My i"ea o) a
per)ect woman is one who can write bt won't& (115B)
Those women who overcame the limitations o) their social roles an" "i"
write )on" it more "i))iclt to challenge or re7ect societ!'s assmptions
an" e(pectations than their male conterparts& Ellen *oers i"enti)ies
heroinism, a )orm o) literar! )eminism, as one wa! women circmvente"
this "i))iclt!& (/iterar! )eminism an" )eminism ma! overlap bt the! are
not the same, an" a woman writer who a"opts heroinism is not necessaril!
a )eminist&) Heroinism ta$es man! )orms, sch as the intellectal or
thin$ing heroine, the passionate or woman3in3love heroine, an" the
traveling heroine& 8learl! all the +ront9 sisters tili%e the passionate
heroine, whether $nowingl! or not, to e(press sbversive vales an" taboo
e(periences covertl!&
What sbversive vales an" taboo e(periences "oes Emil! +ront9 e(press
with her passionate heroine 8atherineA *oers sees sbversion in +ront9's
acceptance o) the crel as a normal, almost an energi%ing part o) li)e an" in
her portra!al o) the erotic in chil"hoo"& The crelt! connects this novel to
the Gothic tra"ition, which has been associate" with women writers since
-nne :a"cli))e & The connection was, in )act, recogni%e" b! +ront9's
contemporaries' the Athenaeum reviewer labele" the Gothic elements in
Wuthering Heights ;the eccentricities o) Cwoman's )antas!'; (11D7)& *oers
thin$s a more accrate wor" than eccentricities wol" be perversities&
These perversities ma! have originate" in ;)antasies "erive" )rom the night
si"e o) the 5ictorian nrser!,a worl" where chil"ish crelt! an" chil"ish
se(alit! come to the )ore&; >) particlar importance )or intellectal
mi""le3class women who never matre" se(all! was the brother3sister
relationship& .n chil"hoo", sisters were the e#al o) their brothers, pla!e"
7st as har", an" )elt the same pleasres an" pains' girls clng to this earl!
)ree"om an" e#alit!, which their brothers otgrew, an" "isplace" them
into their writing2
Women writers o) Gothic )antasies appear to testi)! that the ph!sical
teasing the! receive" )rom their brothers,the pinching, maling, an"
scratching we "ismiss as the nimportant o) chil"ren's games,too$ on
otsi%e proportions an" power)l erotic overtones in their a"lt
imaginations& (-gain, the povert! o) their ph!sical e(perience ma! have
case" these "isproportions, )or it was not onl! se(al pla! bt any $in" o)
ph!sical pla! )or mi""le3class women that )ell n"er the 5ictorian ban&)
*oers applies this principle to the +ront9s' chronicles o) -ngria an"
Gon"al, which the sisters collaborate" on with their brother& Their trblent
sagas are )ille" with nbri"le" passions, imprisonment, a"lter!, incest,
mr"er, revenge, an" war)are& Ths the ncensore" )antasies o) -ngria an"
Gon"al, whose imaginative hol" Emil! never otgrew, ma! have provi"e"
an otlet )or the sisters' imaginations, passions, an" aspirations' )ostere"
their intellectal an" artistic e#alit! with their brother' an" provi"e" the
mo"el )or Emil!'s impassione" Heathcli)) an" 8atherine as well as )or
8harlotte's :ochester&
Bront: Table of Content
Ea! 1
>verview o) Emil! +ront9
Fblication o) Wuthering Heights G 8ontemporar! 8ritics
/ater 8ritical response to Wuthering Heights
6ilm 5ersions o) Wuthering Heights
Ea! H
Themes in Wuthering Heights
The Iarrator
Ea! J Wuthering Heights as 4ocio3Economic Iovel
Fs!chological .nterpretations o) Wuthering Heights
:eligion, *etaph!sics, *!sticism an" Wuthering Heights
The Gothic an" Wuthering Heights
:omanticism an" Wuthering Heights
Ea! D
/ove
;. am Heathcli));
4e(
Emil! +ronte's Foetr!

*arch HJ, HBB0