Notes 2/16

Wuthering Heights in Scholarly Articles and Films
Watching different versions of Wuthering Heights and reading scholarly articles on the text have brought forth new ideas about the novel...For example, Heathcliff is compared to Frankenstein, Catherine's love for Heathliff is seen as transcendental, and the allusion to cannibalism is made clear.

Is the scholarly article a medium that is going to keep literature alive?
Well, most people are probably not going to go out and read scholarly articles just for "fun." However, these articles are not generally written for the "average" person...they are intended for "intellectuals." The people who write these articles are writing to people who have learned the same things...they are essentially writing for their own elite group.

So, how do we make scholarship relevant and humane?
The scholar would have to translate their words and ideas into ordinary English; this would ensure that they are saying something that is relevant and real. The "curtain" would continue to be parted, each level being more complicated than the next. Perhaps this would save scholarly articles...perhaps. It's a bit like going back and forth between Wikipedia and a more complex article.

Movie Versions
In the 1992 film version of Wuthering Heights, the same actress is used to play Catherine and Cathy. This emphasizes that fact that Heathcliff is completely absorbed by thoughts of Catherine and that she remains a heightened aspect of his everyday life. This also shows that interrelatedness of love and hate--he cannot stand the sight of young Cathy, and yet she reminds him of the Catherine he so fervently loves.

In Chapter XV, the confrontation between Catherine and Heathcliff (as she is on her deathbed) focuses in on the reason that Catherine chose empirical love over transcendental love. Clearly, Heathcliff is furious with Catherine for choosing Edgar; and yet, he still passionately loves her. This balance between love/hate can be shown in the movie because of the dual role played by Cathy/Catherine.

Another unique aspect of the film is the ability to see the facial expressions and non-verbal communication between the characters, something not "seen'' in the novel. The 1939 version is not as dark, and turns Catherine's death scene into something much more romantic, and we are able to forgive both characters. This version even leaves out the second volume of the novel, and thus turns the tale into a completely romantic story, taking off the dark edge.

Why would Emily Bronte want to write a dark romance?
Perhaps she is attempting to create a more realistic version of the Cinderella fairy tale. Or maybe she wants to show the possibility of having both an empirical and transcendental love; and the necessity of sharing your life/children with your empirical love while at the same time retaining a strong, unbreakable bond with your transcendental love. So, who should you marry? I would have to say I would want to marry my soulmate. A feel that any other choice would leave me with a lifetime of regret...

Should we condemn Catherine for wanting both kinds of love?
Well, she's not being fair to either man...and yet, it is easy to identify with Catherine for wanting both a soulmate and a socially stable life.