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Hi there :) =**Literary File **= =**Modern Play: //Our Town// **= = = =**Thornton Wilder **= **__Authorial Background:__ ** Thornton Wilder is a very famous novelist and playwright who has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He first became interested in theatre and writing back in high school, and he attended multiple theatrical performances and began to write. After graduating, his first play, //The Trumpet Shall Sound // , was published in the //Yale Literary Magazine. //  In about 1921, he started his first novel, //The Cabala // . It was published five years later, at around the same time that his play was first performed. However, he only truly became a famous author when he wrote <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">The Bridge of San Luis Ray // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;"> the next year. He was awarded various medals for his novels. Wilder's plays were also quite popular, such as <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">The Angel That Troubled the Waters // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;"> and <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 107%; font-weight: normal;">The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">. However, the play that truly launched him into fame was <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">Our Town // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">. After this, he launched a few lesser known plays before creating <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">The Skin of Our Teeth // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 97%; font-weight: normal;">, which won him his last Pulitzer Prize before his death in 1975. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">**<span style="color: #1d8d11; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Literary Period / Country__: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Early 1900's in the U.S. ** **Mrs. Gibbs:** Described as a "plump, pleasant woman" (Act I), Mrs. Gibbs is the wife of Dr. Gibbs and the mother of George and Rebecca. Her dream is to go to France when she is older. She frequently gossips with Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Soames. She passes away approximately 10 years after the beginning of the play. Another theme in the play is //the easiness of misjudging time//. Every now and then this is hinted lightly in the first Act: the Stage Manager tells the professor to hurry with his lecture, because "unfortunately our time is limited." The Stage Manager also misjudges time himself when he states, "It's later than I thought. There are the children coming home from school already." This is relatively ironic because the Stage Manager can be viewed as the timekeeper, and who can possibly keep track of time if the timekeeper cannot? The characters don't seem to view time as a precious thing in Act I because they seem to believe there is an abundance of it. For example, Emily states that she doesn't mind doing homework because it "passes the time"--but little does she know that in a mere 12 years, she will be desperately wishing she had any time left at all. In fact, for the first two acts, it seems as though the only person who has any inkling of the importance of time is the Stage Manager, who mentions every so often how important it is to leave a legacy for descendants now when we have the time. In this play, it truly seems as though the only difference between the living and the dead is the understanding of the importance of time, for they wish they had not misjudged it as much as they had. George and Emily are getting married, and George's parents do not seem happy about it. The scene flashes back to three years previously, when Emily and George talked, Emily telling George that he has "changed" and has become "conceited and stuck-up." Nevertheless, the two revealed their feelings for one another. The scene goes back to the wedding day, and both George and Emily are nervous and having second thoughts. However, they follow through with it and are beaming as they leave the church. Act II ends and Act III starts up, 9 years later. The Stage Manager talks of how the town has changed a bit, and of those who have passed--like Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Soames, Mr. Stimson and Wally Webbs. All of the dead are watching the funeral, though the living are not aware of their presence. The scene is Emily's funeral, for she died during childbirth. Emily joins the dead. The dead comment without emotion as the funeral commences. Emily revisits her twelfth birthday despite the warnings from the rest of the dead, and she realizes that the living don't live their life and don't realize how little time they truly have. She comes back to the cemetery, and George lays at her gravestone as Emily says, "They don't understand." I thought the message was absolutely beautiful. Though the play was sad, I don't believe I felt sad at the end--I wasn't sure what my emotions were at the end, and I believe that a work of literature is truly great if one's emotions are undefinable after they finish it. I felt inspired, as though I should count my blessings and stop to smell the roses--but I also felt scared, like I knew time was running out and I had to live life to its fullest now while I was still alive. In fact, right now it's relatively hard to write this because I want to jump up and get things done that I've always wanted to do! What was amazing about //Our Town// is the impact of the message in such a short book. In only 112 pages and three short acts, it got the message across so strongly that most readers / viewers could not possibly have been unmoved by it. This truly adds meaning to its message, as if saying, "Don't waste your time reading / watching this--get it over with and go cherish the time you have left." In short, I believe //Our Town// is most definitely my favorite play yet.
 * <span style="color: #148a5e; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Setting:__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">1901 to 1913 in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire **
 * <span style="color: #0f8e8f; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Characters w/ brief descriptions:__ ** **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stage Manager: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> ** The stage manager is sort of a narrator who explains the events of the play to the audience. He makes the play unique because the characters are completely aware of his presence. It seems as though he is the director, telling the characters when to enter and exit and what to say. He gives the impression that he has been watching over this town for an extremely long period of time, as if it is his job. **
 * Mrs. Webb:** Described as a "thin, serious, crisp woman" (Act I), Mrs. Webb is the mother of Emily and Wally and the wife of Mr. Webb. She is firm in her ways and is always performing her motherly duties.
 * Dr. Gibbs:** Dr. Gibbs is the father of George and Rebecca and the wife of Mrs. Gibbs. He is the doctor of the town and is a kind, wise man.
 * Joe Crowell, Jr.:** Joe Crowell, Jr. is a very smart boy who delivers papers in Act I. At one point, the Stage Manager reveals that he graduates first in his class and was going to be a engineer before his death in France a few years later.
 * Howie Newsome:** A simple but kind man, Howie Newsome is a thirty-year-old milkman who goes about the town every morning delivering the milk. He seems to know everyone in the town and always stops to say hello.
 * George Gibbs:** George is the son of Mrs. and Mr. Gibbs. In the beginning of the play, he is sixteen years old and fancies Emily Webb, another 16-year-old living in the town. He is considered "about the best baseball pitcher Grover's Corners ever had" (Act II) but gives baseball up after he marries Emily at age 19. He eventually fulfills his dream of taking over his uncle's farm.
 * Rebecca Gibbs:** Rebecca Gibbs is George's younger sister and the daughter of Dr. Gibbs and Mrs. Gibbs. She is 11 years old at the start of the play.
 * Emily Webbs:** Emily is Mrs. Webbs's daughter who is very bright and relatively conceited. In the beginning of the play, she is 16 years old and fancies George Gibbs. The two ultimately end up getting married in Act II. Emily dies while giving birth to her second child, and is enlightened by the truth after her death.
 * Wally Webbs:** Wally Webbs is Emily's younger brother and the son of Mr. Webb and Mrs. Webb. He dies when his appendix bursts during a Boy Scout trip.
 * Professor Willard:** Professor Willard makes one short appearance in the play when the Stage Manager calls him in to speak about the town. He works at the state university.
 * Mr. Webb:** Mr. Webb is the publisher and editor of the local paper. He is a wise, kind man and a good father.
 * Simon Stimson:** Simon is the choir director of Grover's Corners. He suffered from alcoholism because he "saw trouble," though that trouble was never mentioned in the play specifically. His alcoholism made him a constant subject with gossipers, and he eventually hangs himself .**
 * Mrs. Soames:** Mrs. Soames is a gossipy friend of Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb who eventually joins the dead.
 * Constable Warren:** The constable is a kind police officer who patrols the streets making sure life is peaceful for everyone in the town.
 * Si Crowell:** Si Crowell, like his older brother Joe, is a paper delivery boy in the town.
 * Joe Stoddard:** Joe is the undertaker in Grover's Corners. He takes care of Emily's funeral in Act III.
 * Sam Craig:** Sam is the nephew of Mrs. Gibbs and the cousin of Emily. He attends Emily's funeral in Act III.
 * <span style="color: #1f49ea; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Themes:__ ** The main theme of this play is to __//n//__//__e__ver take life for granted--stop and count your blessings//. In the beginning of the play, the characters are bustling around and taking care of their daily duties so quickly that it is a bit hard to follow. The reader / viewer is given the impression that everyone in the town has their own duties to fulfill and they all are always busy at performing them without stopping to think. However, with each act, the play seems to get progressively slower and more serious. At the beginning of Act II, the stage manager mentions that over the course of a thousand days, "Some babies that weren't even born before have begun talking regular sentences already; and a number of people who thought they were right young and spry have noticed that they can't bound up a flight of stairs like they used to, without their heart fluttering a little." This gets the reader thinking about the value of a day. However, in the third act, the play really makes this theme hit home by revealing Emily's first day as a dead woman. After reliving one of those days in which everyone is bustling around without stopping, the dead Emily is the only one to stop and say, "It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another" (Act III). "Look at one another" could be perceived in multiple ways. One way could be the physical act of looking at loved ones and appreciating them, as Emily does: "They're so young and beautiful. Why did they ever have to get old?...I can't look at everything hard enough" (Act III). However, there is another way to interpret it: to simply stop and realize all the wonderful things one has around them beyond materialistic goods, for one doesn't truly appreciate them until they're gone. The reason this play is so moving is because it makes the audience / readers think that perhaps it is impossible to realize how wonderful of a life one has until after one has passed away. It inspires one to stop and count one's blessings.
 * <span style="color: #541dcd; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Plot Summary:__ ** The play opens with the Stage Manager, who describes the town and the landmarks within it. After this introduction, the characters are introduced and go about their daily activities; however, they seem to be pantomiming the activities rather than actually doing them, for the materials they are using seem to be "imaginary." The milkman delivers milk, Mr. Gibbs delivers twins, and the mothers send their kids to school. Every so often, the Stage Manager interrupts, calling in some experts with some tidbits and facts about the town. Then, the two mothers go outside and talk about their dreams. After a bit, the Stage Manager fast forwards the play a couple of hours and the kids get home from school, when it is hinted that Emily Webbs and George Gibbs have feelings for one another. After a bit of gossip between the mothers, Act I--"The Daily Life"--ends and Act II--"Love and Marriage"--begins, which takes place three years later.
 * <span style="color: #8507da; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Unique literary devices:__ **
 * Rain:** Rain seems to be a common motif throughout the play. At the beginning of Act II, George's mother is worried when he goes to see Emily the morning of their wedding day because she thinks he will get ill because of the rain. During Emily's funeral, Emily mentions that it's raining when no one else does. Perhaps rain represents the passage of important events--George's mother didn't want him to get married to Emily, so perhaps she is dreading the "rain." Emily was the only one to realize the importance of time (or, at least, seemed to be the only one who cared) in Act III, and she was also the only one to acknowledge the fact that it was raining.
 * The use of a stage director:** The stage director is what truly sets apart //Our Town// from most plays. He serves as not only a narrator, but a director of some sorts--he controls the plot and essentially tells the characters when to speak and when to enter. He controls the order of time and reveals information to the audience when he deems it necessary. The stage director is a very unique addition to a play. He gives the audience the impression that the storyline is not important--that he is only telling the audience all of this because there is a message he would like to convey to them all while they're still living. It seems as though the characters are in on this scheme, for they would like the living to "understand."
 * Howie Newsome, Joe Crowell, Jr. and Si Crowell:** It seems as though there are many characters in this play compared to most plays, and many of them may seem to be pointless. It seems almost pointless to include them because they doesn't seem to contribute much to the plot at all. In fact, one could take them completely out of the play and the basic storyline wouldn't be changed. However, despite this first impression, there is indeed a reason why Wilder included Howie Newsome and Joe and Si Crowell. They are symbols for consistency and routine. The town gives the audience / reader the impression that there is not much change within it like there would be in a city--that those who live there depend on a routine and do not feel comfortable deviating from it. These three characters are what give the audience / reader this impression, though the audience doesn't realize it at first. At least one of them is present at the beginning of every scene, and their conversations are almost always the same, giving the audience the impression that most conversations are the same in Grover's Corners.
 * <span style="color: #d410da; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Personal Review:__ ** <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I personally believe that //Our Town// was the best play I have ever read. For one, it is very interesting. I believe I read it in less than an hour (minus the time I took to write notes) because I simply did not want to put it down. Not only was the language refreshingly easy to comprehend compared to other plays like Shakespeare, but it was something relatable (my spell-checker says I spelled that wrong, but that is definitely a word) to everyone's life. It has a humbling effect, reminding the viewers and the readers that all humans have to go through birth and death.

=<span style="color: #ec0909; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Literary File = =<span style="color: #ff8b00; font-family: Georgia,serif;">God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater = =<span style="color: #f3cd16; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. =

//__The pure and the good are characterized as insane in society:__// Throughout the book, Eliot Rosewater helps the more unfortunate and the lost through his phone lines, donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to multiple companies / colleges, and preaches the ideas of equality for all. Since he is so uninterested in personal gain, the wealthy around him (including his father) believe him to be insane and cannot possibly take him seriously. Vonnegut is attempting to make a point with this theme: that humanity is so corrupt that many of us have to associate goodness with insanity to make any sense of it. //__Money can make a person lose his / her sense of humanity:__// Norman Mushari becomes positively evil throughout the novel as the prospect of riches looms ever closer. He wishes insanity upon Eliot Rosewater to the point where it becomes an obsession, simply to gain monetary benefit. Senator Rosewater is also an example--he is so rich that he views the poor as scum, and says it right to their faces. At one point, he even refers to them as "the maggots in the slime on the bottom of the human garbage pail." When Sylvia tells him that the reason Eliot's helping people is good because those he are helping are "human," Senator Rosewater doesn't seem to grasp this seemingly simple idea. Money has made him forget that those "beneath" him are humans, too. Vonnegut has been known for his socialistic views, so he pushes this theme throughout many of his novels to help his readers understand that wealth should be spread throughout the U.S. The story then switches to Fred Rosewater's perspective, who is the second cousin of Eliot Rosewater. Norman Mushari is hoping that Fred Rosewater will take over the Rosewater Foundation because then he himself would be able to get profit. He went to Fred's house to tell him that he must claim the Foundation. Mr. Rosewater proceeds to travel to Rosewater, Indiana to tell Eliot of what is happening; Eliot leaves all those who depend on him in Rosewater to go to Indianapolis. He gets ready for a court hearing determining whether or not he is insane or not (although it is clear that he is), and he then tells his father that he does, indeed, have children who should receive the Rosewater Foundation---every child in Rosewater County said to be his //is// his. //__Motifs:__// Insanity is a recurring motif, perhaps to help Vonnegut indicate the small portion of the good of humanity in a satirical sense. Alcohol is used to substitute for insanity: "'In his heart,' said the Senator, swirling his snifter, 'Eliot doesn't love those awful people out there any more than I do. He couldn't possibly love them, if he weren't drunk all the time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This is basically a booze problem. If Eliot's booze were shut off, his compassion for the maggots in the slime on the bottom of the human garbage pail would vanish'" (46). Mr. Rosewater clearly believes that Eliot's love for the poor is so bizarre that he must be insane, or drunk, to love them. Eliot and Sylvia Rosewater both have mental breakdowns, and they both are the only ones who seem to understand what Eliot's benevolent intentions are. Many of the people who Eliot helps are on the verge of mental breakdowns, and they are truly good people who have simply ben stepped on and crushed by society. Describing the lineage of the Rosewater family like one would describe a holy family in the Bible is also recurring motif in the novel. "And Noah begat Samuel, who married Geraldine Ames Rockefeller" (13). The word "begat" is used multiple times throughout the novel to describe birth, which makes the text seem much more biblical rather than a simple recording of family ancestry. Eliot, however, is the focus of this biblical recordings--as if he is Jesus Christ himself. Another motif used commonly throughout the novel is the motif of firefighters. Eliot's ambition has always been to be a firefighter, and he has always claimed to be a volunteer firefighter (despite the blatantly obvious fact that he is not). "This was bunk about Eliot's having been a fireman. The closest he had ever come to that was during his annual childhood visits to Rosewater County, to the family fief. Sycophants amount the townies had flattered little Eliot by making him mascot of the Volunteer Fire Department of Rosewater. He had never fought a fire" (22). The fact that Eliot was a mascot of firefighters, claimed to be a firefighter, but was actually //not// a fire fighter perhaps shows that firefighting symbolizes Eliot's ability to help--those he helps believe he is the ultimate man, and Eliot claims to be someone who is always willing to help; however, perhaps with further analysis, it could be proven that Eliot is not truly as beneficial as he believes he is as he plunges into insanity even more. //__Symbolism:__// Eliot Rosewater symbolizes Jesus Christ in this novel. He is benevolent and good, but criticized for it. He is practically "crucified" for it (when Eliot is forced to leave his beloved town of Rosewater to prove that he is not legally insane). He has the power to be powerful but instead helps those who are shunned by the rest of society. Eliot Rosewater is most definitely a Christ figure. //__Different Perspective:__// Vonnegut uses the technique of moving back and forth between character perspectives to make the story more interesting and help the reader to better understand the situation at hand in fewer pages. Rather than simply focusing on Eliot Rosewater, Vonnegut highlights Senator Rosewater and Norman Mushari to help the reader understand what trouble Eliot Rosewater is facing (since it's quite obvious throughout the novel that Eliot is blind to sadness whatsoever, even if he //did// know what obstacles lay in his path). The perspective also switches to Fred Rosewater so that the reader will feel pity for him and root for Fred to gain control of the Foundation, too. This creates a conflict in the reader's mind--they don't want Fred to gain control because Norman Mushari, the villain in the story, will gain from it; however, they feel bad for the pitiful Fred because he's a nice guy who has nothing else going for him. This helps the reader to become much more involved in the story as they try to figure out which side they stand on. On the other hand, __God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater__ is certainly not the best written book of all time. It is one of the least well-known novels from Vonnegut and after reading it, this is very understandable. The novel is extremely confusing in plot structure and very hard to relate to with the bizarre characters and the excessive amount of lawyer lingo. The insanity exhibited by Eliot Rosewater is rather chilling and scary, but not in the moving sense--more of the horror-movie sense. It is evident that that there was a beautiful message within the novel that Vonnegut was attempting to convey to his readers, but when the reader comes to the abrupt ending, it is more likely than not that his/her thoughts are not on the inspiring message but rather on the bizarreness overall of the novel. __God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater__ is one of the few novels in the world that would have been much more effective if it would have been lengthened. The complex story is shoved into a mere 190 pages, and details seem to be ignored. It is quite a stretch to expect the reader to fully understand the story in such a short amount of time //and// pick up on the motifs, symbolism, themes, and other literary devices that are hidden in between the lines. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is a wonderful writer---but __God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater__ was certainly not his best.
 * <span style="color: #97e30d; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Authorial Background:__ ** Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is considered "one of the most influential American artists of the twentieth century" and was famous for his interesting, characteristic writing style: heavy on the long sentences, light on the punctuation. His first novel, __Player Piano__, was published in 1952. Many novels followed, such as __The Sirens of Titan__ (1959), __Cat's Cradle__ (1963), and __Breakfast of Champions__ (1973). He was known for his socialist, humanistic points of view which were so evident in his books. War was also a recurring motif due to his time spent in the army. Vonnegut had quite a few fans and followers because of his unique, captivating writing style. In 1997, his last novel, __Timequake__, became a best seller. Vonnegut's last book was __A Man Without a Country__ before his death in 2007. (Information provided by http://www .vonnegut .com/)
 * <span style="color: #1d8d11; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Literary Period / Country__: ** 1960s - 1970s in the U.S.
 * <span style="color: #148a5e; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Setting:__ ** Pennsylvania and Rosewater, Indiana
 * <span style="color: #0f8e8f; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Characters w/ brief descriptions:__ **
 * Eliot Rosewater: holder of the Rosewater Foundation, a great sum of money; very eccentric and considered mentally unstable; alcoholic; "lunatic"; philanthropic; idealistic; blunt; eager to help those who are considered poor in Rosewater
 * Sylvia Rosewater: Eliot's ex-wife who suffered a mental breakdown after having to watch her husband decline mentally; still loves Eliot but knows it would be bad for his and her health to be together; one of the few believers of Eliot's ways
 * Norman Mushari: antisocial; awkward; unpopular; materialistic; a lawyer who is very interested in the Rosewater Foundation and wishes to prove Eliot Rosewater legally insane
 * Senator Rosewater: Eliot's ashamed father; cannot stand his son; prideful; haughty; hateful of the lower class
 * Fred Rosewater: an "ugly, poor, boring man" who is the second cousin ofund Eliot Rosewater and the man that Norman Mushari hopes will take over the Rosewater Foundation after Eliot Rosewater is declared legally insane
 * <span style="color: #1f49ea; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Themes:__ ** //__Monetary prosperity is evil:__// Throughout the book, this theme is evident through Eliot Rosewater's "parables" about what money can do to people and how it is the root of all humanity's problems. It is obvious that he is very socialistic and believes that it's not fair that "one baby can be born with tons of money" and "one baby can be born with nothing." Although he himself is extremely rich, it is obvious that he hates this fact and gives away as much of the money as possible.
 * <span style="color: #541dcd; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Plot Summary:__ ** Norman Mushari, a lawyer, is tracking the life of the extremely rich yet insane Eliot Rosewater to prove that he is a lunatic so that he himself can get his hands on some of the money Eliot Rosewater has in his large Rosewater Foundation. The story flashes back to the life of Eliot. He struggles with drinking, and as he delves deeper into insanity, he moves to Rosewater, Indiana. His wife, Sylvia, has a nervous breakdown, and the story moves to present time again. Eliot and Sylvia speak on the phone and decide that they must see eachother again, despite their sickness.
 * <span style="color: #8507da; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Unique literary devices:__ **
 * <span style="color: #d410da; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Personal Review:__ ** On the bright side, the novel is certainly nothing like I've ever read before. The rebellious ideas (socialism, etc) combined with a strange blend of attributes within the characters (such as benevolence and insanity) makes for an interesting read. Vonnegut has excellent writing skills and utilizes them throughout the novel. The sudden tidbits of humor are also a breath of fresh air and are sure to make the reader chuckle.

=<span style="color: #f12222; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Literary File #2 = =<span style="color: #ff8b00; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wuthering Heights = =<span style="color: #f3cd16; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Emily Brontë = <span style="color: #08bfbf; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **__Characters with Brief Descriptions:__** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **__Themes:__** One of the biggest themes in the novel is the idea that love should not be messed with. Heathcliff and Catherine are deeply in love throughout the novel, and their passion is one of the most intense parts of the story. Theirs is clearly true, and their bond seems unbreakable. However, Catherine attempts to use love for another purpose--to ascend the social ladder. Although she is infatuated with Edgar, she is not truly in love with him--but she marries him anyway for social purposes. Heathcliff seems to symbolize the effect of using love for the wrong purposes--broken hearts and a domino effect. Heathcliff is the wrath of love throughout the novel. He gains control of multiple people and smothers them so that they have to go through the same pain as he did. Another theme of the novel is patriarchy. Throughout the novel, there is always one male who takes control of the rest and abuses them. The females and younger males are always weak in comparison and are beaten, physically and emotionally, by the patriarchal figure. Bronte was known to have been abused at her school; perhaps males were the ones to abuse her and she wished to depict this suffering and the weakness of the lower beings in her novel. Yet another theme is love and hate (and their similarity). In this novel, it truly seems as though hate and love are almost the same emotion. Heathcliff feels a strong passion towards Catherine, but yet still wants to get as much revenge on her as he does Hindley; he adores her yet blames her; he loves her yet hates her. Love causes as much damage as hate in this novel, to the point where the reader gets the impression that the two emotions are, in reality, almost the exact same thing rather than polar opposites. Years pass and Linton, Hareton, and Catherine (the second Catherine) have grown. Caroline discovers the manor by chance and meets Linton, who is living at Wuthering Heights because his mother died and is being treated horribly by Heathcliff. Catherine meets Heathcliff and sends love letters to Linton. Heathcliff forces Linton to lure Catherine to Wuthering Heights, and when she comes, Heathcliff forces the two to marry. Edgar and Linton both die, and Caroline is left to be a servant. Lockwood is shocked by this story and goes home, but then comes back to visit Nelly. She tells him that Heathcliff has died, and Hareton (who had been living at Wuthering Heights also) and Catherine have fallen in love. They are engaged. Lockwood goes to the cemetary to visit Catherine (the first) and Heathcliff. I enjoyed picking out some of the symbolism and motifs throughout the novel, but I found the intertwined families (the Lintons and the Earnshaws) confusing. I was actually beginning to wonder if there would be inbreeding, really. However, the doubles were absolutely wonderful--I love irony and thought it was literary genius to make Heathcliff exactly like his torturer, Hindley. __Wuthering Heights__ is an extremely hard book to get into, but I now understand why it became so popular. Although depressing, the Gothic style was refreshing (truly, I am so tired of the stories in which every character gets their happily-ever-after ending), yet I still loved the promise at the end for Catherine and Hareton. I do wish that Emily Bronte had lived to write more novels, for __Wuthering Heights__ is definitely worth reading and (after decoding it) is a beautiful story.
 * <span style="color: #97e30d; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> __Authorial Background:__ ** Emily Bronte first began to write at a very young age--she wrote poetry with her sisters about small toy heroes and heroines they all possessed. The sisters published their volumes of poetry, and although not many copies sold, Emily did not give up. Her first novel, Wuthering Heights, was published in 1847. This novel attracted quite a bit of mixed reviews from critics, mainly because of the violence that was so new at the time. It sold very poorly at first, but has clearly risen above the ranks and is believed to be a wonderful piece of literature in society today. Unfortunately, this was the only book Emily was able to publish, for she died at age 30 from tuberculosis. (Information provided by gradesaver. com)
 * <span style="color: #1d8d11; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> __Literary Period / Country:__ **1801 in England; Gothic period
 * <span style="color: #0f8e8f; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> __Setting:__ ** The novel takes place in the English countryside, for most of the novel is a flashback told by one of the characters, Nelly.
 * __Heathcliff:__** Heathcliff is an orphan adopted by Mr. Earnshaw, who brought him to Wuthering Heights. He falls in love with Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine. However, when Earnshaw dies, his son treats Heathcliff horribly. This changes him and convinces him that his life must be spent trying to get revenge on all of the Earnshaws. He manipulates those around him to gain control of Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange, and even people--such as his own son and his love's daughter. He goes from being the underdog that readers cheer for at the beginning to the villain the readers shudder at towards the end.
 * __Catherine:__** Catherine is the daughter of Mr. Earnshaw. She is prideful, stubborn, and very spoiled. She falls in love with Heathcliff when his brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw. When she is bit by a dog and cared for in the Lintons' household for five weeks, she begins to fancy Edgar Linton. Although she is still deeply in love with Heathcliff, she marries Edgar because she desires to move up in the social ranks. She becomes ill and dies after giving birth to her daughter.
 * __Nelly:__** Nelly is the housekeeper of Thrushcross Grange and the main narrator of the story. She grew up with Heathcliff and Catherine, and she spends most of the novel telling Lockwood (and the reader) all about the tale of Heathcliff. She is quite kind and respectful, very much unlike those she had to grow up with in Thrushcross Grange.
 * __Catherine (the first Catherine's daughter):__** Catherine is described as being very much like her mother--stubborn, prideful, and arrogant. She grows up knowing nothing about Wuthering Heights, but she comes to it by chance and meets Hareton. She then romances with Linton (whom is being forced to by Heathcliff) through letters and sneaks to Wuthering Heights to help Linton when he asks her to help him be healthy again. She is forced to marry Linton by Heathcliff, but Linton quickly dies afterwards, and Catherine is thus forced to stay at Wuthering Heights as a servant. She falls in love with Hareton and they get engaged.
 * __Lockwood:__** Lockwood begins the story with his narration. The story told to the reader is Nelly explaining it to Lockwood; he tends to be rather irrational and simply does not understand the other characters. He is kind and means well, but he is rather daft.
 * __Edgar:__** Edgar is the one who is most hurt by Heathcliff, who takes over his daughter Catherine, his beloved wife Catherine, and his sister Isabella. Although he is spoiled by his proper, lavish childhood, Edgar is a kind, sensitive man who is a true gentleman.
 * __Linton:__** Linton is Isabella and Heathcliff's daughter. Since Isabella runs away with him, he does not meet his father until he is a teenager. He's sickly, whiny, and rather obnoxious and is thus treated absolutely horribly by his father, who successfully gains control over him to win over his love's daughter.
 * __Hindley:__** Hindley is the first Catherine's sister and Mr. Earnshaw's son. He resents Heathcliff at a young age for being so loved by his family, so he treats him horribly, especially after Mr. Earnshaw's death, when he himself inherits Wuthering Heights. He is a cruel, horrid character at best. He falls in love and marries, but when his wife dies while giving birth to his son, he becomes an avid alcoholic.
 * __Hareton:__** Hareton seems to be a double of Heathcliff, but in a looser sense--in the sense that Heathcliff gets revenge on Hindley after his death by treating Hareton like Hindley treated Heathcliff (say that five times fast). He falls in love with Catherine despite it all (another piece of evidence that Hareton is Heathcliff's double, or good twin). When Hindley dies, Heathcliff mistreats Hareton and sends him out to the fields to work. After Heathcliff's death, he gets engaged to Catherine.
 * __Isabella:__** Isabella is one of the few who adores Heathcliff past teen years. She believes him to be "romantic" and is deeply in love with him. Heathcliff marries her, but only to gain control of the Linton family (and thus become eerily closer to his true love, Catherine). Isabella is so mistreated by Heathcliff that she runs away to give birth to his son, Linton.
 * <span style="color: #781cd9; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> __Plot Summary:__ ** Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange. He goes to speak to his landlord, Heathcliff, who is extremely rude to him. He is forced to stay at Wuthering Heights and encounters a "ghost." Nelly, the housekeeper, tells him the story of the family. She had worked for the Earnshaw family. Mr. Earnshaw brought Heathcliff back, and he was favored over his other son, Hindley. Hindley became jealous and treated Heathcliff very badly. After Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley inherited Wuthering Heights and treats Heathcliff even worse. Catherine, Mr. Earnshaw's daughter who was very in love with Heathcliff (and vice versa), instead marries Edgar Linton for social status purposes. Hindley's wife dies while giving birth to a son (Hareton) and Hindley becomes a horrible alcoholic. Heathcliff decides to get revenge on all of the Earnshaws and manipulates Hindley to inherit Wuthering Heights after he dies. Heathcliff marries Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister, to inherit Thrushcross Grange. He treats Isabella horribly. Catherine becomes ill and dies after giving birth to a daughter (also named Catherine) and Heathcliff is devastated. He begs her ghost to stay (the ghost that appeared in the beginning of the novel). Isabella runs away to give birth to their son (Linton).
 * <span style="color: #d410da; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> __Unique Literary Devices:__ **
 * Doubles:** Bronte makes use of doubles throughout the novel. Catherine and Heathcliff are literary doubles. Catherine even exclaims to Nelly at one point, "...'[Heathcliff's] more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same...'" (73). Their love is due to a feeling that their souls are the same, that they are the same person, that there is a connection between them that transcends all material things. Another pair of doubles is Heathcliff and Hindley. Heathcliff is treated horribly by Hindley because Hindley is so jealous of his father's affections towards him. Hindley simply wants to seek revenge. He sends him to the fields and truly tortures him, and the pure irony of the situation is that Heathcliff becomes the man he had loathed so much--he treats Hareton the exact same way Hindley treated Heathcliff. Heathcliff simply wants revenge, so he sends an innocent boy to the fields and tortures him.
 * Weather:** Bronte also uses weather to give the novel a dark, eerie, and truly stormy feel. The house itself is named Wuthering Heights due to the strong winds and stormy weather; the house was built to withstand it: "Happily, the architect had foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones" (2). The area is constantly enduring strong storms and fierce weather, which perhaps symbolizes the extreme emotions and pain that the people living in the house go through throughout the novel. Perhaps the house is built so strongly to withstand this emotional tumult as well. The stormy weather combined with the dark troubles going on in the family bring a sense of discomfort and fear within the reader, as if maybe a storm (emotional //or// literal) will finally bring this house down.
 * Prose-style Writing:** Because Bronte had been so into poetry before writing this book, the book is written lyrically, full of description, imagery, and beauty. The last line of the novel depicts this perfectly: "...under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for sleepers in that quiet earth" (308). The beauty of Bronte's writing contrasts with the dark, stormy weather and Gothic style for the perfect mix of despair and hope.
 * <span style="color: #fdaffd; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Personal Review:__ ** At first, I did not enjoy reading the book. The language was very hard for me to understand, for I admit that I have not read many books written before the 1900s. I became frustrated with it, and I had to read a summary of each chapter after reading it at first because I simply did not understand what was going on. However, after I became used to the language and manner of speaking, I became much more attached to the story and the characters in the novel. I felt very strong emotions as I was reading--despair during the parts in which Heathcliff was mistreated by Hindley, warmth when I witnessed the intense bond between Catherine and Heathcliff, and horror as I watched Heathcliff fall deeper into depression (and perhaps insanity).