University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2019 Losing Faith: Emily Brontë's Revolutionized Religion Emily Renee Holmes University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Holmes, Emily Renee, "Losing Faith: Emily Brontë's Revolutionized Religion" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 3195. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3195 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Losing Faith: Emily Brontë’s Revolutionized Religion A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English by Emily Holmes Hendrix College Bachelor of Arts in English, 2017 May 2019 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _______________________________ Sean Dempsey, Ph.D. Thesis Director _______________________________ _______________________________ Dorothy Stephens, Ph.D. Mary Beth Long, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Abstract “Losing Faith: Emily Brontë’s Revolutionized Religion” discusses the role of religion in her novel Wuthering Heights and her poems set in the mythical world of Gondal. Through close readings of both her prose and poetry, this paper seeks to understand the relationship between the dark, vindictive nature of Brontë’s characters and their hopeful ending. The first chapter, Here’s The Situation, discusses the situation as set up by the novel, focusing specifically on Catherine and Heathcliff. I discuss the violence and codependence of their relationship, their Gondal predecessors, their fascination with each other as well as their torment when apart, and the hell they create for themselves, and the characters themselves.