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An Analysis of the Problem of Perception in Emily “He Shall Never Know How I Love Him”: An Analysis of the Problem of Perception in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights by Laura Peet A THESIS Submitted to the Department of English California State University, Bakersfield In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH May 2008 Copyright By Laura Emily Peet 2008 May 2008 This thesis, “He Shall Never Know How I Love Him”: An Analysis of the Problem of Perception in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights by Laura Peet has been accepted on behalf of the Department of English by her thesis supervisory committee _____________________________________ Glenda Hudson ______________________________________ Carol Dell’Amico Acknowledgements I would like to dedicated this to my mother, who has always instilled in her children a love of reading and who feels, as I do, that Catherine and Heathcliff’s stormy romance is one of the great loves stories of all time I would also like to dedicate this to my cat, Oreo, who, sadly, did not live through its production. I imagine he is out frolicking on the moors. Oreo 1992-2008 1 Introduction Wuthering Heights is one of the most beloved novels to have come out of the Victorian period. According to Patsy Stoneman, “Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are…still the third and fourth most borrowed books from British public libraries” (236). Possibly as a result of their popularity, both novels have been the focus of much critical attention. Wuthering Heights, however, seems to attract a much wider range of responses than Jane Eyre. With a fractured narrative structure and plot, a seemingly ambivalent moral tone, and an abundance of violence, Wuthering Heights posed quite a problem not only for contemporary readers, but also for critics for years to come. How are we to read this strange, dark novel? Early critics often labeled the work as clumsily constructed. The multiple narrative frames were seen as flaws exhibited by an inexperienced novelist. Similarly, critics denounced the book’s moral lessons. Heathcliff, the supposed villain of the novel, the one who committed many of the multiple acts of brutality and cruelty within the story, is not sufficiently punished for his actions. Rather, the ending of the novel is ambiguous; it is indeed possible that Heathcliff and Cathy are spiritually reunited at the close of the novel, as is suggested by the rumored ghost sightings. For these reasons, the majority of Bronte’s contemporary critics dismissed her novel as unsuccessful or even sinister. The perception of Bronte’s work has changed through the passage of time, however. Many critics now see Bronte’s multiple narrators as the careful craft of a gifted artist, one who pays careful attention to the smallest details to keep the novel unified and coherent. Also, since the advent of modernist criticism, critics’ views of 2 the morality of the novel have changed. Critics in modern and post-modern periods began to see the truth as subjective rather than objective. In a world where truth is largely a matter of individual perception, the ability to judge right from wrong becomes difficult and sometimes unproductive. Rather than focus on what the characters did that was “good” or “bad,” the modern and post-modern critics focused on why the characters acted the way they did. This allowed for a wider interpretation of what constitutes good and bad behavior. Similarly, focusing on characters’ motivation rather than action allowed critics to see the novel as a work of art rather than a moral example to be followed like an instruction manual. The changing views of the purpose of literature allowed for a more favorable interpretation of the novel, then. In the midst of the current perspectives on Wuthering Heights, most critics can agree that Bronte’s use of the narrative frame was a strategic move. In addition, critics not only allow for, but even praise the use of, multiple perceptions in the revealing of the plot of the novel. What they do not agree upon, however, is why Bronte used this particular narrative structure to tell her story. John K. Mathison argues in his article “Nelly Dean and the Power of Wuthering Heights,” that Nelly’s unreliable narration is a tool Bronte used to allow the audience to feel sympathy toward Cathy and Heathcliff in a way that any other type of narration could not. He felt that readers felt repelled by her and, as a result of her looking down upon Catherine and Heathcliff, readers felt closer to them. He says, “Neither a direct plea nor a narrator who was a moralizing, narrow-minded hypocritically pious guardian could have placed us so completely with Heathcliff and Cathy” (192). William E. 3 Buckler, in his article “Theme and Method in Bronte’s Seventh Chapter,” focuses on the ways that misconceptions and misperceptions among the various characters in the novel account for much of the plot development. This is why, he would argue, we have so many different perceptions: to move the plot along. He ignores, however, the reason behind why the plot must be driven by these types of misunderstandings—that Bronte wanted to showcase individual perception to highlight its importance. George J. Worth takes a different approach to the theme of multiple perceptions in his article “Emily Bronte’s Mr. Lockwood,” by focusing on the ways that individual characters within the novel, Mr. Lockwood in particular, misinterpret themselves. He does not go on, though, to comment on how this contributes to the many misunderstandings that happen in the plot of the novel. Critics also disagree about why Bronte would create a novel that lends itself to such a wide variety of interpretations. I will argue that Bronte chose to present her story in the way that she did precisely because she wanted to illustrate the importance of individual perception. The story is filtered through at least two narrators for the duration of the novel, which gives readers the opportunity to witness a single action through multiple perspectives. One event is told and then retold from another perspective to show readers that each character’s interpretation is different. Bronte elaborates on this message both in form and content. Many of the major turning points of the plot revolve around a misunderstanding or a difference in perception between characters. Heathcliff flees after hearing Catherine say that it would degrade her to marry him. He does not stay to hear her go on to say that she feels a connection to him that runs so deep that she considers than to be two halves of 4 one being and that her feelings for Edgar Linton are superficial at best. Heathcliff’s decision to leave is based not on the “reality” of the situation; if he had known Cathy’s true feelings, he more than likely would have stayed. Heathcliff’s decision is based on, rather, on his perception of the situation. When we act on our perceptions, as we must, reality becomes strangely unimportant. Many pivotal events within the plot of the novel remain unspecified. What happened to solidify Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship while Nelly was away? Where did Heathcliff go when he left only to return three years later? Clearly these are events are extremely important to furthering the plot of the novel, yet they happen “offstage,” so to speak, and the reader is never sure what exactly happened. Bronte does this on purpose. What really happened during these crucial times is irrelevant; people live their lives based not upon a transcendental reality but upon their perceptions of the events that they witness. Thus, it does not matter what formed that powerful bond between Catherine and Heathcliff as children—whatever events that transpired or “really” happened are irrelevant. What matters to us is that they, as children, perceived the events in such a way that they felt closer as a result. Moreover, what happened to Heathcliff during his absence is irrelevant—what matters to us is that the other characters in the novel see him as changed. Whether he has, indeed, been changed, the other characters in the novel see him and treat him as such, and it is their treatment of him that shapes their decisions and actions, which in turn shape Heathcliff’s. I intend to prove that Bronte’s purpose in writing the novel in this way was simple: she wanted to show that there is, in fact, no discernable “truth.” We are left 5 to trust our interpretations of the situations we find ourselves in and act accordingly. Many critics overlook this simple, yet thorough, explanation, perhaps because modern readers are more open to the idea of multiple perceptions, and this view may seem too simplistic. In Victorian England, however, this idea would not have been so widely accepted. What modern critics take as a given would have been highly debated in Bronte’s time. This, in turn, explains why her contemporaries were so confused and put-off by her work—they were unable to see the multiple perspectives, and sometimes contradictions, as indicative of anything other than a disorganized author. The current perspective, though, allows readers to tie Bronte’s narrative frame and her theme of multiple perspectives to her place in Victorian society as well as her feelings about religion and morality in a way that has never before been examined so completely. 6 Chapter One: Critical Perspectives Victorian England was unprepared for a novel such as Wuthering Heights. Reviewers of the 1848 edition of the novel had almost uniformly negative feelings about it. One anonymous reviewer said, “With all its power and originality, it is so rude, so unfinished, and so careless, that we are perplexed to pronounce an opinion on it, or to hazard a conjecture on the future career of the author” (Britannia 291).
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