The Gothic Elements in Wuthering Heights英语专业毕业论文.doc

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1、爱伦坡及其作品中的哥特式元素Poe and Gothic Elements in His WorksThe Gothic Elements in Wuthering HeightsAbstract: The Gothic tradition has very significant influence on the English and American literature, and many writers have inherited this writing tradition in their novels. In this paper, the writer analyzes t

2、he influence of the Gothic tradition on the creation of Emily Brontes famous novel Wuthering Heights. The novel contains Gothic elements in many aspects, including the theme, characters, environment descriptions, details and plots, etc. Meanwhile, Emily Bronte adds violent emotion, complex mentality

3、 and fresh energy into the old form. Whats more, she endows the characters with complicated psychological description which makes the old Gothic form and fervid content combines perfectly. At the same time, she adds reality into the novel skillfully; thus, she makes Wuthering Heights imitate the Got

4、hic technique successfully and adds something new to the black romanticism of Gothic tradition as well. As a result this novel maintains the unique and everlasting artistic charm in the world literatureKey words: Emily Bronte; Wuthering Heights; Gothic Tradition; Improvement摘要：哥特式传统在英美文学的创作中具有非常显著的影

5、响。许多作家都把这一传统用到他们的作品中。本文旨在分析哥特式传统在艾米丽勃朗特的著名小说呼啸山庄中的运用与影响。这篇著作在主题、人物、环境的描述以及细节和情节的刻画方面都运用了哥特式的协作方法。艾米丽勃朗特将疯狂的情感、复杂的心理和新鲜的能量注入古老的形式，并赋予小说中的人物复杂的心理刻画使其与传统的哥特式完美结合。同时，她把现实完美的融入到小说中，因此，她在巧妙地运用哥特式传统的同时又增添了新的元素，使得这部独特的小说在世界文学艺术中保持着持久的魅力。关键词：艾米丽勃朗特；呼啸山庄；哥特式传统；借鉴与发展. An Introduction to the Gothic Tradition an

6、d Its Influence on LiteratureA. The origin of Gothic tradition and its idevelopment The term “Gothic” admittedly, originated from a confluence of history and architecture. The Goths were a northern Germanic European people whose ways and beliefs differed largely from those of Greco-Roman classical c

7、ivilization farther south. So to the southern outlook, the Goths were wholly uncivilized and barbarous. They were absorbed by Christianity, brought a unique architectural and artistic sensibility. Gradually, “Gothic style” becomes the representive style of “The Middle Age” in Europe (Hayes 73). The

8、Gothic architecture is always very strange and eccentric, high and broad, and with a heavy atmosphere of religion. It is not only frequently associated with architecture, and it can also be applied to sculpture, panel painting, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, jewellery and textiles produced

9、in that period. The Gothic style expressed the essence of the Catholic faith, concerned with creating a sense of the numinous, of the presence of God, while still incorporating older Pagan (nature-worship) symbolism: gargoyles, elemental spirits whose purpose was to ward off evil. However, the term

10、“Gothic” was never actually applied to any of these art forms until after “The Dark Ages” was over. With the arrival of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, anything medieval came to be seen as backward and primitive, associated with brutality, superstition and feudalism. Gothic was therefore used

11、 derisively until a revival of interest in everything medieval occurred in the mid-to-late 18th century. In the 18th century, the novel was coming into its own as an established literary form, many novelists began to look to older, oral and Romantic traditions (e.g. the Arthurian legends) as a liter

12、ary source essentially, a reaction against ideas of the Enlightenment and realistic literary conventions. Romanticism was a literary genre preferring grandeur, picturesqueness, passion, and extraordinary beauty. Like the Gothic art style, Romanticism was considered the opposite of classical, and als

13、o particularly medieval in character. The Gothic novel, distinctive for its fascination with the horrible, the repellent, the grotesque and the supernatural, in combination with many of the characteristics of the Romantic novel, was (and still is) seen by some critics as a sub-genre of Romanticism,

14、and by others as a genre in its own right (Snyder 212).B. The beginning of English Gothic novelThe English Gothic novel began with Horace Walpoles The Castle of Otranto (1765), which was enormously popular and quickly imitated by other novelists and soon became a recognizable genre. To most modern r

15、eaders, however, The Castle of Otranto is a dull reading. Except for the villain Manfred, the characters are insipid and flat; the action moves at a fast clip with no emphasis or suspense. But contemporary readers found the novel electrifyingly original and thrillingly suspenseful, with its remote s

16、etting, its use of the supernatural, and its medieval trappings, all of which have been so frequently and poorly imitated that they have become stereotypes. The genre takes its name from Otrantos medieval or Gothicsetting. Early Gothic novelists tended to set their novels in remote times like “the M

17、iddle Ages” and in remote places like Italy or the Middle East (Hayes 75).in 1847Wuthering Heightsby Emily Bronte. It is a story of a wild passion in which Gothicism runs simultaneously to Romanticism.C. The characteristics of Gothic novelWhat makes a work Gothic is a combination of at least some of

18、 these elements: a castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not (the castle plays such a key role that it has been called the main character of the Gothic novel); ; ; ; ; dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics, labyrinths, dark co

19、rridors, and winding stairs, shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or, today, an electric failure); extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather, omens and ancestral

20、curses, magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural, a passion-driven, willful villain-hero or villain, a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued frequently, a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel, horrifying (or terrify

21、ing) events or the threat of such happenings. The Gothic creates feelings of gloom, mystery, and suspense and tends to the dramatic and the sensational, like incest, diabolism, necrophilia, and nameless terrors. It crosses boundaries, mixed daylight and the dark side, life and death, consciousness a

22、nd unconsciousness. Sometimes covertly, sometimes explicitly, it presents transgression, taboos, and fears fears of violation, of imprisonment, of social chaos, and of emotional collapse. Most of us immediately recognize the Gothic elements (even if we dont know the name) when we encounter it in nov

23、els, poetry, plays, movies, and TV series. To some readers safely experiencing dread or horror is thrilling and enjoyable. Gothic fiction, the frightening and horrifying stories of various kinds have been told in all ages, but the tradition confusingly designated as “Gothic” is a distinct modern dev

24、elopment in which the characteristic theme is the stranglehold of the past upon the present, or the encroachment of the “dark” age of oppression upon the “enlightened” modern era (Drabble 422). In Gothic romances and tales this theme is embodied typically in enclosed and haunted settings such as cas

25、tles, crypts, convents, or gloomy mansions, in images of ruin and decay, and in episodes of imprisonment, cruelty, and persecution. From those sources the first master of America Gothic writing, Poe, developed a more intensity hysterical style in Gothic stories.Gothic elements have made their way in

26、to mainstream writing. They are found in Sir Walter Scotts novels, Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre, and Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights and in Romantic poetry like Samuel Coleridges “Christabel” Lord Byrons “The Giaour” John Keatss “The Eve of St. Agnes”,etc. A tendency to the macabre and bizarre which

27、appears in writers like William Faulkner, Truman Capote, and Flannery OConnor has been called Southern Gothic (Hayes 74). . A Brief Introduction to Emily Bronte and Wuthering HeightsGothicEmily Bronte, novelist and poet, is one of the most important figures of English literature in nineteenth centur

28、y.His life experience and hard writing career stamped a direct and deep influence in his creating of short stories and poems, the main literary forms, both of them are not the reflection of the real world, but the imagination of him. Most of them are Gothic novels with decadent content, eccentric an

29、d abnormal psychological characters, and the plot of death and decadence.Usually the basic tone of them is negative and oppressive, filled with mysteries. The ancient eccentric castles, decadent temples or abbeys and the ghastly crypts are always the happening places of his Gothic novels. His heroes

30、 often present as crazy noble, the murder who tortured himself, the weak neurotic man who addicted in the corpses and death, or the man with abnormal psychology. These abnormal heroes and heroines were locked in the terrible castles, abbeys, crypts or inner world, and standing various kinds of pain

31、and horror. Poes Gothic novels show, though carefully crafted symbols, complex characters in deep psychological states. The symbols are rays of light that Poe casts on those hidden, deep recesses of the human mind. Often, the stories gain added complexity and sophistication because of Poes use of co

32、mplex narrators. In order to show the details of their psychological states, Poe did his best to place the characters in a special situation to enhance the force of his works. Whats more, his characters own an alter ego or a double, thus signifying the incompleteness and the self-loathing part of an

33、 individual. Sometimes the characters try to escape from or destroy or bury the part of the self which is represent as the double, the annihilation of the double or the half of ones half, leads to the destruction of the other half, thus to the self-destruction(Tong 117-118). Emily and her siblings w

34、ere raised in the Yorkshire area ofEngland. Childhood imaginings shared with siblings became an important part of Emilys writings. As an adult, Emily recognized a metaphysical power in her life that made it known in her greatest poems and is a profound presence in Wuthering Heights. Set during late

35、eighteenthcentury England, Wuthering Heights reflected the social upheaval occurring in England when Emily Bronte wrote the novel.The industrialization of England had given rise to a middle class based on wealth not land ownership. The arrival of Irish refugees from the potato famine presented the p

36、roblem of parentless children in need of homes and socialization, such as Heathcliff. Ultimately, Emily portrays the problem of being female in the patriarchal culture of the early nineteenth century. (Heather Glen, 2004)Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronts only novel. It was first published in 1847 un

37、der the pseudonym “Ellis Bell”, and the second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte.The narrator tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them. No

38、w considered as a classic English literature, Wuthering Heights met with mixed reviews by critics when it first appeared, with many horrified by the stark depictions of mental and physical cruelty. Though Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre was originally considered the best of the Bront sisters works, many

39、 subsequent critics of Wuthering Heights argued that its originality and achievement made it superior. Wuthering Heights has also given rise to many adaptations and inspired works, including films, radio, television dramatizations, a musical by Bernard J. Taylor and songs (notably-Wuthering Heights

40、by Kate Bush), ballet and opera. The Gothic novels were very influential and they Gothicworks?“besides influencing Romantic poets, but also influence the Bronte sisters and other novelists in 19th century” (David Cecil, 1962 44). At the time when the Bronte sisters works were published, the prime of

41、 Gothic novels had already passed. However, their works written in their childhoods (1826-1843) were in the same time as Mary Shellys Gothic terror novels. Meanwhile, it is said that besides reading various literary works, Bronte sisters also enjoyed reading Blackwoods and Frasers magazines, which h

42、ad published all kinds of stories and poems that were terrible and exciting with intense plots. When it comes to Emily Bronte (1818-1848), a, famous British novelist, no one can ignore her masterpieceWuthering Heights overflowing with enthusiasm and extremely frightening. What, however, contributes

43、to the authors success of the work? There are two main reasons.One is the environmental impact on the authors growth. Emily Bronte was born in a pastors travelfamily; her mother died when she was only three years old. merchant. Because of lack of mothers love and her fathers love indifference, in th

44、e desolate Yorkshire, she lived a lonely life, which made her born silence and unsociableness. And her character was full of contradictions, naturally stubborn and willful, gloomy, indignant and intolerant. She, however, had a strong and creative brain filled with eccentric but depressed mighty. Emi

45、ly was endowed with the unique imagination which a novelist must have. And both her character and her mind were with Gothic color.Another is the impact of the authors contemporary academic schools. Emily Bronte had an unhappy childhood during which time he had senses of inferiority, timidness, intro

46、version, and precocity. Thus, books became her best friends. She read not only all kinds of classic literature, but also the magazines of Braidwood and Fraser. And stories in those magazines were full of fantastic, nervous, horrible and moving plot. “She grows with the accompaniment of Mary. Shelly

47、and Hoffman” (Gerin 1971: 215). We can see clearly in Wuthering Heights that Emily was strongly influenced by Gothic tradition.(The Btontes, 2004: 72)2.2 Wuthering Heights and Gothic TraditionWuthering heights, Emily Brontes famous novel about the unfathomable love-hate relationship between Catherin

48、e and Heathcliff, and its effect on the fates of two very different families. Chapter I open with Lockwoods visit to Heathcliff, his new landlord, at Wuthering Heights. Although he is treated as obviously unwelcome, Lockwood has to stay because a storm is raging outside. During the night he has a ni

49、ghtmare about the ghost of a girl, Catherine Earnshaw, at the window; trying to come in. we learn that this girl was the love of his life and that she died twenty years before. Lockwood returns to Thrushcross Grange and asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, about Heathcliff and the state of affairs at Wuthering Heights. Nelly tells him of the gr