Reviews written by men who
will have expected writer to be
male
Complex structural layering reflects her higher
intelligence, superior to that of the male critics
who could not accept her different techniques
Use of authorial technique - uses one character
to tell the reader about another e.g. we never
meet Cathy but hear about her through Nelly
Background
Published in 1847 - Victorian readers
found it hard to accept the violent
characters and harsh realities presented
by Bronte
'such shocking
pictures of the worst
forms of humanity'
Audience found it impossible to
accept that it could have been
written by a woman
However, readers at the time could relate to the central
relationship of Heathcliff and
Cathy
Harder for us to relate as social class is less judgemental regarding love
Written from 1801 and goes
backwards - use of flashbacks
and flash forwards
Heathcliff only has one name -
reflection on his social position
Victorian Families
Potato famine in Ireland along with
industrialisation led to an increased number
of children on the streets of Liverpool e.g.
Heathcliff
Middle class families often had servants
and many children spent most of their
childhood with their nanny
Children would be expected to call their Father 'sir'
Father considered to be head of household
Linton = more upper class
Cathy = more upper class
Married up a class
Family provided retreat from
stress and turmoil of industrial
world
Moors are considered
gloomy and grim
Idealised as centre of stability
Family more isolated from its
larger kinship network, although
unmarried women often lived with
married siblings
"spinsters"
Family structure primarily nuclear
Aristocratic families had closer kinship ties beyond nuclear core
'There can be no security to society, no honour, no prosperity, no dignity at home, no
nobleness of attitude towards foreign nations, unless the strength of the people rests
upon the purity and firmness of the domestic system'