Mini essay plan

Title: The Moors, the weather,human nature and social class in Wuthering Heights

Abstract; Weather in Wuthering heights symbolizes Cathy and Heathcliffe's wild 'other' human nature, they are free spirited and happy when roaming the Moors.The Moors symbolize the wilderness of their nature,accepts it and allows it. Society rejects Cathy's and Heathcliffe's nature which prevents them from being together. Cathy defies her natural instincts and allows society to place constrictions upon her , and as a result she moves away from the Moors and resides in the Linton's household to be tamed , reflected by the soft weather symbolism's as a pose to the harsh weather symbolism of the wild free Wuthering Heights (House)

Method: research for context- social status and rise of middle class, 19th century capitalism  re defining of social classes, Where the novel and Bronte's stood  (500 words )
close analysis .
The houses as opposites ( one free and wild the other civilized and tamed mirroring the image of Heathcliffe and mr Linton,)
Liminal spaces- peering through windows listening to conversations crossing boundaries. ( reflect the social class boundary both characters are striving to overcome) Space and liminality in the mirror VERY IMPORTANT !

Sexing the Cherry- postmodernism within

        Sexing the Cherry was written in 1989 and exhibits themes of post modernism,

feminism, fairytale and arguably gothic themes .Throughout the novel there are two main

narrators, which are Dog woman and Jordan. The novel also exhibits themes of time, space,

exploration, identity, sexual ambiguity, myth, magic, realism and of course gender.

Throughout this assignment the theme of postmodernism and how Winterson has portrayed

this throughout the novel through the use of characterization will be discussed.

 

       Firstly Patricia Waugh speculates that, ‘postmodernism can be seen as the latest version

of a long standing attempt to address social and political issues through an aestheticised

understanding of the world.’ (Waugh: 1992:7) It could also be said that postmodern literature

 uses old narratives and puts them into contemporary contexts  and plays with language and

conventions of fantasy. It  also breaks down the barriers of the traditional classic novel. In a

sense that the reader is no longer passive (non linear narrative) and is forced to engage in the

text more than ever. The structure of the novel is fragmented making the reader work very

hard, which can be seen as a post modern convention.

      

       Dog woman could be seen to represent the postmodern approach Winterson had took

when writing this novel. Winterson challenges the idea of gender expectations and challenges

conventional thinking . Old social factors have been broken down and re written through the

character of Dog woman. Dog woman is portrayed as different to other women, she is large

and has no care for her appearance. For example, ‘How hideous am I? My nose is flat my

 eyebrows are heavy. I have only a few teeth, and those are poor

show.’(Winterson:1989:24)Jordan also states that ‘she is silent the way men are suppose to

be.’  This woman challenges the idea of womanhood. Einstein states that, ‘the behaviour that

was thought to be appropriate for the stereo typical woman was passive or weak non

aggressive and dependant and thus resulted as her being understood as incapable of strong

independence existence.’ (Eisenstein: 1984:59)

      Dog woman completely inverts the expected gender traits of woman hood, through her

appearance and behaviour. She uses violence to solve problems; she is monstrous looking

rather than petite and pretty. She also does not give birth to her son like a ‘normal ‘woman

would. Thus Winterson has given the reader a new way of looking and gender traits and

broken the old truths. This can be seen as a postmodernist approach to the gender traits

 debate.

      Jordan also contributes to the new woman gender traits. The fact that Dog woman finds

Jordan on a river bank indicates the challenge of the female in the novel, instead of giving

birth to a child Dog woman finds her child on the river bank , thus Winterson is inventing

the other woman and challenging a readers expectation of the passive, vulnerable inferior

female.

 

   Linda Hutcheon asserts that, ‘postmodern thought has challenged our liberal humanist

notions of man – that essentialized , idealized eternal creature by forcing us to think about

gender of so called ‘universal’ humanity.’ (Hutcheon: 1993:27) This could be reflected in

Sexing the cherry again through Dog woman, even her name could reflect

the postmodern feminist approach. Dog woman is a non feminine name, she is not

referred to as Miss/Mrs Dog woman stating that she is not married. Thus suggesting that she

does not need a man to exist and survive, she is a woman but she is not strikingly feminine

and this can be recognised through her name. She is fully comfortable with herself and does

not need a name to define this. The significance of names throughout the novel could fit in to

a gothic genre as in Rebecca (1938)  by Daphne Du Maurier, the protagnist’s name is never

 mentioned or made refrence to. This is , maybe because of the notions of the otherness and

the unknown woman which makes a text gothic. In Winterson’s novel Dog woman is

presented as the other woman, the unknown woman and therefore her name has no

significance to her. ‘I have a name but i have forgotton it, they call me Dog woman and it

will do.’ ( Winterson:1989:11)Arguably that her name does not define who she is and

therefore she does not need  a name to represent this.

      Another interesting point is, in Winterson’s novel is the use of the princesses and how she

has made a magnificent play on identity and gender through this , which can be seen as

extremely postmodern. Winterson has redeveloped the typical princess’s endings, by

empowering these women to make their own decisions , for example: ‘She had not minded

her husband much more than any wife does, until he had tried to stop her hobby.’

 (Winterson: 1990:49)The first princess killed her husband as he had tried to stop her from

 pursuing her hobby.

       One of the princesses was also a lesbian which can be seen as very postmodern as these

alternate endings to the princess’s plays on the notions of fairytale and fantasy by shattering

the normal expectations of women in fairytales. Winterson has shown this through the

princesses in the sense that, they are able to make their own choices, and no longer feel the

need to be the the trophy wife and sacrifice their goals to be the perfect wife/woman.

     The feminist perspective is even reflected through Jordan within the novel, he is

portrayed as a romantic, sensitive and extremely gentle male like most would expect a

woman to act . For example he takes Dog woman to watch the sun set, which could be a

suggestion that Jordan has become feminised, as men are not thought to be as romantic,

sensitive and gentle like Jordan is portrayed. An ironic play on names and places could also

be seen here. Jordan was found by a river and possibly named after river Jordan, a river

pursues  a journey like Jordan and Dog woman  do. Identity is fluid like water, which could

 represent this in a metaphorical way.

    

    The fact that Dog woman is self aware indicates, the way in which Winterson constructs

the characters within the novel. For example, ‘how hideous am i?’ (Winteron:1989:24) This

potrays a woman who accepts herself for who she is and has no problem in doing so. The

notions of sight is made reference to throughout this novel. The reader is pointed at Dog

womans apperance and how she percieves herself, and as a visual aid she also compares

herself to monsters. It could be said that sympathy can be felt for Dog woman as she is

an ugly oversized woman, however it is intresting that when Dog woman is not speaking in

first person narrative she can be potrayed as a intellectual, bright, strong woman. This

postmodern twist is  very complicated but yet rather easy to understand. As the narrative

in this novel may not play a crucial role into the readers intepretation of Dog woman and her

identity.

As barthes states,

  

       ‘ As soon as a fact is narrated no longer with a view to acting directly on reality

         but intransitively, that is to say, finally outside of any function other than that

         of the very practice of the symbol, itself , the disconnection occurs, the voice

         loses its origin, the author enters into his own death, writing begins.’

        (Barthes:1967:25)

        

Thus suggesting that when the author no longor narrates through the character the

interpretation from the reader can start to un ravel. In wintersons novel this can be  seen

through the readers perception of Dogwoman and her own self awarness. We do not have to

agree with Dogwoman and have room for opinions on this subject, which can be seen as

a very artistic postmodern act, as we can read a text and be included within the text by

coming to our own ideas, thoughts perceptions and conclusions. Whereas in a classic novel

we are very much given a passive role in the writing and no room for our own perception of

characters are left for the reader.

         The fact that Dog woman uses violence to solve conflict shatters gender expectations

as the expected female would ususally solve any conflict with talking about it. For example

Dog woman says, ‘this was my first murder’ (Winterson:1989:107) However the narration

 could play a crucial part here as, the reader is given insight to her motives for everything

 violentthat she carries out. This again plays on reader perception and can be seen as a

postmodernist act.

     Another group of characters that the reader encounters is the indian hopi tribe,which

carries deeper meanning. The language used by the hopi tribe is somewhat confusing as

it is rich but yet there is no past tense ,presnet or future,which could be a suggestion that

time is merely a social construction and that there is no divisions between them ,us , this

world and their world. Mchale states that, ‘postmodernism describes ‘some’ universe, and

not necessarily the universe, or a plurality of universes.’ (Mchale:1987:27) He also states

that, ‘postmodernism proposes the question of which world is this?’( Mchale:1987:10)

This is exactly what Winterson could have been doing when experimenting with the elements

of language and time especially through the hopi tribe,which again can be seen as extremely

postmodern.

     Winterson has clearly presented the reader with new ideas and approaches to reading a

story. The concept of a non linear narrative has clearly been addressed by exploring

narrational and non rationalized consciousness especially through the hopi tribe.Wintersons

approach to deconstruction of linguistics has made postmodern discourse  independannt of

historical conventions. Dog woman is also presented as a strong independant woman fighting

gender expectations in a limited society,which again can be seen as a postmodernist approach

to writing. Winterson is a fantastic pioneer of  postmodernist fiction and has clearly presented

a work of art, riddled in postmodernist ideas.The freedom the text offers readers is also an

excellent use of postmodernism. Each character in this novel represents the shattering of

old conventions and rules,which seems a truely artistic act to achieve.

Littleton, Jacob.(1995) Mrs Dalloway portrait of the artist as a middle-aged woman. Review Gemma Jones

Littleton’s article presents an in depth portrayal of Clarissa Dalloway, he suggests that she

is an artist in her own right as she expresses herself through her parties. He states that ‘if it

is the nature of the artist is to transmute personal experience and feeling into a public

art, Clarissa Dalloway is certainly an artist.’ (Littleton 1995: 36).This quotation opens up the

article, it is an immediate portrayal of Clarissa Dalloway, immediately it is clear to

understand one of the main issues throughout the article.

     Littleton’s argument centres on a few main points these being; mind/memory, Clarissa’s

artistry, Clarissa’s relationship with other characters and men in her society. Littleton also

argues the significance of gender within the novel, which provides very strong evidence that

Mrs Dalloway is a feminist text.

     Firstly Littleton suggests that, ‘Clarissa’s artistry is the essential key to understanding her

character ,and the deception of the character is the novels key event.’ (Littleton 1995:36)

Here Littleton emphasises how important the party is to understanding Clarissa as a

character. He provides evidence for this stating that, ‘Virginia Woolf was concerned about

the mental world of a woman, who according to patriarchal ideology of the day as well as her

own figure in the world was not imagined to have any artistic feeling at all.

(Littleton1995:36).This evidence from Littleton enlightens the reader to Woolf’s aims when

writing her novel ,as she was a feminist it is clear to see how she may have voiced her

opinions on society through her character ,Clarissa Dalloway. Zwerdling shares the view with

Littleton that, the party is the key event as it is a wake, she states ‘the party at the end of the

novel, for all its brilliance, is a kind of wake. It reveals the form of power without its

substance.’ (Zwerdling 1977:59)

        Littleton also suggests that Clarissa’s artistry is essential to understanding the novel,

this is agreeable as this is the best way for her to express her opinions, when everybody is

there for her it is her chance to speak. It is also agreeable as Alex Zwerdling also recognised

the expression Wolf uses in her novels to criticize the social system. Zwerdling states that,

‘Virginia Wolf was a prosaic novelist as well as a poetic one, a satirist a social critic as well

as a visionary and this element in her fiction is no where given more complete expression

than in Mrs. Dalloway.’ (Zwerdling 1977:69)

     Littleton elaborates further on his argument of Clarissa challenging social norms through

self expression at her parties. He explains how he has come to this conclusion, stating that

‘She rejects societies common props against the void’. (Littleton 1995:37) Littleton gives

further examples of how Clarissa rejects societies common props. For example. ‘Clarissa

rejects Miss Kilman’s religion’ (Littleton 1995:37) . This would also reveal the, modernist

approach Virginia Woolf took when writing this novel, and how she questioned things in her

society and  presented philosophical/social debate. From this Woolf created a heroine who

was portrayed as an intelligent deep thinking woman, which would seem an artistic act.

Littleton’s ideas are reliable and accurate as he has again provided evidence for his ideas, by

giving examples from Mrs Dalloway. His ideas evidence and suggestions are accurate and

worth taking note of due to the thorough explanation and the close reading he carries out

making his points.

     As detailed in the introduction, Littleton draws upon gender and how it affects the

novel. Littleton’s main argument is that Clarissa Dalloway is a female artist expressing

herself the best she can in a patriarchal society. The Oxford English Dictionary defines

patriarchal as ‘characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family

head and title is traced through the male line.’(Oxford English Dictionary:1989)

Therefore it is important to recognise how Clarissa overcame the problem of being a female

in a male dominated society ,this contributes to Littleton’s argument to Clarissa Dalloway

being an expressive artist. Littleton speculates that, ‘The parties reflect Clarissa’s need for

control of the physical, and the desire and to express societies values’.(Littleton 1995:44)

Thus Clarissa functions as an artist through her ability to express the truths she realizes in the

world around her. Clarissa’s parties also function as a creative outlet in a male dominated

world. Littleton has again recognised the importance of the understanding that Mrs Dalloway,

is a feminist novel as it centres around a woman who expresses her opinions in an artistic

way, he has given the explanation for this, this being he recognised the gender differences

and how it was difficult for a woman to be expressive in patriarchal society. He has given an

explanation on how Woolf has voiced this, by pointing out that Clarissa Dalloway is

expressing herself in an artistic way, again through her parties.

    The next point that is very important throughout Littleton’s article is Clarissa Dalloway’s

relationship with Septimus Warren Smith. Littleton’s analysis of Septimus and Clarissa is

particularly effective, he acknowledges the relationship between them as a whole, but

two parts, he goes on to show how the two characters react to society in different ways.

‘Septimus goes mad while Clarissa hides her differences and remains externally integrated

    with society because conformity was a practical necessity for women ,particularly of

  Clarissa’s class, imprisoned by centuries of male control of all wealth and almost all means

To wealth, indeed or particularly every aspect of public life. As a man, Septimus could not

avoid subjection to the most extreme dysfunctions of the social order: war and Bradshaw. His

 response is similarity extreme. The manifestations of his madness are guided by the tradition

of male poetry.’ (Littleton 1995:51)

From this quotation the reader can understand how Littleton has explained how Clarissa

Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith  experience society in different ways, one being safe

of negativity while the other experiences it ,thus suggesting that in what one experiences

positively the other will suffer. Again Littleton has backed his argument up with close

 reading of Mrs Dalloway as well as considering other critics opinions and integrated them

into his argument. The evaluation of Clarissa and Septimus is written logically and clearly

with relevant evidence which is a very good basis for a reliable argument.

       Another issue that Littleton addresses is Clarissa’s relationship with her husband. It

is important as he is male and this can give crucial evidence that Mrs Dalloway is a feminist

text. For example Littleton states that, ‘the less intense alliance with Richard allows Clarissa

greater space to fill her submerged desires.’ (Littleton 1995:46 ) This could suggest that

Mrs Dalloway is a feminist text as Clarissa is limited to fulfilling her inner desires when he is

around her. In the novel Woolf also states that Richard Dalloway is the one who ‘stifles her

soul.’(Woolf 2000: 75)  This statement by Littleton is accurate as in the text Mrs Dalloway,

the reader is constantly enlightened to the struggle of marriage for a woman living in a male

dominated society, for example  Clarissa sometimes refers to herself as Mrs Richard Clarissa

Dalloway this could be Woolf arguing that when a woman marries a man she loses her

identity and self-preservation. This could also reflect Woolf’s feminist view on sex and

gender. Littleton also examines the close evidence from the text in great detail. Elaine

Showalterz also notes that ‘Woolf was well aware that as a feminist theory now puts it, the

name of the husband is one of the strongest insignia of patriarchal power. (Woolf 2000:XII)

     Littleton concludes his argument; ‘Woolf’s novel attempts to uncover a female intellectual

 inheritance not preserved in rigid cultural vessels such as libraries and universities’.(Littleton

1995:53). This assumption by Littleton brings his argument together. He has justified why

Clarissa Dalloway is an artist, which again correlates with the argument that Mrs Dalloway is

a feminist text. It is clear from reading Mrs Dalloway that Littleton’s argument is accurate as

everything he has stated throughout his article is backed up with sufficient evidence. He has

mainly argued that Woolf has created an artist as she is intellectual and expressive.

     

     An advantage of Littleton’s article is that he has referenced other critics opinions which

 provides even stronger evidence than just his own opinion. There is also no comparisons to

other characters from other novels, Littleton completely focuses on Clarissa Dalloway giving

 any reader a full in depth psycho analysis of Clarissa.This is extremely beneficial as it covers

every aspect of the protagonist, she makes up the whole story therefore it is a vital key to

understanding Mrs Dalloway. Littleton’s argument is clear throughout, Clarrissa is a female

artist expressing herself to her full ability in a male dominated environment. The article is

well supported by the text and his own interpretations. Littleton also enlightens the reader to

how and why Clarissa is an artist and can change the view of others. She is a sophisticated

artistic woman in a male dominated society. The argument strongly suggest that Mrs.

Dalloway is a feminist text due to the constant argument of the woman of the twentieth

century (Clarissa Dalloway) as a ‘real truthful artist, an intellectual and a

sophisticated woman.