Cultural Theory with a little Marxist Twang

The idea of studying literature as a way of understanding culture is obvious unless the ideology of your society states that all literature is contained in a "Chinese-box structure" (p. 431). As stated by each of the cultural theorist, the use of literature can either work to cement what is already believed in the culture or, as Tony Bennett states, has the ability to "separat[e] the audience from... prevailing ideologies" (p.420). 

Marxist' theory of one class superseding another, although does not translate directly with cultural theorist, states how most, if not all, literature is political in nature. This idea that all literature is political in nature has the effect of representing any given culture when it was written, what makes Wuthering Heights so different is the fact that, while writing, Emily Bronte was so far separate from society. This separation from society begs the question of how can such a remote setting, two Gothic homes on the morbid moors of England, connect to the zeitgeist of the time?

What we see and what we experience has a lasting affect on what we do, what we say, and what we write. This "lasting affect" is what is needed in order to provide the context of who we are in conjunction to who everyone is around us. Although this portion of the books speaks primarily on what cultural criticism is, it also speaks on the intrusiveness of the world around us. Emily Bronte, even while so separated from normal society, was able to write a novel that encompasses a large majority of the social discord and strife of her time. 

As large as the author's actual ability, the culture, the time period, and the social ideology also plays a  large role in creating any literary work and showing what it was truly like to be alive during those times.  Starting with cavemen drawing on walls, the social context is shown through what they draw and what they would use to draw it.

Wuthering Heights, A View Towards Legality

Where "Wuthering Heights" is a jaunty through the plot developed by Emily Bronte, this portion of the book is based on the practicality of "Wuthering Heights" application of inheritance law and the social and economic impact of the Great Potato Famine. What sparks Lockwood's interest in finding out the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights is the ragtag team of family members he finds as residents in the Wuthering Hieghts household and the misfortunes that lead them to live such a miserable life in the presence of such miserable people.

A well established literary criticism of the narrative is the notion that "Wuthering Heights" depicts the patriarchal malevolence of English law against women and how, after marriage, husbands gained all of their partner's rights. In "Letter to the Queen on Lord Chancellor Cranworth's Marriage and Divorce Bill" Lady Caroline Norton describes the rights that are inherently not given to women. " A married woman in England has no legal existence: her being is absorbed in that of her husband."

Rights lost to women in marriage include:

• Loss of real and personal property
• No right for a wage
• No right for a women to leave a man (for fear of conjugal suit)
• The inability to testify in court against her husband
• No right for divorce

It further states that although these legal customs are in place some educated families avoid some of these laws by the daughter's parents setting aside some "distinct pecuniary provisions," and creating "trusteeship[s]" that will hold onto some insurance encase the husband proves to be "irresponsible," has undesirable "chances of his character," or has low success in his profession. But for those families that are less educated, and for those wives in more rural areas, they are stricken with even worse losing of rights. Many are beaten, kicked out of their families homes, and some are sold to pay of their husband's previous to marriage debts.

The main gest of the reading the disadvantageous of married woman versus the advantageous of a married man. In the act of marrying, a woman loses all rights and property while the man gains all of her rights and property, even after their divorce. 

The idea of these laws, which prevailed many years prior to this books writing, makes me question the validity and value of the "they lived happily ever after" motif found in many fairy tale marriages. 

Also described in this reading is the possible origins of Heathcliff and the cause of his repressed anger. The events of the potato famine still plaguing Heathcliff's mind when met with the overt selfishness of Henly could only help to motivate his internal rage toward those born into privilege.

Wuthering Heights

I am one of the few that spend a large portion of any book trying the fully understand the author's mindset, their culture, their history, and the way they lived their lives. Although most people deem that knowledge is unnecessary, I feel that you can never truly understand what an author is attempting to say unless you know who the author is to the world, and who the author is to himself, or herself. 

As with all literary works, there are usually introductions and sets of historical facts that help describe the zeitgeist, or spirit of the time, to help readers understand what social context a book will be taking, this book is the same in that there is such establishment time period and culture, but a distinguishing factor is how the book is introduced and edited by Charlotte Bronte. This tidbit of relational information, such as Charlotte finding and pressuring Emily to print some of her poems, and Charlotte's, Anne's, and Emily's attempts at publishing their first set of literary pieces, helps establish the character of the author and possibly stems, to a further extent to different aspects of the novel's characters. 

Throughout the novel, the notion of keeping ones own company, and enjoying it, arises several times. Lockwood states, "a sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself" and Heathcliff mutters back "delightful company" (45). This internal will longing for Lockwood to be left alone, coupled with the Heathcliff household who can be metaphysically seen throwing Lockwood out with each side eyed glance, each tear from their eyes, or their constant groaning during conversation, leads me to the conclusion that although Emily Bronte was a part of the Moor culture a large portion of her mind was not set on the pleasantries of the daily moor societies and conventions.

Another day and another blog

I'm glad it finally came and not too soon, if you don't mind me saying, but finally other civilizations became accounted for in these pages. Many times there is so much western civilization bias that there is no, or little, information about the other civilizations during that time period that significantly affected the world's turn of events. The allotment of women's ability to learn to read and write, the social impact of a certain laws, rules, dictum, speeches, or novels, and even the social stigma of reading in different cultures significantly effected the world in drastic ways.

A large aspect, to which great care was taken to note, was how it was the Islamic and Middle Eastern civilizations that maintained and transcribed the passages of Socrates, Plato, Isocrates, and many of the other Greek philosophers. To a great extent, without out this maintenance and dedication to the Greeks, we, as a Western civilization, would never have known who the Greeks really were, why they behaved the way the way they did, and how they were the first to significantly improve themselves past that of agriculture and herding through their ability to read and write. Without the exertions of the Islamic cultures, the Greeks would have gone the way of the Etruscan poets (185). There would have been marks, but all the marks would be found "silent."

The incorporation of the Chinese and Japanese cultures into this book historically resonates the mutual aggression between those two countries. As this book states, "in 1984--a hundred years after the founding of the new capital Heian-Kyo...the Japanese government decided to stop sending official envoys to China" and later Japan "began to [work] to develop a life-style of its own devising (228)." Although a necessary action, the development of a unified culture played a large role in destroying the bond between the Chinese and Japanese civilization, a bond that began with Japan strictly forbidding the use of many of the Chinese characters in their language, especially among females. This resolve to end Chinese and Japanese communication undoubtedly lead to future conflicts.