Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights Mental Illness and Feminism

Novels are often taken by the reader at face value, and are never looked into on a deeper level. It is important to search for more than what is seen in a literary work. Wuthering Heights is a great example of a book with its own hidden secrets that can surface with a little research. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights depicts the oppression of women from mentally unstable individuals. Overview of Author Emily Bronte was born in Yorkshire, England on July 30, 1818 (â€Å"Emily Jane Bronte 1), to a family dedicated to literature (â€Å"Emily Jane Bronte† 2). Education was also important to the Bronte family, but it always seemed to take a pause for Emily due to family illnesses and the stress of being away from home. Emily by her peers as a shy young†¦show more content†¦Setting and Publication of Wuthering Heights Wuthering Heights was written during the Victorian Era, which was the time period ruled by Queen Victoria. This time period was seen as very â€Å"prudish, hypocritical, stuffy, and narrow- minded† (Kirschen 1). While this time period did carry some harsh and negative characteristics, they are not completely accurate. The Victorian Era was very socially strict, but there was also a strong artistic movement. Writers and artists had a lot of creative freedom during this time period and most of their works were highly sought after (Kirschen 1). Literature in this era was very connected to the Romantic period and played upon imagination, emotion, and self-reflection, but also played upon a Neo-Classical or traditional approach of what was publically acceptable (Roth 1). People were very power hungry during this portion of time (Kirschen 1). This allowed literature to create allegorical themes that represented society during this era of literature (Roth 3). Much like the cha racters in Wuthering Heights, people felt a great deal of social responsibility during the Victorian Era. The characters really concentrated on what was socially acceptable (Roth 2). Social climbing was very popular during the Victorian Era and was very evident in literature. People developed superficial attitudes and used education to improve themselves so that their socialShow MoreRelatedEmily Brontes Wuthering Heights: Mental Illness and Feminism915 Words   |  4 Pages Psychoanalytical View of Wuthering Heights Mental illness was viewed as being a self-inflicted disease during the time period Wuthering Heights was written in (Bloomfield 298). Many of the characters suffer from a form of mental illness, but not all of them can be seen as self-inflicted. Most of the illnesses are inflicted by the death of other characters. After Hindley’s wife dies in his arms, he becomes an alcoholic and foreshadows his own death due to his destructive behavior (Bloomfield 291)