Wuthering Heights/Heart of
Darkness
Wuthering Heights
 Written by Emily Bronte; published in 1847
 Gothic Novel - designed to both horrify and fascinate readers
with scenes of passion and cruelty; supernatural elements;
and a dark, foreboding atmosphere
 Novel straddles the Victorian and Romantic eras
 Frame novel with multiple narrators
WH characters
 Lockwood – first narrator, visitor to Grange
 Nelly – second narrator, servant to Catherine
 Heathcliff – tragic hero
 Elder Catherine – loved Heathcliff and Moors (Romantic), but
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married Linton for society (Victorian)
Younger Catherine – Cat’s daughter; ends up with Hareton
Linton – married Catherine, but couldn’t understand her or her
emotional needs
Hareton – Hindley’s son; adopted but mistreated by Heathcliff
Hindley – brother to Catherine; alcoholic; jealous of Heathcliff –
possibly murdered by Heathcliff
WH Motifs and Symbols
 Clash of nature and culture
 Dogs
 Doubles/Foils
WH Symbols
 Heights and the Grange (the houses themselves are symbols
 The Moors – desolate, but freeing /Romanticism
 Ghosts – reminders of past/past regrets
WH Themes
 Society and class structure
 Nature vs. Culture (Romanticism vs Victorianism)
 Love and Passion
WH Plot
MAJOR CONFLICTS · Heathcliff’s great natural abilities, strength of character, and love for
Catherine Earnshaw all enable him to raise himself from humble beginnings to the status of a
wealthy gentleman, but his need to revenge himself for Hindley’s abuse and Catherine’s betrayal
leads him into a twisted life of cruelty and hatred; Catherine is torn between her love for Heathcliff
and her desire to be a gentlewoman, and her decision to marry the genteel Edgar Linton drags
almost all of the novel’s characters into conflict with Heathcliff.
 RISING ACTION · Heathcliff’s arrival at Wuthering Heights, Hindley’s abusive treatment of
Heathcliff, and Catherine’s first visit to Thrushcross Grange set the major conflicts in motion; once
Heathcliff hears Catherine say it would “degrade” her to marry him, the conversation between Nelly
and Catherine, which he secretly overhears, drives him to run away and pursue his vengeance.
 CLIMAX · Catherine’s death is the culmination of the conflict between herself and Heathcliff and
removes any possibility that their conflict could be resolved positively; after Catherine’s death,
Heathcliff merely extends and deepens his drives toward revenge and cruelty.
 FALLING ACTION · Heathcliff destroys Isabella and drives her away, takes possession of young
Linton, forces Catherine and Linton to marry, inherits Thrushcross Grange, then loses interest in
the whole project and dies; Hareton and young Catherine are to be engaged to be married,
promising an end to the cycle of revenge.
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WH Quotes
 "Tell her what Heathcliff is: an unreclaimed creature, without
refinement, without cultivation; an arid wilderness of furze
and whinstone." (10.98)
 I was frightened, and Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out
of doors: she did fly up, asking how he could fashion to bring
that gipsy brat into the house, when they had their own
bairns to feed and fend for? (4.46)
WH Quotes
 It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall
never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s
handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am.
Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,
and [Edgar’s] is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or
frost from fire.
 “Let me in!”
 I cannot live without my soul!
Heart of Darkness
 Written by Joseph Conrad; published in 1902
 Frame Narrative
 Novella (short novel)
 Characters
 Marlow – a narrator, tragic hero
 Kurtz – archetypal evil; quintessence of imperialism
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Poisonwood Bible - Patrick
Color Purple - Tyler
Bluest Eye - Casey
Invisible Man - Bailie
Great Expectations – Heather
Catch-22 - Danet
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Kayla
Gatsby - Katherine
Pride and Prejudice - Amber
Jane Eyre - Erika
The Awakening – Josh
Tale of Two Cities - Tia
HOD Motifs
 Darkness (very seldom opposed by light)
 Interiors vs. surfaces (kernel/shell, coast/inland,
station/forest, etc.)
HOD Symbols
 Rivers (journey of life/psychological journeys of growth)
 Fog (insanity/lack of clarity/lack of understanding)
 Kurtz – what happens to white man who tries to take over
Africa -
HOD Themes
 The hypocrisy of imperialism, madness as a result of
imperialism
 The absurdity of evil
HOD Quotes
 "The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealth, the germs
of empires."
 “The horror, the horror!”
 "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it
away from those who have a different complexion or slightly
flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you
look into it too much.“
 "I tried to break the spell--the heavy, mute spell of the
wilderness--that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by
the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts,