DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Wuthering Heights |
1. To what extent do you
think the setting of the novel contributes to, or informs, what takes
place? Do you think the moors are a character in their own right? How do
you interpret Bronte's view of nature and the landscape?
2. Discuss Emily Bronte's careful attention to a rigid timeline and
the role of the novel as a sober historical document. How is this
significant, particularly in light of the turbulent action within? What
other contrasts within the novel strike you, and why? How are these
contrasts important, and how do they play out in the novel?
3. Do you think the novel is a tale of redemption, despair, or
both? Discuss the novel's meaning to you. Do you think the novel's moral
content dictates one choice over the other?
4. Do you think Bronte succeeds in creating three-dimensional
figures in
5. Discuss Bronte's use of twos: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross
Grange; two families, each with two children; two couples (Catherine and
Edgar, and Heathcliff and Isabella); two narrators; the doubling-up of
names. What is Bronte's intention here? Discuss.
6. How do Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean influence the story as
narrators? Do you think they are completely reliable observers? What
does Bronte want us to believe?
7. Discuss the role of women in Wuthering Heights. Is their depiction
typical of Bronte's time, or not? Do you think Bronte's
characterizations of women mark her as a pioneer ahead of her time or
not?
8. Who or what does Heathcliff represent in the novel? Is he a
force of evil or a victim of it? How important is the role of class in
the novel, particularly as it relates to Heathcliff and his life? |
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