I can see why many journals are using Marxist terms or models more often. There are people like Bill Gates and Donald Trump who make way more money than they really need. Although many of these rich individuals have worked hard and give away millions to charity and other worthwhile causes, their net worth is still a staggering sum. Journals, like the Wall Street Journal, aren’t advocating a switch from free-market capitalism to communism, rather they’re critiquing the free-market system.
The Marxist critic Pierre Macherey’s comment on page 380 about the purpose and function of more traditional forms of criticism amused me. His view that the more traditional forms of criticism attempt to coax the text “into giving up its true, latent, or hidden meaning” reminded me of the passage from Writing about Literature that talks about the myth of hidden meaning— that there is no such thing as ‘hidden meaning’ in a text (Brontë 380).
For the sentence starting on page 390 with “Finally” and ending on the following page with “changed man,” words such as ‘despicable’ could certainly be added to elaborate on Heathcliff being a changed man. Out of sheer cruelty, Heathcliff dedicated pretty much the rest of his life to exacting revenge on Hindley and everyone else whom he felt had betrayed him.
Reading the paragraph that starts on page 395 and ends on page 396 made me realize that Emily Brontë must have had a rich imagination in order to create such a magnificent work as Wuthering Heights and make it seem so real. It would be hard to disagree that Brontë’s imaginative-filled childhood helped her develop such a talent. As Eagleton says, only someone who “can synchronize in its [a work’s] internal structures the most shattering passion with the most rigorous realist control” can “produce the aesthetically superior work” (Brontë 396).
I agree with Eagleton that the pivotal event of Wuthering Heights is older Catherine’s decision between going with her passion for Heathcliff and having a high social standing with Edgar Linton. By choosing the latter, older Catherine acts as, in Eagleton’s words, “the decisive catalyst of the tragedy” (Brontë 396). After she chooses Edgar Linton, Heathcliff then starts on his own path to decadence and turns into a cruel and ruthless man. Brontë pulls the reader in and allows this chain of events to unfold before our eyes.
I also agree that Catherine's selfishness eventually destroyed them all. It set a chain of events in motion that ended in tragedy for all of the main characters involved.
ReplyDeleteAs I posted on my own blog, I had to do more research on Marxist criticism and it was uncanny how "Wuthering Heights" fell into that form of criticism. I have been a reader for a long time and I always love to discover new point of views about a particular piece I have read.
I agree with you on the fact that Emily Brontë must of had a very creative imagination. Especially for the time period given the confusion surrounding the release of her novel. I think that a lot of the things that happen in the novel were somewhat uncommon for the time period. Her novel did seem like it had really happen at some point and I think that is why I enjoyed reading it even the second time around.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you again that Catherine's choice to go with Edgar over Heathcliff is the beginning of the catastrophe. She choose to pick someone because of their social status and not for love. As I being to realize this I begin to think that maybe everything that happens in Catherine's fault and her haunting in the end are her realizing her mistake. I don't know?