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Summary Edexcel A-level English Literature: Prose - Women and Society, Wuthering Heights context notes
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AO3 context notes for Wuthering Heights
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Wuthering Heights (set in late 1700s till 1801)(written in 1847) AO3 Context NotesHistorical
1. Legal Status of Women
Coverture was a legal doctrine whereby, upon marriage, a woman's legal rights and
obligations were subsumed by those of her husband, in accordance with the wife's legal
status of feme covert. Coverture arises from the legal fiction that a husband and wife are
one person
Coverture was established in the common law of England for several centuries and was still
in force when Bronte writes her novel – considered archaic
Coverture was first substantially modified by late 19th century Married Women's Property
Acts passed in various common-law legal jurisdictions and was weakened and eventually
eliminated by subsequent reforms
All the Bronte novels feature failed marriages in their main narratives
Even though their novels were published before the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of
1857, they can be said to have helped prepare the way for this and subsequent laws by
exposing the British public to stories of men and especially women unjustly trapped in
oppressive legal unions
The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 moved litigation from the jurisdiction of the
ecclesiastical courts to the civil courts, establishing a model of marriage based on contract
rather than sacraments and widening the availability of divorce beyond the more wealthy
Chief rule was that only the eldest male child inherited (primogeniture), inheritance laws
work in favour of men and against women’s interests
2. Cruelty and Moral Movement against Cruelty
As the Victorian era progressed, debates on the treatment of animals grew. Humane
treatment of animals was seen as a new indicator of civilised progress
The image of the abandoned animal was seen as an indictment of modern urban living.
Impounded animals would often face vivisection (the practice of experimenting on animals).
Objections to this practice steadily grew until eventually animals were anesthetised before
undergoing such experiments
Animal imagery surrounding Heathcliff – he arrives as an abandoned pet and in time he
becomes a brutal vivisector in his own right
Understanding pain of fellow creatures is key – need for empathy, contemporary debates on
animal cruelty are a corollary to the novel’s debate on empathy
Throughout the nineteenth century, the laws regarding both domestic violence and the
rights of women drastically changed to provide more protection and grant greater rights to
both women and children. These laws, importantly, would not have been in force at the
time the action of the novel takes place
Wuthering Heights brings private issues of domestics into public light – These issues become
a key part of Emily’s damning critique of the ideal of genteel middle-class domesticity: the
problems of domestic abuse often remained hidden in this sphere, but the novel lays them
bare
3. Class
Early 19th century saw continuing impact of the industrial revolution as well as the end of
the long Napoleonic Wars
Corn Laws – attempt to prevent foreign exports from challenging UK agriculture, this made
business tough for the UK and impacted its economy resulting in poverty
Unemployment as a result of mechanisation was rife and even those in industrial jobs faced
poor pay and conditions as the new middle class of industrial owners often felt no
responsibility to their working-class employees
All of this led to unrest – fear of revolutions, Conservative Brontës would have sympathised
with the workers despite being firmly on the side of tradition (not advocates of reform)
, Patrick Bronte himself escaped from the dire poverty of his youth in Ireland
Gradually this spirit of rebellion led to reforms in government. The Reform Bill (1832)
excluded women but was the start of more equal representation in parliament
Yet, unhappy with the limitations of the Reform Bill, the Chartist movement grew and
continued to radicalize the working class. The Chartists demanded equal representation and
the removal of property qualifications for MPs
Wuthering Heights deals with the conflicts presented by class divides, contested inheritance
and new money
Heathcliff as a representation of burgeoning force of Capitalism in society - In stripping the
Linton’s of their inherited property rights and by amassing wealth and land for himself,
Heathcliff is essentially demonstrating the role of Capitalism which was starting to take force
in this period
His cruelty in this pursuit and his vampiric impact on others (taking their lives from
them and leaving them subservient to him), are all part of the novel’s critique of this
new economic ideology and the destruction it causes to rural communities
4. Religion
Patrick Bronte was a clergyman and an Evangelical Anglican – him and his wife also had
Methodist associations all of which influenced his children’s upbringing
In opposition to Calvinism, which stipulates that God pre-ordains who is to be offered
salvation before birth, Methodism sees salvation as possible for all
Patrick took his duties seriously, preached with animation and actively addressed himself to
the conversion of the working poor
Calvinism is mocked in Wuthering Heights through Joseph’s grumbling warnings and piety
and so too in Lockwood’s Branderham dream. Nelly’s morality being based on good and evil
is seen as lacking also as it too asks for perdition (eternal damnation) rather than
acceptance
The self-righteousness of those who believe themselves to be the elect is frowned upon in
the novel, then
In Wuthering Heights, however, a much more amoral vision of the universe is presented. It
is clear that Cathy and Heathcliff pursue their own version of spirituality and morality,
negating the salvation of heaven and thus confronting society’s ideas on punishing
damnation (which Nelly and Joseph represent). They ask their readers for empathy and
acceptance, not conversion
The evil and suffering in the novel is presented as standard (an indicator of this is the novel’s
presentation of nature/rural life, which is not seen as idyllic, but rather and harsh and
unforgiving). Emily doesn’t try to make suffering part of a religious/redemptive narrative,
instead allowing the good in the novel to prevail only after huge suffering
5. Patriarchy
Inequality between men and women in society extended into every area. It is therefore
possible to read Wuthering Heights as an extraordinary critique of the social conditions for
women
Victorian women writers had been largely prevented from writing social or political criticism
in their novels owing to their vulnerable position as women writing in a male-dominated
cultural milieu
The rural setting of Wuthering Heights can be seen as indicative of the position of women as
isolated from culture and modern industry, though it also accurately reflects Emily Brontë’s
own lived experience
Many women in the period published under pseudonyms – They did this to prevent unfair
criticism of their work, revealing society’s beliefs around women’s intellectual inferiority and
the unsuitability of women’s entry into the public sphere
Literary
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