Novels can have various genres. There are romantic novels, thrillers, fiction, mystery, adventure, gothic, and more. Genres can be combined to create a genre with a ‘twist’, like a romantic mystery novel for example, the possibilities are nearly endless. Overall, when looking at the five novels read over the term, there is a clear trend with the novels genres. The majority of novels read were some kind of Gothic novel: Romantic Gothic, Horror Gothic, etc. Three main Gothic novels from the term are Dracula by Bram Stoker, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. All of the three novels listed above can be analyzed for their Gothic elements, such as terror, gloomy castle setting, madness, death, decay, supernatural,
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In many ways, the novel is very gothic but it also crossed the line away from gothic, because the characters are much more complex than those you normally find in a gothic novel, instead of the setting being in a ruined, dark castle it is centered in Wuthering Heights, and Cathy isn’t a threatened and vulnerable women that needs recusing (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). But aside from that, Wuthering Heights includes plenty of gothic qualities. A few of the elements are imprisonment, violence and cruelty, supernatural presence, madness and much more. There was clearly a lot of violence between Heathcliff and Hindley even in their young age. Hindley was angered about Heathcliff’s presence from the very start. When Hindley’s parents died, he was in charge of Wuthering Heights and made Heathcliff and servant – mucking the barn, and doing the field labor – which made Heathcliff resent Hindley. Heathcliff when he was much older ran away from Wuthering Heights and when Heathcliff returned he was a pristine grown man, and Hindley was brewed too deep into his alcohol and gambling to stop Heathcliff from taking over Wuthering Heights (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). Once Heathcliff was in charge everything changed, and he began to seek revenge on Hindley. Heathcliff steals Hareton’s loyalty from Hindley (his father). Heathcliff seeks revenge on Cathy as well after she left and married Edgar by marrying another woman. The amount of death within the two family was quite immense. Eight out of the ten members of Earnshaw and Linton families are dead by the ending of the novel (McFile, 2013). A clear sign of madness was when Heathcliff guiltlessly disturbs Cathy’s corpse and then later when he is being haunted by Cathy. Wuthering Heights, even though missing a few elements, is still a very good example of a gothic
In many ways, the novel is very gothic but it also crossed the line away from gothic, because the characters are much more complex than those you normally find in a gothic novel, instead of the setting being in a ruined, dark castle it is centered in Wuthering Heights, and Cathy isn’t a threatened and vulnerable women that needs recusing (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). But aside from that, Wuthering Heights includes plenty of gothic qualities. A few of the elements are imprisonment, violence and cruelty, supernatural presence, madness and much more. There was clearly a lot of violence between Heathcliff and Hindley even in their young age. Hindley was angered about Heathcliff’s presence from the very start. When Hindley’s parents died, he was in charge of Wuthering Heights and made Heathcliff and servant – mucking the barn, and doing the field labor – which made Heathcliff resent Hindley. Heathcliff when he was much older ran away from Wuthering Heights and when Heathcliff returned he was a pristine grown man, and Hindley was brewed too deep into his alcohol and gambling to stop Heathcliff from taking over Wuthering Heights (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). Once Heathcliff was in charge everything changed, and he began to seek revenge on Hindley. Heathcliff steals Hareton’s loyalty from Hindley (his father). Heathcliff seeks revenge on Cathy as well after she left and married Edgar by marrying another woman. The amount of death within the two family was quite immense. Eight out of the ten members of Earnshaw and Linton families are dead by the ending of the novel (McFile, 2013). A clear sign of madness was when Heathcliff guiltlessly disturbs Cathy’s corpse and then later when he is being haunted by Cathy. Wuthering Heights, even though missing a few elements, is still a very good example of a gothic