I can honestly say that I enjoyed this criticism the most of the three that we have read. I believe it is because it was the easily relate-able to the text itself (not to mention, I do love any "powerful women" ideals :) ). While the Marxist and Cultural criticisms were interesting and made some valid points, this Feminist criticism actually allowed me connect its ideas to the very plot of Wuthering Heights and explained some of Catherine's reasoning in the novel.
Most of the essay describes Catherine's power domineering over the men in her life throughout Wuthering Heights. She ultimately escapes Hindley's harsh rule, marries a wealthy man who loves her more than anything, and drives Heathcliff mad with ideas of what might have been. She is, clearly, a very headstrong woman who gets what she wants. However, Lyn Pykett argues, it is this power that drives her to her death. Pykett talks about how Catherine holds such power over the men in her life, but how she must "ultimately submit to the legal control of her father, her brother, and subsequently her husband" (Pykett 472), and then Pykett goes on to say, "Caught uneasily between these conflicting subject positions, Catherine is ultimately broken by the pressures of the contradictions" (Pykett 473). It is because Catherine is so much of a controlling character, that she simply cannot stand the pressures of her feminine role.
It is definitely interesting to focus on Catherine as a female character. She has so much power behind her that she certainly makes for a compelling character within the novel. I enjoyed reading Pykett's ideas about how Catherine's being a woman affected the story line and themes of Wuthering Heights. The plot would have unfolded most contrastingly had Catherine been a male.
Savannah,
ReplyDeleteYour comments really hit home with me--I knew that I enjoyed the feminist criticisms more than the others but I didn't realize why. I, too, like "powerful women" although I always protest that I am not a feminist. There is a difference.
Today women have limitless options for asserting their power and not always in an overt and off-putting manner. What I sometimes fail to remember is that we did not always have that luxury.
Your blog made me think of "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin. Shocked by the strict confines of the heroine's life and depressed beyond belief at her demise, I suddenly realized Catherine committed suicide just as surely as did Edna.
I also really liked the examination of Catherine as a powerful, but subjugated being. It seems most of her greatest conflicts do arise from being controlled by an outward force. Although we have been examining Heathcliff in class as a force of nature, deeply tied to the weather and the moors, this aspect of Catherine also reflects the torrential atmosphere in which she is encased. In her refusal to truly submit to the rule of another person, she instead goes into a mental and emotional storm, which, as any overwhelming display of power can be, proves too much for her and kills her.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, the feminists criticism was my favorite one to read. I thought that Pykett made some good points that related directly to the text, which like you said Savannah connected to the ideas of "Wuthering Heights". Catherine is a very strong character, I do believe that indeed did led to her demise. When I was reading this section of Pykett's essay I felt that it made me understand Catherine's death better. Catherine had to die in order to advance the plot, but Bronte couldn't just kill her off she had to have some kind of believable reason to die. There had to be limitations on her power.
ReplyDeleteAlso I like the point you make Trista, I believe that Catherine's demeanor relates to the atmosphere of the novel