Wuthering Heights - Narrative Structure Essay - 712 Words

How effective is the narrative structure in Wuthering Heights? Wuthering Heights has a unique and complex narrative structure. There are the two main narrators, Lockwood and Nelly, they each are eyewitness narrators as they have took part in the story they describe. The novel is organised in such a way that it is a narrative within a narrative, what some critics would call â€Å"Chinese boxes† or frame narrative. Lockwood is used to open and end the novel, Bronte uses him to represents the outer frame of the story in which the readers can relate to, and this cleverly draws us into the hostile and bewildering environment of Wuthering Heights, â€Å"... a wilderness of crumbling griffins, I detected a date â€Å"1500†, and a name â€Å"Hareton Earnshaw†. I†¦show more content†¦I know, by instinct, his reserve springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling† shows the reader how easily it is to misinterpret the characters complexity, and our similar position to Lockwood becomes a warning that suggests we too should not rely on our instincts when passing judgement on characters. As the novel progresses there is a narrative shift to Nelly Dean who is the binary opposite of Lockwood and represents the inner frame of the narrative structure. Initially this creates a sense of relief as we understand Nelly to have been part of the story itself, giving the reader a true and reliable insight, â€Å"Very old, sir, and Hareton is the last of them, as our Miss Cathy is of us – I mean, of the Lintons. Have you been to Wuthering Heights? I beg pardon for asking but I’d like to know how she is?† However, the use of the possessive and collective pronouns such as â€Å"our† and â€Å"us† shows how she is emotionally involved to the characters and also herself correction shows that she has a blurred view of who she is and what family she is a part of, suggesting to us that she too is unreliable similarly to Lockwood. Moreover, Nelly Dean’s role as confidante to almost all the characters in the story placed her in a position of power. In a feminist reading she is the most powerful as she has the ability to manipulate and direct the story. However, the use of the epistolary form shows a weakness in women as Bronte presents Isabella’sShow MoreRelated The Narrative Structure of Wuthering Heights and Heart of Darkness1152 Words   |  5 PagesThe Narrative Structure of Wuthering Heights and Heart of Darkness      Ã‚  Ã‚   Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte was first published in 1847, during the Victorian Era. 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