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Emily Bronte's Love Through Imagination (Blog 1)
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As mentioned in the preface of the book, Emily Bronte lived a predominantly lonesome life in Northern England. She did not marry, and did not find love.
So, my question is, how does someone with such little experience of love write a (now) critically acclaimed novel about it?
Well, there is no concrete answer, therefore I’m going to speculate…
First of all, I think that this ability was somewhat inherent. Bronte was the second of three famous sisters. Her two sisters, Charlotte and Anne, were also famous authors. I think that this must be a sign of naturally inherited talent. During their lifetime, the three sisters spent their time writing poetry and books. It’s very easy, for an outsider like me, to see that the girls learned, and communicated themselves through literature. Thus, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities that Emily wrote Wuthering Heights on pure talent alone.
http://www.biography.com/people/emily-bronte-9227381 - link to Emily Bronte’s biography
In the preface of the book, it also mentions that Emily grew up with “no real schooling and little care”. How did she master the ability to write? The preface also explains that she was “sensitive, shy, fiercely reserved and absolutely unable to bear any regimentation”. How does a women as shy and isolated as Bronte write a book about matters she was a stranger to?...
This brings me to, what I believe, is the driving factor behind Emily Bronte’s creation of Wuthering Heights…
Emily is a reflection of Catherine.
When I see the famous quotation, “Nelly, I am Heathcliff!” (Bronte 84), I put my own spin on it: “Emily, I am Catherine”. Similar to Catherine’s realization that she is meant to be with Heathcliff, I think that somewhere during Bronte’s writing of Wuthering Heights, she had the realization that she was writing about herself… Or maybe she knew all along… Regardless, I can say with confidence, that Wuthering Heights was Bronte’s embodiment of the love that she hoped for (with some exceptions).
If you were lead to believe that Emily wrote her book on pure talent, you’re not alone (I used to believe that). However, after putting some thought into it, I think that it was her desire and imagination of love that allowed her to write so passionately about it.
It’s still hard to think that a woman like Emily Bronte would be able to write such an iconic novel. Somehow, her surprising way of life allowed her to produce Wuthering Heights; and for that, literature scholars everywhere will thank her.
Work Cited:
Bronte, Emily, and Geoffrey Moore. Wuthering Heights. New York: Signet Classic, 1959. Print.