In which we talk theme
Reader Meredith posted the following : I can tell that /Silent on the Moor/ is set in dialogue with /Wuthering Heights,/ and when I contrast the actions and comments of Julia and Nicholas with those of the protagonists in /Wuthering Heights/ (whom I have always had some issues with, I'll just be honest,) the themes that emerge are, I feel, central to the entire Julia Grey series. And then when you add in the relationships between the inhabitants of Grimsgrave--! Very interesting, indeed.
So my questions are, what led you to want to explore the territory of /Wuthering Heights/? And are there any other books that might have a similar relationship with the Julia Grey series? And I know this puts the writer on the spot, but what do /you/ think are the central themes of the books? What would you have the reader come away with?
No doubt I've been hugely influenced by the Brontes and Jane Austen, and a trifle by Dickens, although that was entirely against my will, I assure you. Wuthering Heights has long been one of my two favorites of the Bronte novels for a variety of reasons. I love the fact that it isn't an easy book, and I don't mean the syntax or vocabulary. The emotions are difficult. It is hard to read about the violence of the love that Cathy and Heathcliff have for one another. There is no happy ending for them, and at no point can a reader easily imagine one. Can you honestly see Cathy tying on an apron and churning butter while Heathcliff herds sheep? There is no gentleness in their love for each other. It's brutal and it is destructive. Both characters--well, let's be honest, MOST of the characters--are deeply flawed and it's those flaws that make them more interesting. (I keep pointing out that women always cite Heathcliff as one of their favorite tall, dark, and handsome heroes, but how many actually remember that he HANGED HIS WIFE'S DOG on their wedding day just to show her who was the boss?)
The central theme in SOTM--as well as one of the themes in Wuthering Heights--is that you cannot escape the past. Whatever you do, it will find you; it is part of you, as elemental as the moor itself.
So my questions are, what led you to want to explore the territory of /Wuthering Heights/? And are there any other books that might have a similar relationship with the Julia Grey series? And I know this puts the writer on the spot, but what do /you/ think are the central themes of the books? What would you have the reader come away with?
No doubt I've been hugely influenced by the Brontes and Jane Austen, and a trifle by Dickens, although that was entirely against my will, I assure you. Wuthering Heights has long been one of my two favorites of the Bronte novels for a variety of reasons. I love the fact that it isn't an easy book, and I don't mean the syntax or vocabulary. The emotions are difficult. It is hard to read about the violence of the love that Cathy and Heathcliff have for one another. There is no happy ending for them, and at no point can a reader easily imagine one. Can you honestly see Cathy tying on an apron and churning butter while Heathcliff herds sheep? There is no gentleness in their love for each other. It's brutal and it is destructive. Both characters--well, let's be honest, MOST of the characters--are deeply flawed and it's those flaws that make them more interesting. (I keep pointing out that women always cite Heathcliff as one of their favorite tall, dark, and handsome heroes, but how many actually remember that he HANGED HIS WIFE'S DOG on their wedding day just to show her who was the boss?)
The central theme in SOTM--as well as one of the themes in Wuthering Heights--is that you cannot escape the past. Whatever you do, it will find you; it is part of you, as elemental as the moor itself.
Labels: books, Silent on the Moor, writing
posted by deanna at
6:30 AM
10 Comments:
I love this post! It also clears up a few of my own questions, thanks.
Mel
I was thinking the same as what the reader's question stated. Thank you for clearing it all up! Also, I don't think I want to read Wuthering Heights now, mainly because of what he does to his wife's dog. It's cruel and I cringe at books that involve animal cruelty, even if it is fiction or not. I have the same problem with the third book of Harry Potter when Harry's Aunt mentions that she had one of her dogs drowned.
You make me feel a little ashamed of my irritation with /Wuthering Heights/, Deanna-- I really do need to go read it again. I've disliked it because I get so mad at the characters, and I need to be able to get past that. :-) But I think I'll always like your "version" better. I know you can't draw direct parallels, but I think of Heathcliff and-- ugh. I think of Nicholas, and with some similar problems in life, he becomes something entirely different.
SOTM definitely demands to know what its characters are going to do with their pasts.
This is making me worse! If I keep thinking in this direction I'm going to end up writing an actual essay! :-)
~Meredith
No worries, Meredith! Literature is highly subjective and if Wuthering Heights doesn't do it for you, something else will. I always used to tell my students it was fine if they didn't like a book--they just had to know WHY they didn't like it! Maybe you're more of a Persuasion type of girl...
This post was really interesting. I always thought of SOTM as North and South but with a proper ending. I always hated how novels like North and South and Jane Eyre always ended with the man becoming impoverished and crippled because it was the only way for there to be equality in the marriage. For me that just seemed awful how the man had to become less of himself just for there to be a happy ending.
Joslyn
These comments make me feel MUCH better. I’ve always felt flawed for not wanting to read Wuthering Heights even though it has so many lovable elements: the moors, a tragedy, mansions and of course, it’s British, and ghosts. Sounds divine. But watching the movie with Ray Feins. . .that’s enough for me. But I always feel wrong because so many people are moved by it and love it and read it over and over. In fact only some of the ‘great classics’ should have that title in my opinion and it’s always made me wonder what my defect is. What am I missing? Am I not learned or sophisticated or mature yet? But maybe it’s just a matter of taste? I’m thinking maybe, by the sound of these other comments, it IS just exactly that. . .?
Deanna, I do love /Persuasion/! Which is kind of the polar opposite of WH, isn't it? I love all of Austen, actually. And I like all the rest of the Bronte texts on some level, as well. I have four years in college to learn how to like difficult texts. I even liked /The Brothers Karamazov/. So the way I feel about WH is a very strange experience for me, but if I can try to dig into the text again maybe I can learn more about myself as a reader, as well as being more fair to the text.
Oh, that's Meredith, above. I forget that not having a blog makes you post anonymously...
Deanna, I am also a huge fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, and The Host, I was a sucker for these from the very beginning. For me, there are many similarities there, also, with Wuthering Heights, heartbreak, forbidden love ect.... I would like to know if you have read these? Or are they not really your thing!
Mel
I'm afraid I haven't read any Stephenie Meyer, though I do have some friends who are raging fans.
Meredith, I found that sometimes appreciation for certain types of literature comes with age and experience, at least it has for me. Writers I may have loathed in college became more relevant for me after I married and had a child and started writing my own novels. Others, whom I had loved when I was younger, became less relevant. I think the more time you spend reading good writing--whether it's fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.--the less patience you have for bad writing. And some writers you will simply never appreciate at all and that's fine too!
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