Essay about Nelly in Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights

Nelly in Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights In a novel where everything is turned upside down and every character plays a role they probably shouldn’t, Nelly Dean’s role is the most ambiguous. As both Lockwood’s and the reader’s narrator, Nelly plays the role of the storyteller. Yet at the same time, Nelly is also a character in the story that she tells, occupying a vast array of roles. As a character within her own tale, Nelly attempts to manipulate the actions of her fellow characters. The best way for the reader to understand both Nelly’s role in the novel and her manipulative actions is to see Nelly as being representative of the author. Authors occupy roles that are similarly as ambiguous as Nelly’s role, acting as both†¦show more content†¦Even though Nelly already occupies her given niche in being the housekeeper, Lockwood wants her to step into a second role as the gossip, a role that she whole-heartedly embraces. Thus, even before Nelly’s narrative commen ces she already begins to occupy multiple and distinctly separate roles, setting the reader up to expect an ambiguity over Nelly’s exact role in the novel. This lack of role-clarity continues throughout Nelly’s narrative. She is a servant, yet according to her narration, Nelly has grown up with Hindley, Catherine and Heathcliff and is thus in some ways a peer. She says that she was often at Wuthering Heights because her â€Å"mother had nursed Mr. Hindley Earnshaw†¦ and I got used to playing with the children- I ran errands too, and helped to make hay, and hung about the farm ready for anything that anybody would set me to† (Brontà «, 36). The problems with Nelly’s role-ambiguity have already begun. Thus far we have seen Nelly occupy the role of the housekeeper, the gossip, a farm-worker and a family-member. Her exact role in her given society is entirely unclear. Rather than being resolved, this lack of clarity is compounded throughout the course of Nelly’s narrative, where she continues to fill many separate roles. For instance, at different times, Nelly acts as both a mother figure and a housekeeper to multiple masters.Show MoreRelated Nelly Dean, the Narrator of Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights936 Words   |  4 Pages Wuthering Heights: Nelly the Narratornbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; Emily Bronte wrote the book Wuthering Heights from the narrative point of view of Nelly, a servant who lived most of her life with Catherine. Many have questioned why Bronte would do so.nbsp; Why did she not choose someone with more knowledge? Why did she not choose a major character like Heathcliff or Catherine?nbsp; The choice to make Nelly the narrator is what makes the book so great. She is one who qualifiesRead MoreWuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte1143 Words   |  5 Pagesa devilish, preternatural passion that tamer beings can scarcely recognize as love.† (Duclaux) Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontà « is considered a masterpiece today, however when was first published, it received negative criticism for its passionate nature. Critics have studied the novel from every analytical angle, yet it remains one of the most haunting love stories of all time. â€Å"Wuthering Heights is not a comfortable book; it invites admiration rather than love.† (Stoneman) The novel containsRead More How Emily Brontà « Fulfills the Expectations of the Gothic Genre815 Words   |  4 PagesHow Emily Brontà « Fulfills the Expectations of the Gothic Genre Within this essay I will examine the social and historical background of Emily Brontà «s upbringing, and the way her only novel, wuthering height, is related to the gothic genre. Emily Brontà « was brought up in a time very different from our own; she lived on secluded moors and without many of our modern day privileges, and became very close to her family. Many of her close family members died within her lifetime, affectingRead MoreWuthering Heights By Emily Bronte1555 Words   |  7 Pages2015 Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontà « Introduction The novel Wuthering Heights was written in 1847 by Emily Brontà «. The plot unravels with Lockwood visiting his landlord at Wuthering Heights; as Lockwood stays the night, he starts to discover items within the home and later a fatal vision appears, which causes him great curiosity. Lockwood returns back to his residence at Thrushcross Granges and listens to the history of his landlord, Heathcliff; told by an old servant at Wuthering HeightsRead MoreEssay on Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights1127 Words   |  5 PagesEmily Brontes Wuthering Heights       Often in literature, the fictional written word mimics or mirrors the non-fictional actions of the time. These reflections may be social, historical, biographical, or a combination of these. Through setting, characters, and story line, an author can recreate in linear form on paper some of the abstract concepts and ideas from the world s/he is living in. In the case of Emily Bronte, her novel Wuthering Heights very closely mirrors her own life and the livesRead MoreEmily Bronte s Wuthering Heights1283 Words   |  6 PagesEmily Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Wuthering Heights is told from a complicated point of view. The narrator of the past is Nelly Dean, while the present time narrator is Mr. Lockwood. Set as a story within a story, Nelly tells Lockwood an eyewitness account of her dealings with the Earnshaws and the Lintons, while Lockwood is the outsider who records in his diary Nelly’s stories of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. From the novel’s beginning, Lo ckwood proves himself to be objective, while Nelly is subjectiveRead MoreWuthering Heights, by Emily Brontà «1865 Words   |  8 Pagesdevilish, preternatural passion that tamer beings can scarcely recognize as love.† (Duclaux) Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontà « is considered a masterpiece today, however when it was first published, it received negative criticism for its passionate nature. Critics have studied the novel from every analytical angle, yet it remains one of the most haunting love stories of all time. â€Å"Wuthering Heights is not a comfortable book; it invites admiration rather than love,† (Stoneman 1). The novel containsRead MoreEmily Brontes Wuthering Heights: Mental Illness and Feminism1663 Words   |  7 Pagesliterary work. Wuthering Heights is a great example of a book with its own hidden secrets that can surface with a little research. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights depicts the oppression of women from mentally unstable individuals. Overview of Author Emily Bronte was born in Yorkshire, England on July 30, 1818 (â€Å"Emily Jane Bronte 1), to a family dedicated to literature (â€Å"Emily Jane Bronte† 2). Education was also important to the Bronte family, but it always seemed to take a pause for Emily due to familyRead More Wuthering Heights Summary833 Words   |  4 PagesYorkshire in northern England during the late eighteenth century, Emily Brontes masterpiece novel, Wuthering Heights, clearly illustrates the conflict between the principles of storm and calm;. The reoccurring theme of this story is captured by the intense, almost inhuman love between Catherine and Heathcliff and the numerous barriers preventing their union. The fascinating tale of Wuthering Heights is told mainly through the eyes of Nelly Dean, the former servant to the two great estates, to Mr. LockwoodRead MoreEmily Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Personal Influence on Wuthering Heights1820 Words   |  8 Pagesthe case in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontà «. Although the novel is in itself fictional, Brontà « invites readers into her private life by the way in which she writes her novel. Literary elements are often taken into consideration when determining the value of a literary work. However, they offer more than just layers of complexity to a work. Brontà « uses countless metaphors to portray relevance to her own life. The ongoing comparison between the characters in Wuthering Heights and Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s own life only