Conventions Of Realism And Romance Emily Bronte s ...

Bhavya Chhabra Professor Henry Staten English 300 10 December 2014 Conventions of Realism and Romance in Relationships: Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is regarded as one of the most iconic pieces of Gothic romance in English literature. Published in 1847, this novel was at the crossroads of the ending of the era of romanticism, and the beginning of the era of realism. Romanticism was brought about as a response to the neoclassical movement and the age of enlightenment, which spanned from the 17th to the 19th centuries. In addition to the rampant popularization of romantic heroes, the romance movement also brought a fresh wave of nostalgia and a reinvigorated passion for the old Gothic period, which resulted in many artists attempting to have Gothic romance influences in their works. The realism movement also saw it’s nascency at this time; Influenced by the industrial revolution and an increase in the interest of science, the realism movement attempted to show the life and mannerisms of the middle class, including their social, political and economic problems. These influences are pres ent in Bronte’s novel. Wuthering Heights, consequently, is a highly complex Gothic novel, focused not only on the representation of reality, and its realistic nuances, such as problems with class, economics, and wealth, but also focused on maintaining a spiritual and passionate persona as well; Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship is a prime example of a union of theShow MoreRelated A Comparison of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen Essay2446 Words   |  10 Pagesoriginally meant â€Å"romance-like†, that is, resembling the fanciful character of medieval romances.’ (Encarta ® Encyclopedia). This kind of romance narrative was used by Gothic novelists such as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein (1818) and Emily Jane Brontà « who wrote Wuthering Heights (1847). Yet novels with more contemporary settings and subjects, novels of manners and of domestic life for example, also have strong, if different, connections to romance conventions. ‘The novels