Things our class encountered include a scholarly article about Catherine's two loves, including Heathcliff as her transcendental love and Edgar as her more temporary, empirical love; comparing Heathcliff to Frankenstein, comparing Heathcliff to a cannibal.
Are scholarly articles going to help keep literature alive?
Yes and no, people don't read scholarly articles for fun but they are still relevant. But since the people who are writing them are also writing for people who have learned and studied the same things they may be essentially writing for themselves, or to their own elite group.
How do we make scholarship relevant and humane??
The scholar has to translate their philosophical and high flown educated language into ordinary English, which may ensure they are saying something relevant and real. If each layer is peeled back to something more basic, it might keep scholarship alive.
In the movie (1992), other important facts include that they used the same character for Catherine Earnshaw Linton and Cathy Linton Heathcliff. It suggests the entwinement of love and hate between Catherine and her daughter. Heathcliff couldn't hate the real Catherine but he could take it out on her daughter, who still looks like her but whom he does not love. (For example, Mr. Lockwood at the beginning says the ghost has the same face as Cathy Linton. Also Heathcliff tells his son Linton to write a love letter to Cathy and Heathcliff tells him what to write. As he does he pictures Catherine's face and as the camera pulls away it is actually Cathy). Having the same actress is actually medium specific -- can only do it in movies.
Also in the movie (1939), it was unique to see the facial expressions and non-verbal communication in the movies. It is not as dark and it is much calmer than when I envisioned it when I read the novel.
Is there a reason a woman would want to interrupt the traditional romance story??
Why would Bronte want to make it darker??
Perhaps, this is how it really is, it makes it more realistic. It also makes it more believable, this is the real live version of the Cinderella story your parents are telling you. It also maybe gives the women more control over the love story, as it has been written by men for so long. However, Catherine's story relates to many love stories with two types of love, such as the Notebook story, and also Sweet Home Alabama. It is possible to have both kinds of love. But is it impossible to find a person who is your soulmate and the person who is socially compatible with you? If they are the same person, is that just Cinderella territory?? Is it real?
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