Assignment 01

Submitted by:sehar naseem

Roll no. 24251161086
BS-1 Semester 2
Submitted to: Miss Saima Najeeb

Narrative Structure of Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights is one of the most critiqued novels in the English
language.At the heart of the novel,one of its most intriguing features is the choice of
multiple narrators and the complex organization of narrative time drawing readers
into a world of tumultuous relationships, dark passions, and eerie supernatural
elements. Brontë's structural approach allows the novel to progress fluidly despite any
difficulties presented by the obscure shifts in time.
Wuthering Heights employs a complex, layered narrative structure, primarily using a
framing narrative with two main narrators: Lockwood and Nelly Dean .The two
narrators have distinct time reference assigned to them. The presence of two narrators
does not mean that the events are told from two different perspectives. It only
suggests that it is a multi-layered story. The larger frameworks of Lockwood and
Nelly’s narratives, provide the necessary objectivity, but apart from the two obvious
narrators, we have incidents explained by characters who had taken part in them,
as Catherine in her diary at the beginning or Isabella’s letter to Nelly these together
form the core of the story and are joined in subtle ways with each other.
Lockwood provides the ‘present narrative’- when Lockwood rents Thrushcross
Grange, meets his landlord, Heathcliff, and asks Nelly Dean to tell him the story of
his landlord.when .The novel opens just before the climax. Mr. Lockwood is not a
protagonist, but he kicks off the narration and his presence actually provokes the
climax.Lockwood's heterodiegetic narration – one in which the narrator is not a
character but an outsider – provides a framework for the story (Barry 226).His
outsider status allows Emily Brontë to introduce the world of Wuthering Heights
gradually, through layers of storytelling.Although Lockwood technically narrates
most of the novel, his voice becomes almost invisible as he transcribes Nelly Dean’s
account. His presence fades into the background, allowing her narrative to take center
stage. He acknowledges Nelly as “a very fair narrator” and admits that he “[doesn't]
think [he] could improve her style,” choosing to remain faithful to her version of
events, only shortening it when necessary (Brontë 165).This creates a layered
narrative structure, where one narrator speaks through another.
Lockwood represents a “narrative external frame”. He put the story in context, and
like the readers, listens to Nelly’s storytelling -although he gets in touch with the main
characters in his “real time”. In fact, the whole novel is supposed to be extracted from
his personal diary, where he took down Nelly’s words.The presence of Lockwood in
the book allows the author the author to begin the story near the end and work
backwards and forwards in time with little difficulty.
Despite his flaws, Lockwood is intelligent and perceptive and his precise detailed
descriptions are used by his creator to create subtle changes in situation and character,
an example of this is that when Lockwood first visited Wuthering Heights, he
commented on the chained gate, while at the end of the novel when he returns to find
Heathcliff dead, he noticed "Both doors and lattices were open". Changes in character
are also hinted at by Lockwood’s eye for detail, he has noticed changes in both Cathy
and Hareton - Cathy once described by Lockwood as "the little witch", now has "a
voice as sweet as a silver bell". Hareton described in the opening chapters as a boor
and a clown and has by the end of the novel become "a young man respectably
dressed" with "handsome features", therefore Lockwood, by fulfilling the role as the
detached outsider and observer, brings a dimension to the novel which is quite
different from the perception provided by Nelly.Lockwood’s sentences are often
complex consisting of a number of clauses or long phrases, frequently separated by
dashes or semi-colons, examples, "he probably swayed by the presidential
considerations of the folly of offending a good tenant - released a little in the laconic
style of chipping of his pronouns and auxiliary and introducing what he supposed
would be a subject of interest to me."
Nelly is an eyewitness-first person participant-main narrator of Wuthering
Heights. Nelly Dean has the responsibility to tell the past events that she has herself
watched. Thus, she describes the past. She provides the ‘inner frame’ to the story as
she has taken part in the happenings.Nelly’s narrative is an art of stark immediacy,her
storytelling is full of energy, as if she is describing events that just happened. Her
style brings the past life in the present. Much of her story is told through the direct
words of the characters, which makes the reader feel like events are unfolding
naturally, not being shaped by Nelly’s opinions. The story feels real because of the
many vivid, specific details she includes, which seem to fall into place without
effort.Unlike the former, whose role is simply playing the 'recorder,' Nelly's narration
is homodiegetic: she is a character who is present for and participates in the action of
the story she narrates (Barry 265).Nelly carefully chooses the main events and than
describe it, instead of describing those events which are unnecessary.Her confidence
seems to come from a sharp memory, and the fast pace of her storytelling comes from
her focus on actions, reactions, and strong, emotional dialogue. The speech feels real
and unpolished, made up of short, quick sentences. A good example of this is when
Nelly recalls Catherine begging her to open the window before her death.
Nelly's personal speech, while elevated from that of an average servant in rural
England, remains colloquial and approachable. Using shorter, and less complex
sentences than Lockwood, her story is life-like and imaginative, bursting with a sense
of urgency as if she were relating events that transpired a few hours prior, rather than
in years past.Because Nelly’s highly dramatic storytelling lacks editorial comments or
planned introductions, it has a stronger emotional impact than Lockwood’s more
controlled and distant narration.She talks from her point of view, not only about the
happenings, but about the characters’ personalities too; she has prejudices against
some characters (she doesn’t like Catherine Earnshaw), and her role might be
“coloured”. Her attitude towards the characters seems to depend on her mood,
because she is a little inconstant. In the love triangles she plays an important part, but
she never has clearly stated her preferences; as soon as she helps Edgar Linton, she
arranges a meeting between Heathcliff and Catherine. Since she is limited by her
values and beliefs
A major contrast between Nelly and Lockwood lies in the fact that Nelly, to a
significant extent, is a character within her own narrative, a position that presents
several challenges. At times, she is deeply involved in the very events she recounts,
making her role as narrator a delicate balancing act between romantic indulgence and
moral rectitude.
Nelly’s value as a narrator is clear from this example, she brings us very close to the
action and is in one way deeply engaged in it. The intimate affairs of the Grange and
the Heights have taken up her whole life, however, her position as a professional
housekeeper means that her interests in events is largely practical. She provides the
inner frame of the narrative and we see this world of the successive generations of
Earnshaw’s and Linton’s through her eye’s, although much of the dialogue, in the
interests of objectivity, is that of the characters themselves.
In many ways, Nelly’s narration can also be seen as a version of her own life story.
Brontë uses Nelly’s mixed feelings, her habit of interfering in others’ lives, and her
judgmental nature to expose her hypocrisy and moral contradictions. With the added
perspective of Lockwood who brings some distance and objectivity Brontë highlights
how Nelly’s judgments show just how weak and unreliable human judgment can be
(Bell 208).
In conclusion, the dual narrative structure of Wuthering Heights with Nelly Dean's
emotionally invested storytelling and Lockwood’s detached observations adds layers
of complexity and ambiguity to the novel.If the action has been explained by the
comments of the author, or of an omniscient narrator, it would not have been so
fascinating. The shifts in the time reference, events, narrators, and the great role of
dialogue catch –and keep- our attention immediately. Dialogue allows the characters
to express themselves, appear as real and dynamic personalities, with a deep inner
life, and we, the readers, just fall under their spell.By removing her voice as an author
and replacing it with the strong, emotive language of Lockwood and Nelly Dean,
Brontë allows the story to speak entirely for itself. This tactic, in turn allows the
reader to recognize their errors and focus more on understanding the tale rather than
judging it by suggesting the personal failings of her narrators.Coming to the
realization that the narrators are simple tools rather than personas who should be
taken literally, then, the reader is able formulate their own opinions by the end of the
novel.