Hi all,
This is just a post to get you started with our reading for Friday. I've given you very short excerpts from both Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights. The readings continue the discussion we've been having in class, regarding the way in which widely different representations of Otherness get mapped onto Irishness in particular. You may write about either text. In the case of Frankenstein I've provided images that directly link Frankenstein to Irishness. In the case of Wuthering Heights I'm thinking of the work of people like Elsie Michie (LSU Professor!) who have argued that the representation of Heathcliff is connected to the kinds of representations we saw in Curtis's book.
Please familiarize yourselves with the plots of these texts if you haven't read them or if it's been a while... See you Friday,
Dan
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I can see how it would be easily to make parallels between Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights and how the Irish were viewed by the English during the Victorian Period. Heathcliff was a dark skinned boy, maybe viewed by “exotic” by Catherine and Hindley, brought in by their father, giving him a chance to be raised as one of the Earnshaw children as one of his own. Similarly, Ireland became a colony of England because England thought they could give a better life for the “others” of Ireland. The Irish became the enemy out of good favor of Britain after they began to attack the British due to the poor conditions and no help they received to stop the high death rates. Once Heathcliff is out of the good favor of Hindley, the one who is in charge after Mr. Earnshaw dies, or the one who controls the dominant ideology of the household, Heathcliff becomes one of the servants, and becomes a brooding, dirty, little boy. Even though Nelly is still pretty much nice to him, maybe she still views Heathcliff as the violent boy because that is who Hindley makes him to be and that is now how everyone views him. The way Heathcliff is treated unfairly and is made into the bitter man because of this, just as the Irish reacted rightly to the British mistreatment, but in both cases, they became the violent, looked down upon barbarian enemy. He still does good deeds (catching Hareton when Hindley throughs him over the railing) and feels love for Catherine like the non-barbarian characters of the story, but nothing can change their opinion of him.
Reading the excerpt from Wuthering Heights and looking at the pictures of Frankenstein I can understand why Dan had us read the two pieces side by side. I also agree with Laura pertaining to the fact that Heathcliff’s treatment and depiction of the novel is similar to how the Irish was treated by England. Heathcliff is described as an unruly barbarian that is the “other”. He was even picked up off the street as a child and taken home, as a dog would be, to a nice English house so he could be raised properly. However, while Heathcliff dispels the animalist, unruly characteristic that Hindley places on him by becoming rich and refined on the outside, Bronte still portrays him as a monster on the inside as if to say he was incurable or to reiterate Hindley’s thoughts of him. In the last part of the excerpt we read we see Heathcliff pulling Cathy’s hair because she persuaded Hareton to dig in one of the servants gardens. If that is not barbaric behavior then I don’t know what is. Thus Bronte does not dispel the myth that the “other” is not barbaric, but reinforces the idea that if one is born as the “other” you can never teach it to be like you.
The monster created by Dr. Frankenstein is clearly 'the other'. He is described in a very sumblime manner as frightening. He is so much 'the other' that he does not even know who or what he is. There is no one else like him, and even his own creator ran away from him in fear. Therefore, after viewing some of the Frankenstein pictures where the artists conveyed Frankenstein's monster as the Irish, I believe it speaks volumes of how harsh the prejudices were against them. To call someone a monster, or make them feel like they have no past, or even make them feel like they are not a human, are just about the worst things you can do to a person.
Heathcliff as an Irish other is apparent in the early chapters when he is a ward in the household. Since the Brontës' father was of Irish birth, it is probable that they frequently thought about imperialism. As a ward in the Earnshaw household, Heathcliff is often described in the same ways in which we see the Irish described in our other readings. When he first arrives in the household he is said to repeat "over and over again some gibberish that nobody could understand." He is called "it" over 20 times before anyone ever refers to him as "him" or "Heathcliff". He is referred to as dirty, ragged, black-haired, stupid, insensible, ruffian, wicked, unfit for a decent house, black, cross, with thick brows and black eyes, "dark as if it came from the devil", etc. He is also described as being "taller and twice as broad across the shoulders" as Edgar.
Heathcliff and Frankenstein's monster are both excellent examples of the "others" we are learning about. Both are dark and thus mysterious, both are rejected by "civilized" people. They are the characters by which other characters define themselves, which is essential to being described as an other. Hindley is cruel to Heathcliff because he takes the position of favored son. Hindley sees this barbaric, dark, dirty "other" come into his home and win the affections of his father, which drives him to abusive behavior. It is an allegory to the real-life treatment and perception of Irish people by the English. I thought the picture of the Irish Frankenstein was really interesting, because it takes the perception of Irish people, and truly turns them in monsters. It is an interesting depiction because it combines notions of sloth, lack of education, dirtiness, the "ape-man" concept. The prejudice against the Irish become more than just based on breeding ans socio-economic values. The become murderous and evil. Just like the literally monster that is created, Heathcliff is a monster in his own way.
Among the excerpts of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff’s depiction as the other ties in not only Irish otherness but also the British conception of gipsy otherness. As Laura, Andrea, Jenny, and Megan described Heathcliff along the lines of the English’s opinion of Irish people, this ties into Curtis’ examples of authors depictions of the Irish. Bronte’s wording is similar to characteristics Curtis points out in W. Steuart Trench’s romantic historican novel Irene, A Tale’s depiction of Irene: “Her stature was tall, her appearance was very singular… her eyes were purely Celt, large, dark, and rich; and the contrast between her chestnut hair and dark eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows was very striking” (3,4). This description connects closely with the quotes the above mentioned students posted from Wuthering Heights. Additionally, Bronte goes one step further to classify Heathcliff as an other. When the father brings Heathcliff home, “Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors: she did fly up—asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house” (29). Bronte’s use of “gipsy” denotes another classification that is not of English preference. Clearly Heathcliff is intended to be a character who resembles one of England’s “others.”
Like many others, I think that there are definitely parallels between Heathcliff and Frankenstein's monster, in that both morph so fully into the "other". Despite being physically human (even the monster!), both have been pushed so far out of society that it is almost impossible for the reader to even think of them as being human- they are more like some sort of subhuman...or "monster"
I think that Frankenstein's monster is especially interesting because "he" is fully a creation of Dr. Frankenstein. He is made by the man then the man wants to destroy him- I think there is a very strong connection here to the relationship between the relationship between the English and the Irish, in that the Irish are driven to become these people who almost have to fight to save their country, but after the English push them to this point because they want to control the Irish, they then want to destroy them because they don't want to deal with the repercussions of their actions.
P.S.- Sorry I'm so late with this blog (but still before class!), I had a whole litany of computer issues last night + a huge amount of school work that prevented me from doing this before!!
The "otherness" in Wuthering Heights is obviously Heathcliff; but I was more intriqued by Catherine's "wild" childhood. Even though her looks are not any different from that of her brother or father, she is treated more like an outsider. To me this is a far better parallel to how the Irish were viewed and treated.
Catherine as a child, according to Mrs.Dean was wild and vexatious. It's only after spending an extended period with Mrs.Linton that she becomes a "lady". The Irish seen with the same wildness were probably thought to be socialized by an English influence as well.
Heathcliff on the contrary holds on to his stubborness. He stays true to hisself and seeks revenge upon his English counterparts. He is the obvious "other"; while Catherine could be considered more the "other other". She is passable,like the Irish. Where Heathcliff is not.
Because the monster of Frankenstein so closely resembles the illustrations of the Irish people that we looked at Wednesday, it takes the English view of Irish people to a new level. The depictions of Frankenstein seem to stick very closely to Curtis' definition of "scientific" racism, with the exaggerated features of the Irish and Frankenstein being almost identical. By associating the Irish people with Frankenstein, it not only likens them to a monstrous freak, but also the social stigma that comes along with the name of Frankenstein. Over the years the term Frankenstein has somewhat adapted from just meaning monster, to meaning more of a social pariah, which is just what the English wished to accomplish with their ridicule of the Irish.
I agree with my fellow classmates in that we can see a clear link to Otherness in Frankenstein’s creature and Heathcliff. It is interesting that both characters are forced to assimilate into English society, and despite Dr. Frankenstein’s and the Earnshaw father’s best intentions to dignify or civilize these outsiders, they are unable to successfully transform themselves into Englishmen. They cannot shed their Otherness. This is of little surprise because the English environment the creature and Heathcliff are situated in continuously ostracizes them and labels them Other.
In her blog Andrea asserts that we cannot teach the Other to be something he or she is not. I think these texts are good examples of this theory; however, it is necessary to recognize that this statement claims that Otherness is natural and original to those whom we deem Other. Should Otherness be viewed as natural? Or, on the contrary, is it completely a social construct? In Heathcliff’s case, we do not know about his ethnic or social background, but Bronte casts him as a complete Other (his internal feelings and exterior are portrayed as so). Is it even justified or accurate to claim that his Otherness is natural?
After reading the excerpt from Bronte's Wuthering Heights, I perceived a clear delineation of Irishness in the depiction of both Heathcliff's physical attributes and character traits. There is also a direct correlation between Bronte's depiction of Heathcliff and those representations of Irishness discussed in Curtis' book. From the very onset, Heathcliff's character coincides directly with the stereotypical representation of the Irish as "a dirty, ragged, black haired child...repeating gibberish that nobody could understand" not only do the children resent "its" mere existence, Catherine and Hindley refuse to let it in bed with them and even the mistress desires to "fling it outdoors". What was particularly interesting to me was that these people failed to even take into account the plight and helplessness of the infant's situation, other than the father, the Earnshaws and even Nelly are completely unsympathetic towards the infant and treat it inhumanely and are even frightened by its existence. Heathcliff is often compared with having animalistic traits; he looks like an "out-lander" a "frightful thing" "a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway" who "is quite unfit for a decent house. He has black eyes, black hair, thick brows, "that instead of rising arched, sink in the middle" - his hair, "is like a colt's mane over its eyes". Heathcliff is also characterized as possessing a violent passion who is dark and vengeful. These characteristics representative of the the prejudice and extreme inferiority of the Irish in the social system in the eyes of the Irish. It was definitely interesting to see the traits of Heathcliff's character coincide with the physical characteristics of his attributes.
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