Wuthering Heights

This month I read the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontè. I decided to read this book because it is considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time and I sure wasn't disappointed. 

Many who have never read the book before, including myself would have assumed the plot of the story revolves around the love story of  it's two most famous characters, Heathcliff and Cathy. However the book covers the lives of three generations of the Linton and the Earnshaw family, with several characters occurring and reoccurring throughout. 

Plot summary

The novel opens with the then master of Wuthering Heights bringing back a orphan gypsy named Heathcliff to his family. He is raised with the Earnshaw children Hindley and Catherine. Heathcliff and Cathy become friends and spend hours alone in the moors together, however jealous of his fathers affection towards Heathcliff, Hindley begins to loath his adopted brother. Igar and Isabella Linton live at Thrushcross Grange and they are the complete opposite of Cathy and Heathcliff. The Lintons welcome Cathy but shun Heathcliff. The couple begin to fade away from each other.

When they reach adulthood Cathy marries Egar Linton and Heathcliff marries Isabella, however their love for each other is still present. Cathy edges insanity debating on whether to stay with her husband or run away with Heathcliff. She eventually dies but not before she gives birth to a baby girl named Catherine. 

Years pass by and Cathy has grown up into a passionate and lively young women, like her mother. To the disapproval of her father she begins a romance with Heathcliff's son Linton.

Most interesting character 

Throughout the novel I found the character of Heathcliff the most interesting. He is widely considered to be a Byronic Hero. This is a term associated with the poet Lord Byran. Like Heathcliff a Byronic hero is typically rebellious, arrogant, antisocial but darkly romantic and attractive character. 

We first get a glimpse of Heathcliff's anti-heroic personality when he expresses the two things that he is driven by; love and revenge. He is infatuated with Catherine but at the same time he seeks revenge on both Hindley for being so cruel to him and Igar for taking away his love. This can be seen in this quote he made in his younger years to Catherine ''I mediated this plan- just to have one glimpse of your face, a stare of surprise, perhaps, and pretended pleasure; afterwards settle my score with Hindley , and then prevent the law by doing execution my self''. This shows that even when he talks romantically to Catherine he can't stand to forget about his vengeance with Hindley.

The fact that Heathcliff is such a complex, dark yet fiercely passionate character fascinates me greatly.

A major theme

A major theme explored throughout this novel was the supernatural. From the beginning to the end there's no avoiding the supernatural. At the start of the novel Lockwood, one of the story's narrators is visited by the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw as she demands to be let in through the window. Lockwood's fascination is piqued.

However unlike typical Gothic tales at this time, sometimes these hauntings are welcome. When Cathy dies Heathcliff begs her spirit to remain on earth, to stay in whatever form she may, whether she haunts him or drives him to insanity, Heathcliff refuses to let her go. He even digs up her grave in order to be closer to her. Their connection is so powerful not even her death can stop it. 

Even the living characters have supernatural elements to them, for example, Heathcliff as a child
was referral to an ''imp of satan'' and in his final few days Nelly wonders for a second whether he's a ''ghoul or vampire''. 

With the villagers claiming they can see the ghosts of Cathy and Heathcliff wondering the moors together, the novels ending suggests that they will haunt the place together forever.

Vision and viewpoint

Throughout the novel Brontè had pessimistic view of the world of the text. From reading Nelly's narrative I would definitely not like to live in the place of this novel.

 Firstly no romance in the book is is even close to having a happy ending. Relationships are constantly being destroyed by jealousy, revenge and rage. Secondly it seems that the future of all the characters of the novel are hopeless as Heathcliff even says about his children  '' Linton will be nothing, nor Hindley, nor all my dreams that ever I dreamt''.

 However a glimpse of optimism is evident at the end of the novel when Hareton and Cathy fall in love with each other and are due to wed. Wuthering heights now seems a happier place with Littlewood even noticing that before all the gardens where dull and gloomy but now they are bright and colourful.

In conclusion I would definitely recommend that you read 'Wuthering Heights'. It is a realist novel and it doesn't fall into any of the clichés of typical romantic novels. The characters are intriguing and the plot always keeps you entertained.

                                    

Taithí oibre

Chaith mé gach Céadaoin ag obair sa siopa Boots i Gleann na Life i mBhaile Atha Cliathe mar chuid den chúrsa Idirbhliaina agus an taithí oibre.

 Bhí mo chaithí ceart go leor ach bhí sé leadránach fhrínne a rá. Bhí orm na h-úrlar a ghlanadh agus na seilfeanna a líonadh. Chabhraigh mé leis na custameirí. 

Thosaigh mé ar a noaí a chlog, fuair mé síob ó mo Dhaid go dtí Gleann na Life. D'ith mé mo lóin ar a haon a chlog, chuaigh mé go dtí 'Mc Donalds'. Chríochnaigh mé ar a ceathair a chlog. Nuair a shríoch mé abhaile bhí mé tuirseach an domhain orm. 

Bhí na daoine ag obair in Boots an-cneasta agus cabhrach. 

Tar eis Boots beidh mé ag dul go dtí oifig i mBaile Atha Cliathe agus tá mé ag súil go mór leis.

Source google images

Young Scientist!

On Wednesday we went to the young scientist in the RDS. 

When we arrived we went into a circus-like tent to watch a robot show. The show was a bit weird but very impressive. There was a robot called scelly who was a skeleton robot and climbed up a tight rope! Then they had robot wars with some of the most famous robots in the world judging. The Dalek from doctor who was my favorite.

Unfortunately we lost a member of our party during the exhibition so we spent a lot of our time looking for her instead of seeing all the exhibitions. Luckily we found her located at the end with other girls, apparently she got a bit distracted with all the freebies! We had a quick look at all the projects and they were all really impressive. Some of them were unusual like does music effect the shape of spiders webs- how did they even come up with that!

My highlight of the event was the talk about space in the concert hall. We all got 3D  glasses and we got to see a presentation on our universe. A man from the European space organisation was narrating it. He showed us the real shape of the earth without water which looked quite funny and the size of the sun in comparison to other one which made it look like a tiny speck! He also informed us about how they are investigating if there is life on mars at the moment. The talk was  fascinating, working as an astronaut must be a really cool job.



The shape of the earth without water         Source google images         The sun in comparison to other stars

Great expectations

This month for my book review I have read the classic Charles Dickens novel 'Great expectations'.

The background to the book is quite interesting. Dickens initially published the novel in several instalments for his magazine 'all year round'. In typical Dickens style he tried to leave cliffhangers at the end of each section to keep readers interested in the story and to encourage them to read more. This reminds me of how today all the soaps and dramas on TV are  continuing on  this technique. Also before you start the novel you should be aware that there are two endings. This is because Dicken's publishers found the initial one too depressing and sad, they preferred the second ending as it was a little bit more hopeful and uplifting and as a reader I would have to agree with them.

The plot to the novel is quite complex as so many characters come in and out, however I will try my best to give you the basic summery. On one misty Christmas eve long ago, an eight year old Pip was visiting the tombs of his parents and siblings when he had a terrifying encounter with an escaped convict. The convict intimidates Pip into stealing food from his sisters house and a file from her blacksmith husband. The guards eventually capture the convict and send him back to the prison ship from which he escaped. Throughout his childhood Pip could never forget his dealings with this convict and he lives in constant fear that he will return.

Meanwhile a wealthy spinster named Mrs Havisham has asked Pip's Uncle Pumblechook to find her a child to play with her beloved adopted daughter Estella. Uncle Pumblechook turns to Pip straight away. Whilst visiting the house Pip realises that Estella is a cold hearted and haughty girl however it's too late, Pip has already fallen in love.

While this is all occurring, Pip receives a mysterious letter from a top lawyer named Mr Jaggers  saying that he is being sent to London to become a gentleman. It is still unknown who is giving Pip his fortune and you will have to keep reading to find out!

There are many interesting and intriguing characters in Great expectations, however if I had to pick the most it would be Mrs Havisham.

In many of the film adaptations of the novel she is portrayed as a cold and frail old women, however in the novel she actually starts off in her mid-fifties. Mrs Havisham is very obviously living in the past. She has been wearing her faded old wedding dress for the past 25 years, she refuses to dispose of her decaying wedding feast and all the clocks in her house are stopped at twenty five minutes to nine. Mrs Havisham is frozen in a time capsule, this made me very curious as to what caused her to take these actions. Something very bad must of happened.

Also I loved how romantic Mrs Havisham is. While most other people would of tried to move on with their lives after a heart break, Mrs Havisham refused to do so which I found very interesting and entertaining to read about.

Likewise I found Mrs Havishams relationship with her daughter Estella very interesting.She never really gave Estella a chance of a normal upbringing or at creating her own identity. Mrs Havisham used Estella as a tool to avenge her own broken heart and she used her beauty to torture men. At the beginning it almost seemed as if Mrs Havisham was gaining some sort of pleasure from watching Estella breaking Pip's heart. Their mother/ daughter relationship is definitely not the norm, it's actually quite sick and twisted however it was very captivating to read about.

Great expectations has a prevailing theme of social class which I think is just as relevant today as it was back in the 18th century. Dickens teaches us throughout the novel that loyalty, love and conscience is much more important than wealth, social advancement and class.

In Great expectations Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the most unlawful criminals[ Pip's conflict] to the poor peasants of Kent's marshes[Joe and Biddy]; to the middle class [Pimblechook] to the extremely wealthy[Mrs Havisham]. When Pip first learns of his great expectations he grows ashamed of his humble beginnings and aims to become a gentleman; he abandons his honest and good-natured Uncle Joe and his kind and hard working friend Biddy in search of a 'better life'. However when the wealthy but cruel Estella breaks Pip's heart and the royal but unpleasant Dummble betrays Pip he begins to understand that life as a gentleman is no more satisfying- and certainly no more moral than his previous life as a blacksmiths apprentice.

I suppose that we can all relate to Pip. We sometimes to can be idealists; whenever we can conceive of something better than what we already have, we immediately desire to obtain improvement. This novels theme reminds me of how grateful we should be for what we have and not to get caught up in all the 'great expectations' that are probably not even as great as they seem. 

Great expectations is set in the mid-nineteenth century. At the beginning of the novel took place in the marshes in Kent and further on it took place place in London. Dicken's portrayal of England at that time is so descriptive it's like a time capsule where the reader gets many insights into that world.

Firstly I learned how important social class was at that time. I am aware that it still is a significant subject today however I found that it is not to the same extent. A good example of this would be Joe's changed behaviour towards Pip once he became a gentleman. Before hand they were considered equals, in fact Joe often referred to them as 'the best of pals'. However when Joe visits the newly-respectable Pip in London he clunches his hat 'like a bird's nest with eggs in it'' and even addresses Pip as 'Sir'. Later on in the novel Joe even say's that he can no longer act as Joe father or friend and tells Pip that he has become too privileged for them to be together and that he must leave.

Another insight that I gained into the world of the novel is the lack of opportunities that most children had at that time. Before Pip became a gentleman it was assumed that he would become a blacksmith with Joe as their was no other educational opportunities available. Nowadays, in the first world at least every child can go to school and become whatever they want to be.

What I also noticed about the novel is that it had a different viewpoint and vision about the role of women. One example of this would be how people address Pip's sister as only Mrs Joe or Mrs Geogory, this shows a central female character being defined in terms of her relationship with a man rather than being referenced by her first name like everyone else. Another example would be that Mrs Havisham's only goal in life was to become a bride and she had no career goals or aims.

Overall I enjoyed this novel because of its interesting characters and storyline. It is like a romantic, mystery and thriller novel all wrapped into one and I strongly recommend you reading it.