A Study of the Gothic Elements in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights

Abstract

This thesis focuses on Charlotte Brontё Jane Eyre and Emily Brontё Wuthering Heights, two novels which are very different in style and structure. However, they both share some elements of the Gothic tradition. The first chapter of the thesis provides a survey of the Brontё sisters’ life and examines their cultural background relying mainly on Elisabeth Gaskell’s biography. The chapter also focuses on the influence which their father and the Celtic tradition had on the sister’s life and writings. Lord Byron’s influence has also been investigated. The second chapter provides an overview on the two novels. The first part concerns Jane Eyre with a summary of its plot and a brief description of the characters, while the second part of the chapter regards Wuthering Heights plot, characters main topics. The thesis last chapter deals with the Gothic and its elements, providing examples taken directly from the Brontё sisters’ novels. Ghostly apparitions, visions, and premonitions have been analysed together with supernatural events and their implications. Attention has been given to the episodes in which characters are driven by strong passions, in particular madness and rage, but also love. The chapter examines the mirror motive as well, and it focuses on situations of entrapment and escape experienced by the heroines of both novels. David Punter’s encyclopaedia has been cited to supply exact definitions of the Gothic terms and Maria Mulvey-Roberts’s book on Gothic literature has been used to provide further information about the Gothic aspects of the books.