What Else Did Emily Bronte Write Besides “Wuthering Heights”?

"Wuthering Heights" is Emily Bronte's only complete novel; she may have been working on another one when she died, but if so there is no record of it.

As children all the Brontes worked together to create an imaginary world, Angria, and write stories about it; when they grew older Emily, helped by Anne, devised a more Gothic, northern fantasy world of Gondal, which probably helped to build the atmosphere of Wuthering Heights.

Apart from her one great novel, Emily, far more than her sisters, is also remembered as a poet. All three sisters published a selection of poems in 1846 (under the names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell) which sold only two copies at the time. Gradually, however, it began to be recognised that Emily's poems stood out from her sisters's. Charlotte, writing about her sisters after their deaths, acknowledged that Emily's verse, with its "peculiar music" was better than her own. Today the Emily Bronte poems most anthologised are "No Coward Soul is Mine" in which she expresses her belief in a God of Life, and "Cold in the Earth" a love poem probably based on one of the Gondal stories.

Add Comment

Report

An interesting fact is that Wuthering Heights is the only novel written by Emily Bronte! The novel was first published in 1847. The name of the novel is based on the manor around which the story centres. The story-line is about a passionate, but deliberately thwarted love story between the two central characters, Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. The story culminates in an unresolved passion that eventually destroys the lovers and all those who were a part of it.

The novel is a reflection of the author's expression of a deeply individual poetic vision. The story highlights many romantic influences. The hero, Heathcliff, who is a very Byronic character, somehow lacks the element of self-pity. He is deeply attached to the natural world and is most human amidst adversity. When the novel was written and actually published, the 'age of romance' was no more in English literature. The story is an expression of criticism for the prevalent social conventions, particularly those surrounding issues of gender. The epithets used by the author are regardless to sex.

Brontë exhibited women as delicate beings who avoid physical or mental activity and pursue fashion. Their indulgences and flirtations were repugnant to her. She also addressed the then prevalent class issues, which were so very important.

Add Comment

Report