The monster as a symbol in Frankenstein

Association of ideas (Locke): culture produces these associations; If you have the flu and eat a lot of honey and it makes you sick, you will always associated honey with sickness, and disgust. If you can infiltrate good, humane ideas in children - we will have a better world. What if you brought up your children with nothing,  no prejudices? The child, the blank slate, will learn for him/herself and have healthy associations free of corruption. Thomas Day (name?) raised two adoptive children in this fashion, they both grew up schizophrenic . 

Do we grow up today as narcissists? 

How does the monster represent the philosophy; if we just raised our children properly they would grow up morally? Is monster like a poor child, did Victor reject his child? If you do not teach moral things, than what model/standard of life do you have?Violence becomes a wa

y to get what you want - to get attention. This girl I used to babysit for who is now 15 is very  violent. She has brought a knife to school, chased her mother around the house with scissors, and kicked windows out - I definitely see how her upbringing brought her to react in this way, her parents do not not how to deal with her and therefore almost ignore her, which in return makes her act out even more. If she was a blank slate when she came into the world, ther

e must be some sort of outside influences which have shaped her. 

In Frankenstein, is there some moral choice on his part to act out in that way? He

did frame Justine, knowing what he did was wrong - therefore by transferring the blame of his act, he was showing that he knew what he did was immoral. What happens if a child must live out their parents wishes, as the monster must live out Victor's dream? It is almost that they must rebel, the parents only loved them for

 that dream, not really for them. The monster kills William, framing Justine, showing that he is deliberately trying to hurt Victor. His initial desire is not to kill William, but to have a friend. He says that he was good, yet circumstances made him bad. To be a parent, there needs to be a serious effort, a serious choice to bond with the child. How does abortion fit into this? 

Frankenstein

Victor is the modern Prometheus. Prometheus is said to have given fire to humanity. Just as Prometheus ignited the flame in a lifeless object, Victor is trying to give the creation of life to humanity. 

Allusions to Rime of the Ancient Mariner: The story is told that a man prevents a wedding guest from going to a wedding to tell him a story. He explains that there is a bird that flies to the ship everyday, and the crew members love him, feeding him and taking care of him. One day, the ancient mariner shoots it, and all of a sudden all of these terrible things begin to happen. All of the crew members begin to die, yet a thousand slimy snakes survive (as does the Ancient Mariner). He looks at the slimy snakes, and as the moon shines on them, they begin to become beautiful. The bird falls off of his neck, and the ship successfully sails back to land. 

He is cursed to tell the story over and over again. Why would the Mariner shoot the bird that was so beloved? Unconditional, deep, divine love is scary as hell. As the saying goes, you do not want to be a member of any club that would have you as a member. You think A) I am not that lovable and B) I do not want to get hurt. The Mariner was terrified of love, telling this story to a wedding goer, to be aware of the terrible anxiety and fear of being alive and suffering for the loss of one you love so much. If you kill it, push it away first before deep involvement, you save yourself the heartbreak.

Alastor; The Arab maiden is in love with him, wanting to take care of him, yet he does not realize this. He falls asleep and dreams about a veiled maiden, his soulmate entertwined with his own soul. He wakes up and travels all over the world looking for this woman. Maybe he did not want to get involved with somebody who is real, who may not live up to imagination or perfection. This poet ends up dying in search of this dream woman. 

... do either the Mariner or the man in Alastor remind us of Victor? He creates the monster, in this process he is defying nature. On page 41, he talks about the obsession of his project and the neglect he feels towards real nature during this time. Now finally, in his recovery, he is able to see outside. He has previously had no contact with his family, his betrothed Elizabeth, or his friends.

The day that his dream ends, the day that the monster is created, he runs from his apartment, appauled by this creation and never wanting to see this creation again. Maybe he wanted to create the monster so he could bring back his mother, or if Elizabeth should die, he can bring her back. By building the monster and rejecting Elizabeth, not being in touch with her, are they the same act? They are an attempt to prevent her from  hurting him. He is afraid of a world without her. "I was attacked by that fatal passion" - It is not him being passionate, but as fate coming to get him and attacking him as an innocent bystander. 

Does this picture to the right, depict Frankenstein's mother and Elizabeth as the archetype, the inspiration for the monsters creation?

End of Wuthering Heights beginning of Frankenstein

Character Descriptions:
Haerton: uneducated, uncivilized upbringing, constantly swaring, Heathcliffe encourages the brute nature
Young Catherine: spunky, selfish, fearless to Heathcliffe,
Heathcliffe's regard for Haerton is one of his only redeeming characteristics, even though he has raised him in this brutal, savage upbringing, he cares for him in a way because he must see himself somewhere within Heathcliffe

MOVING on to FRANKENSTEIN...
Walton is looking for a passage to North Pole, if he does he will be considered the greatest explorer of all time. Writing letter to his sister Mrs. Saville, desires fame immensely - fails as a "Shakespeare or Homer" but only tries for one year. Does Walton want to me famous so that he controls relationships? (e.g. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise)
When Walton meets Victor Frankenstein:
Two editions of Frankenstein 1819 edition and 1831 edition- Percy might have revised the 1819 version; Percy fell in love with Mary Shelley, he had a pregnant fiance, he is an incredible poet (Mont Blanc, Ode to the West Wind).
Victor shared the madness of Walton, he desired that fame, desired to be recognized for something, wants to warn him of the consequences of this passion for fame.

The mediums of Wuthering Heights

Scholarly Article; Can there be two soulmates?
Imperical love of Cathy and Linton - they complemented each other in terms of wealth, future desires
Heathcliffe and Cathy are transcendentalist lovers - different people from different worlds, yet soulmates of the heart

Heathcliffe representing the ideology of the time; Britain sort of consuming their inhabitants, as Heathcliffe consumes the Grange and the Heights - He becomes the master of everyone and everything
... what is the medium of the scholarly article? is this a media form that will last? Scholarly articles are really written for the average person, so as the form may die out for an average reader, it probably will remain for the academia realm- How do you make scholarship relevant and humane? But do ordinary people (not-lit people) desire to get more complex? Is a summary sufficient or do we still need to read the text?

Cathy's death scene? "You are sorry for me - very soon that will be altered" Heathcliffe is justifiably angry with Cathy, and he carries this on beyond her death to her daughter. He tortures Catherine because he is still angry and seeks vengeance on her mother. In the 1992 version, Cathy and Catherine are played by the same actress, showing the resemblance that irks Heathcliffe so much.

movie vs the classic

I watched the 1992 version of Wuthering Heights and was greatly impressed with it's representation of Bronte's classic tale. I think one of the most interesting appeals of the movie was that they decided to recast the deceased Cathy Linton as her daughter, Catherine. It was apparent that movie was trying to show the distinct resemblance of daughter to mother, and therefore used the same actress as both parts. Bronte's novel shows a direct parallel between the romances of Heathcliffe and Cathy to that of Haerton and Catherine. Both portraying the wealthy almost snobby, yet likeable women to offset the dark, brooding, melancholy males. There is almost a hope that unlike Heathcliffe and Cathy, Haerton and Catherine may be able to live a life of happiness and true love, unaffected by the societies hierarchy of wealth and status. Since Cathy really has no parental influence (besides Nelly who appreciates the marriage between Cathy and Haerton), they are able to live separate from the prying eyes of family obligations.
A remarkable difference between the text and the movie was the role of Mr. Lockwood. In the text, he seems to play a key part as part-narrator. The ending of the text shows Mr. Lockwood having several indepth conversations with the residents of Wuthering Heights, a narrator of the true feelings of these characters. In the movie, he is kind of the awkward bystander with no real effect on the characters, and his desired romance with Catherine is severely played down. It is also Lockwood who at the end wanders by the graves of Edgar, Cathy, and Heathcliffe to make the last remarks about their deaths.
I also found it interesting how the movie dealt with the death of Mr. Heathcliffe. They actualy showed him being summoned by the "white light" and into the arms of Cathy, to live an eternal life with his true love. The text only shows Heathcliffe's descent into a hazy, surreal-like place where he prepares for his death and constantly feels that he is in the presence of Cathy. The death scene is left to the readers interpretation, we only know what Nelly finds when she comes across Heathcliffe's body, wide-eyed, strewn in front of the open window. The reader gets the sense that he is now in a better place of sorts, but the movie uses theatrics to grab the viewers attention with the death-scene dramatics.
When you compare a textual narration with that of a movie's narration some things become lost, while other things flourish. In the novel, we are unable to see the inner-workings of many of the characters because it is narrated by Mr. Lockwood who only hears things from other characters. We need a Mr. Lockwood in the text to decipher the actions, emotions, the EVERYTHING of the other characters. When we move to the movie versions which really excludes Mr. Lockwood from any major role, it is because the audience no longer needs a major narrator like Mr. Lockwood. We are able to see everything first hand, right from the characters themselves. While in essence we gain a first-hand entry into the very character's lives, we also lose the major narration, and major character in the text, Mr. Lockwood. I personally thought Mr. Lockwood's presence in the text was almost too much, for he was an outsider to this family, just commentating on past tales and current circumstances. In the movie we can actually visually see the character's own emotions living out right before our eyes. The death scene in the end of the movie is so moving because we see Heathcliff gravitating to the outstretched arms of his love Catherine. The text can not refer to this moment because it was a moment just shared between Heathcliffe and "Catherine", and therefore neither Nelly or Lockwood (the two narrators) witnessed the events. Movies definitely have a way to dramatize events that books can not. Books are great though because it is the readers imagination that dictates the visualization of actions and emotions.
I was pretty impressed with this version of the text though, it remained pretty close to the text and really portrayed the characters as I think Bronte intended them to be.

Soulmates in Wuthering Heights

For most of class today, we did not blog because we turned our chairs into the center to have a more "intimate" discussion.

The idea of "soul mates" is the idea of somebody dying because they could no longer live without you. It is the epitome of the phrase "I can't live without you", taken literally.  

Literally Heathcliffe and Catherine can not live without each other. What are the implication of dying for love?

As someone who is not overly-romantic, I cannot really understand Cathy and Heathcliffe's destructible relationship. I understand their deep connection, yet I do not think that each person has only one other soul mate. It does not make sense that there is only one other person in the world for you. Cathy and Heathcliffe seem to be sort of naive and selfish about their love. They only live for each other, and while to some that may seem as the ultimate devotion of love, I think that it is very selfish. They are not only responsible for their own feelings, but they have family, children, parents, that they should take more into consideration. It is the same thing with committing suicide. While to some it may appear as heroic and as being "a martyr for the cause", I see it as a selfish way to avoid your own responsibilities. Cathy and Heathcliffe also have their own responsibilities; they have people to take care of. After Cathy dies, Heathcliffe aborts any sort of kindness or humanity to live a loveless and bitter life, effecting all others around him. It is a little sad that he does not have the courage to face her death and move on. While many people would call this a beautiful tale of romance, I see it as very selfish and ignorant to the other elements of life. To have love and to share that love with someone else is a huge part of life, and something that everyone strives for, but to put all of that love in one person is a little naive. When that person leaves, you have literally been so reliant on them, that you no longer no how to fend for yourself. Love is not only about devotion, but learning how to equally devote yourself to all of the different aspects of your life (including yourself, your family, your lover, etc.) I really resent Heathcliffe for not being able to see past the immediate tragedy of Cathy's death. 

There are many love stories that I read that make me want to experience that type of love. I loved reading Jeanette Winterson's novel "Written on the Body". Even though I am not the romantic type, I could not stop thinking about the narrator's love for Louise. She loved her enough to leave her, and I think that is the ultimate form of respect. This book is also about loss, for Louise has cancer and is most likely going to die. Instead of selfishly hoarding Louise to herself, she gives her back to her husband so that he can treat her cancer. She is willing to lose her to make her safe. She does not seem bitter about this loss either, she is very rational in this loss. She begins to see Louise as many parts of a whole, learning about each of the systems of her body, the different parts that are slowly deteriorating from this deadly cancer. Instead of bitterness, she shows intelligence, intellect, even truth. I could never see Heathcliffe acting in this manner. While he loves Cathy to the ends of the earth, he loves himself with her more. He could not even fathom the union of Cathy and Linton, and instead of understanding social circumstances, he sets out to make everyone's lives miserable. I wish he could have loved her enough to lose her, or to do the respectable thing. His actions portray him as a selfish and bitter man who only wants one thing, and will destroy everything else around him if he does not obtain it. 

Wuthering Heights

Heathcliffe was adopted, found in the streets - mother does not want him, not a warm family scene, they are pretty abusive to him. 

"it would degrade me to marry heathcliffe now" - Heathcliffe hears this, "he is more himself than I am" - They are the same person at heart, she is really herself with Heathcliffe.

What is the feeling you get when you are with someone who knows you so well, someone  you completely feel yourself with? you become almost one, identities become so bound with each other - they almost act as if they are each other. Do you really want a relationship where you are them, and they are you? It would get boring. Is just living with yourself enough? I wouldn't actually mind living within myself for the rest of my life. 

Bronte- Wuthering Heights

Who is Emily Bronte? Family History: Sister of Charlotte and Anne Bronte - used pen names to write, interpreted as male writers. Later Emily was called a "female Shakespeare" for her work in Wuthering Heights. 

The first two chapters of Wuthering Heights have a sort of dark, satirical feel. Mr. Lockwood calls Wuthering Heights a "misanthrope's heaven", meaning a haven for those who hate people. People go to the shore to meet new people, the girl referred to in chapter one is overwhelmed because Lockwood is head over heels in love with her which she knows, and she returns the look of love. He then starts to hate her until she thinks she has misunderstood his looks, doubts her own sentiments. He humiliates her, yet he is impossible to understand, he is the problem, not her. 

He may think "if she likes me, how good could he be" - she must be unattainable, and yet if they suddenly become attainable, they will turn away - afraid of the possibilities. It is truly a mode of self-protection, never have to lose anything or feel the hurt of love. 

The reader is now aware that the story comes from a man who is scarred in some way, someone afraid of their emotions. He loves being an irritant.

What does the reader think of Heathcliff? Selfish, 37, son who has died and left him a daughter-in-law who hates him. His relationship to his dogs is pretty brutal, has no real relationship with it instead of acknowledging it as a hunting dog, not a pet. 

In Chapter 3: know meaning of term maxalary convulsions: grinding your teeth because you are so angry and you are trying to keep from crying