The Concept of Childhood

Think back to when you were a child. Depending on where you grew up in the world, there was
probably an unspoken set of rules about how your life was supposed to go. In Western countries,
generally, a child's daily life is based around learning, not only at school, but also at home. All of
this education is supposed to prepare the child for the responsibilities of adulthood. This seems
like the correct path, right? However, this wasn't always the case.
In many ways, the concept of childhood was invented in the eighteenth century. The period was
inundated with guidebooks for how to properly educate and care for children. By the end of the
century, Western cultures began to consider childhood as a precious and fleeting time of a
person's life that must be protected. For the first time, child labor laws were passed to regulate
the hours and types of employment at which children could work. (Charles Dickens, for example,
spent his childhood working in a factory.)
Throughout the nineteenth century, these laws would become more and more strict, as children
and childhood were increasingly valued. We have many laws today, some of which we don't
even think about, that protect children, making it illegal for them to work, to marry, to be sold, etc.
Quite a lot of this sort of thinking was part of the cultural consciousness in the 1840s, when Emily
Bronte was writing.

Wutheirng Heights and Childhood

Childhood is a troubling theme in Wuthering Heights. Almost without exception, children are
treated badly, and subsequently, they end up precocious, spoiled, and violent. One could read
the novel as a commentary on how bad traits get passed from generation to generation.
Childhood is not valued in Wuthering Heights, but is rather neglected and abused. In some
sense, all of the violence and pain in the novel is a result of the treatment of children.

Heathcliff and the Earnshaws

The first family we meet in Wuthering Heights is comparatively harmonious. The Earnshaws
seem to be happy and stable. But one day the father brings home an orphan, a 'dirty, ragged,
black-haired child,' and the family dynamic is thereafter ruined. The siblings, Hindley and
Catherine, are immediately jealous of Heathcliff, and treat him badly. Eventually, Catherine
warms to the young boy, but Hindley remains emotionally and physically abusive: 'He seemed a
sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley's blows without
winking or shedding a tear.' Readers can trace Heathcliff's aggressive adult disposition to the
events of his childhood. His passionate, unrelenting love for Catherine is a result of her early
acceptance of him. And his shocking violence is a consequence of Hindley's maltreatment.

In this essay I will be discussing the gothic aspects in "Wuthering Heights", a novel written by Emily
Bronte. She was born in 1919 and died in 1848 after a very short illness. Emily Bronte loved the
freedom of the moors, in all types of weather and whatever the season she was very familiar with all
the different kinds of birds and animals that inhabited them.

Emily Bronte grew up at a time when the industrial revolution was changing the face of the British
Isles. At the beginning of the nineteenth century most people still lived and worked in the
countryside, and small towns were expanding rapidly. New shipyards, factories and railways brought
a lot of wealth to small groups of manufactures and business people, as the century progressed.
Factory and mine workers were forced to work in dreadful conditions.

At that time young children worked twelve hours a day. Many families were broke up by the fact
that they worked long unsociable hours in order to survive.

‘Wuthering Heights’ in the wild and rough moor land of Yorkshine in the north of England is the
home of the Earnshaws, and Thrushcross Grange is the home of the Lintons. The story of Wuthering
Heights is one of passion and a very intense love story between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff.
The story contains a lot of emotion, and this is the feeling right from the start of the novel.

In ‘Wuthering Heights’ every relationship but one is broken by either death or separation. Family
love is also shown in many different ways. Throughout the novel family relationships are marked by
cruelty, neglect and jealously. Throughout the novel nature is described in connection with human
emotions. The childhood world in the novel is very important, because children were treated very
strictly, and in ‘Wuthering Heights’ many of the children are treated with cruelty and neglect.

During the nineteenth century death was much more common. Many women died during childbirth
and from diseases that we have cures for today. Emily Bronte knew all about death as a very young
woman, especially as her mother, two sisters and her brother had all died. In the novel there are
many deaths. What is important is the way in which the dead have such a powerful effect on the
living.

In ‘Wuthering Heights’ we get a very important insight into the people who live there. In the way
that Emily Bronte describes the “stunted firs” and “gaunt thorns” . These are the impressions, which
resemble the disturbed and miserable people who live there. Their lives are so bitter and unhappy
that they are unable to ‘grow’. The house is described like a castle with its “narrow windows” and
corners defended with “large jutting stones” . This gives the impression that strangers are regarded
with suspicion, and this is shown to Lockwood when he arrives at ‘Wuthering Heights’.

Lockwood is a rich young man from the south of England who has moved to Thrushcross Grange, a
mansion on the Yorkshire moors. He pays a visit to his landlord Heathcliff at ‘Wuthering Heights’.
Heathcliff is rude and unwelcoming towards Lockwood. Lockwood is curious as to his landlord’s
unsocial behaviour and his strange household.

Heathcliff was bought from Liverpool to ‘Wuthering Heights’ as a very young boy by Mr. Earnshaw
who named him Heathcliff after his own son who had died. Heathcliff was found after being
abandoned on the streets, and he was brought home to ‘Wuthering Heights’. Catherine soon
became great friends with Heathcliff and he won over the love of Mr. Earnshaw. Heathcliff was a
silent and strange boy, and he seemed to put with the ill treatment and blows he received from
Hindley and never tried to defend himself.

Mr. Earnshaw’s health went down hill and he grew more and more alienated from his family. He
thought that everyone did not like Heathcliff because he liked him. He was not impressed with his
daughter Catherine’s charming ways. When he dies Catherine and Heathcliff grieve for him and
console each other with thoughts of heaven. Heathcliff’s education is stopped and he is reduced to
the level of a servant, but Catherine and Heathcliff continue to see one and other. Catherine teaches
Heathcliff what she learns in her lessons. Both Catherine and Heathcliff love the freedom of the
fields, and they would run away to the moors all day to play, and worry about their punishments
afterwards.

Lockwood’s description of Heathcliff is that he is a very handsome man and dresses very well; he has
the manners of a gentleman and is very dark skinned. Throughout ‘Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff’s
personality is described as dark, menacing and brooding. Heathcliff is seen as a dangerous person
and for his mood swings. He is quite capable of showing his hatred and is not willing to forgive or
reach any kind of compromise. Throughout the novel it is clearly established that Heathcliff has a
wild and explosive temper. Even as a boy when he first arrived at ‘Wuthering Heights’ he is seen as a
“dark skinned gypsy”. No one really knows where Heathcliff comes from accept to say that he was
found on the streets of Liverpool, and so his origins remain a mysterious and dark secret.

When Catherine decides to marry Edgar Linton so she can have a good social background, as
Heathcliff is not suitable to marry as his roughness and ignorance speaks for itself, even though she
loves Heathcliff very much. Heathcliff runs away. Catherine goes out all night in a storm looking for
Heathcliff and falls ill with fever. Catherine and Edgar live in harmony for almost a year when
Heathcliff returns.

Heathcliff has mysteriously lost his roughness and gained gentlemanly manners, education and has
come into some money. Catherine is delighted to see Heathcliff but Edgar is not pleased. A violent
quarrel breaks out between both men and Heathcliff leaves Thrushcross Grange. Catherine is angry
at both Edgar and Heathcliff.

Catherine becomes ill and nearly dies. Months later Catherine is still not very strong and is with child
(pregnant.). Heathcliff goes to visit Catherine and they have a passionate reunion during which they
forgive each other for their betrayal of one another. Catherine dies giving birth to a daughter. Before
Catherine dies she tells Nellie ”I am Heathcliff” and that means that their souls are one.

Heathcliff goes mad when Catherine dies and he begs Catherine’s ghost to haunt him. His grief
shows the passion he continues to feel for Catherine. His loss of Catherine will last him for the rest of
his life. Her desire to be buried in the open churchyard is also another sign longing for the moors and
the wild landscape of her youth and a symbol of her nature.

The night that Lochwood stays at ‘Wuthering Heights’ he is plagued by very strange dreams. In his
dreams he tries to break off the tapping fir branch outside his window. He breaks the pane and as he
reaches out to remove the branch, which is the cause of his restlessness, his fingers seem to close on
a small cold icy hand. “ I am home: I have lost my way on the moors” A weeping voice the spirit of
Catherine begs to be allowed in, as she has lost her way on the moor. Lockwood is filled with terror
at the sight of the child’s face. He tries to break his hand free from the ghostly grip, rubbing the
spirits hand on the broken pane until the blood flows.

When Lockwood breaks free from the ghostly grip, he dreams that he puts piles of books against the
broken window to keep put the ghostly presence. He wahes with a scream. When Lockwood tells
Heathcliff of his dream he is very shocked to hear him mention Catherine. Heathcliff breaks down
and begs the spirit of Catherine to return. The use of dreams and ghosts give us a sense of the
overpowering uncontrollable relationship that was once shared by Catherine and Heathcliff.

Death is stressed by Lockwood dreaming of the dead Catherine, her ghost crying at the window is a
symbol of her separation from Heathcliff. He was so obsessed by his beloved Catherine, that he goes
to the graveyard where she is buried to stare at her dead body when her coffin is uncovered while
Edgar’s grave is being prepared.

There are many indications throughout the novel that Catherine is not at peace or resting easily in
her grave. When her ghost appears in Lockwood’s dream “ Let me in “ is a sign of an unquiet soul.
This is also another sign of Catherine and Heathcliff’s separation, and the window coming between
them. Heathcliff has been haunted by the spirit of Catherine and is aware of her presence, yet he is
unable to reach her, and he is tortured almost to death.

In Dracula, Van Helsing opens Lucy’s coffin “ to mutilate her body- to stake her heart “ this is in order
to release her soul from the undead and destroy her body. Heathcliff on the other hand only wants
to embrace Catherine’s body in death, there by keeping her fresh in his memory.

Heathcliff tells how he opens Catherine’s coffin so he can get some ease by looking at her face once
again. He breaks one side of her coffin so that when his coffin is laid beside hers, he instructs the
sexton to do the same to his so they can be as one and nothing to separate them. Heathcliff begins
to act very strange during the final days of his life.

He refuses to eat, locks himself in his room, and wanders off without telling anyone where he has
been. But what is noticed is the strange excitement about him. He tells Nelly “ Last night, I was on
the threshold of hell. To day I am within sight of heaven “ Heathcliff’s statement is obscure, as this
does not explain his sudden change of heart. Heathcliff’s deep black eyes, his smile and his ghastly
paleness made him seem like an evil spite. Nellie asks herself is he a ghoul or a vampire. The only
thing that can cause Heathcliff’s strange mood is Catherine, even though she has been dead for a
long time, and the sense of loss is now dominant in his soul. His mood has been heightened to a
delirious agitation at the prospect of being with Catherine again. Heathcliff is found dead by the
window.
In conclusion Catherine was a wild and passionate character both as a girl and a woman. Sometimes
she was quite capable of real heartlessness. But in spite of her love affair with Heathcliff, she
decided to marry Edgar who could give her a good social background. Heathcliff was not good
marriage material because he was rough, ignorant and wild, with no social background. Catherine
belongs to the moors and the stormy elements of nature the same as Heathcliff. Before she dies she
warns Heathcliff that her spirit will not let him rest until they are reunited in death.

As Catherine became more beautiful and lady-like, Heathcliff became rougher in his appearance as
did his mood and speech. When Catherine decides to marry Edgar, Heathcliff runs away.

When Heathcliff returns he has worked out a plan of vengeance on both Hindley and Edgar, we can
see where he becomes a cruel and unfeeling demon. But the spirit of Catherine prevents him from
bringing his plan to fruition. For some time he lives in spiritual torment, a frenzied man, having lost
all desire for revenge and the will to live. Heathcliff’s death is mysterious as his origins. But the
atmosphere of mystery and romance remains.

In the mid-eighteenth century writers began to deal with the theme of

childhood. This interest increased with the rise of the middle class, which
considered children as heirs. In Wuthering Heights, childhood plays a large
part and pervades the novel with its presence. Many critics, for example, have
commented on Catherine's childish love for Heathcliff When the novel was
published in 1847, childhood was still associated with inexperience,
intellectual unawareness, and moral purity, in short with prelapsarian, before
the Fall-of-Man innocence — the heritage of the Romantic Movement. Such a
vision still prevailed two years later in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens,
and even thirteen years later in his Great Expectations and in The Mill on the
Floss by George Eliot.

However, Emily Brontë's vision of childhood has been claimed to stand in

sharp contrast with the vision which then prevailed in literature, for its
perversion and narcissism, and even has something pathological about it.
Recent critics have generally focused on Catherine, who is said to embody
such narcissism and perversion. This study, which relies on the theories of the
psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, actually focuses on the two main female
characters, Catherine and her daughter Cathy, and considers whether the
latter generation embodies the same kind of relation between childhood and
innocence as the former generation and looks at the extent to which lost
innocence and narcissism in particular can be considered to be redeemed at
the end of the novel.
In Room, Jack is all that Ma has, and vice versa. Only once, and by
Ma’s Father, is it emphasized that Jack is the product of Old Nick’s
rape of Ma. Despite his biological Father, it is only ever the love
between Jack and his Ma that is displayed, and family is all they have
to remind them that love still exits. Additionally, when Ma begins to
reveal to Jack that she has a family too, she recalls specifically
playing with her brother Paul in their old hammock. Bonds within a
family are also emphasized as important when Ma and Jack escape
from Room. Jack must learn to give identities to all people: Paul,
Dayna, Bryanna, Steppa, Grandma. Yet ultimately, he still sees these
people as strangers, as Doctor Clay and Noreen are. It is only Ma he
sees as his true family, a fact reflected at the end where Jack and Ma
move back in together. Therefore, Room is a novel about the strength
of familial love, and learning to love those again that you left behind
seven years ago.

Room is a startling novel about a young five-year-old named Jack who lives with his mom in
an 11 by 11 room where they are held captive by their kidnapper. Written from the
perspective of this young five-year-old, Roomcan explore themes such as unconditional
motherly love, childhood, and fear/bravery without focusing on the criminal activities of the
kidnapper.

Jack's mom fiercely protects him from the reality of their situation. For Jack, the room has
been his only reality. He has been emotionally protected from the darkness of captivity. Ma's
fierce bravery gives Jack a calm perspective on his surroundings: "It's called mind over
matter. If we don't mind, it doesn't matter."

Jack begins to awaken to the reality of their room and begins to see the dissonance between
the outside world and the room they live in. His increased understanding of the outside world
leads to their need to escape: "When I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I'm
five I know everything."

Through their turmoil and escape, we see Jack and Ma cope with the changes in their
environment and, particularly, their interpersonal relationship. "All I did was I survived, and I
did a pretty good job of raising Jack. A good enough job." Ma wrestles with being a mom in a
world that is now at her finger tips. Her world before captivity is now crashing with the
reality of being Jack's mom.

Emma Donoghue weaves together a story of bravery in the face of fear and the importance of
parent and child bonding.
Room is a novel written by an Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue. It is a story about a five-year
old boy with the name Jack being held captive with his mother in a small room. The idea for the
story was triggered by the ―Fritzl case‖ in Austria, where Josef Fritzl was discovered to have kept his
daughter in cellar for 24 years. The author‘s intention was, however, not to focus on the aspects of
the crime or sexual abuse. She rather wanted to show a child‘s view of the situation and deal with
more universal things, such as childhood, motherly love and the power of the relationship between
the parent and their child. It is a startling story about a mother who unconditionally loves her child
and tries to shield it from the cruel reality. (Donoghue ―Emma Donoghue – Room‖)

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