Narrative Structure in Wuthering Heights
-What is Narrative Structure-
Narrative structure is closely linked to the portrayal of a story, particularly conflict. These elements of narrative structure change how we perceive different events within the narrative itself. This influences how we draw meaning.
Layered StructureThe story's events exist in multiple layers. All of the events are recorded in Lockwood's diary, and several chapters are from his point of view. He enters the moors just before the climax of the story, and his actions help to build tension.
Over several periods of time, Nelly tells the story of the Heights and the Grange to Lockwood. This is done through the use of flashback. Even though some of the action has not occurred at the start of the book, it is all told retrospectively in past tense. |
Multiple NarratorsWuthering Heights has several narrators. As the story is written down in his diary, Lockwood acts as an external narrator. It is Nelly Dean who tells us about most of the action, the interpolated narrator. She acts as the moral voice of the story, and she is the lens through which we judge the others. However, neither is without their personal biases which influence the portrayal of the content.
Other means are used to narrate the unfolding events. Characters such as Heathcliff and Isabella, through dialogue with Nelly, effectively narrate several chapters. Reading through Catherine's diaries and Isabella's letter presents another medium to convey the story. |
Conveying MeaningIt is the use of several voices throughout the text that allows for the construction of meaning due to narrative structure. Nelly is effectively omnipresent in most of the narrative, acting as the guiding moral voice - influencing our opinion of events and characters. Narration by others in text, such as Isabella, presents facets of the text Nelly is unable to deal with. There is a difference in the tone of these periods of narration, which along with their content allows a reader to construct meaning.
Lockwood actually narrates for little of the text - but when he does, his characterisation of himself and others allows meaning to be drawn from this point of view. Furthermore, his early encounters foreshadow the end of the text. |
-Key Quotes-
"The solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with"
"I felt that God had forsaken the stray sheep there to its own wicked wanderings, and an evil beast prowled between it and the fold, waiting his time to spring and destroy"
"Is Mr Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad?"
"From the time you were thirteen years old [Heathcliff], you have lived a selfish, unchristian life"
- Lockwood as a narrator
- Immediate implication of conflict between Grange and Heights
"I felt that God had forsaken the stray sheep there to its own wicked wanderings, and an evil beast prowled between it and the fold, waiting his time to spring and destroy"
- Nelly's moral voice and Christian values come through with point of view
- Symbolism; Heathcliff is the wolf/beast, Edgars and Lintons are the sheep
"Is Mr Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad?"
- Isabella's letter; develops her conflict with Heathcliff
- Letter demonstrates treatment of gender
"From the time you were thirteen years old [Heathcliff], you have lived a selfish, unchristian life"
- Nelly's moral voice at the end
- Her view influences the perspective we get throughout the whole text