Monday, April 23, 2012

Wuthering Heights: Frame Story

"I desired Mrs. Dean, when she brought in supper, to sit down while I ate it; hoping sincerely she would prove a regular gossip, and either rouse me to animation or lull me to sleep by her talk" (33).

Just like Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights is a story within a story or a frame story. The story introduces Mr. Lockwood as the first narrator. He describes his first visit to Wuthering Heights and he develops an interest in the estate's past and asks Mrs. Dean of how the place has changed over the years. The narration then switches to Mrs. Dean's perspective and she begins to describe the history of the estate and all of the main characters are introduced. The switch in narration is helpful because it connects the past and the present. Mr. Lockwood is in the present trying to figure out what may have occurred in the past to make the current dwellers of Wuthering Heights to be so stubborn and depressed, so Mrs. Dean provides the past information that has caused the characters to be shaped in such a way. She goes into detail about all of the children and parents and there is a lot of names and it was hard to follow at some points, but the book mainly centers around Heathcliff and Catherine.

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