From Heathcliff to Frankenstein...

All the characters become evil!
-Think about Linton...he is evil, but in the end, he helps Catherine

Hareton
He is completely "uncivilized"
Think about how he's been raised!!! BASICALLY BY NO ONE! Very Jungle Book Mogley-esque
He does have a good heart deep in there somewhere...

Young Catherine
-How bout her, eh? Welp, time for Frankenstein...

Catherine Bronte's Commentary on Her Sister
Aknowledging the brutality and the grotesque of the novel. I like when authors are conscious of what they are doing. Heathcliff is like satan...
-How could "young, innocent" Emily Bronte create such a vulgar story?
There comes a moment when a writer refuses to "follow the path," and begin to give in to the art and lets the art take over.
"You do an eclectic celebration of dance!
You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse!
You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham!
Or Twila, Twila, Twila!
Or Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd!
Or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!
But you keep it all inside!"
-->From "The Birdcage," always reminds me of what it's like to be inside an artist's mind... one of my favorite quotes

Frankenstein: Mary Shelley
-Walton is searching for the North Pole
-Imagines he could become a "Homer" or a "Shakespeare in one year
HEFTY EXPECTATIONS, SIR! He wants fame. Pride. That is his only goal in this quest of his.
-Walton wants to be famous... but WHY?????
-How does Victor intervene?
-Victor begins to tell Walton his story... because he wants to teach Walton a lesson
*"Dear men, do you share my madness?"
-It's not in our edition! Por que? It's one of the most famous lines, but it was taken out
*There is debate on whether or not Percy Shelley wrote certain parts of "Frankenstein"
-Walton wants to be treated like royalty: "too cool to touch" Hubris much?

The Vulgar Heathcliff in the Movie...

The first time I read Wuthering Heights, I was in high school, and I struggled to follow the plot and storyline. This time through, however, I am captivated and intrigued. I don't know if it's perhaps maturity on my part or perhaps and new-found patience that I've acquired, but I understood and appreciated the unfolding love story. I struggle to state whether or not Heathcliff and Cathy were truly in Romeo and Juliet-esque love, but they did have a magnetic force attraction to each other, and no one can deny that.

While watching the movie, I struggled to find any sympathy inside of me for Heathcliff's character. When I read the book, I felt that Bronte made him more of a sympathetic creature, and I hurt with him each time he was mocked and ridiculed by the Linton's or by Hindley. Perhaps it was the way that the director of the film made the actor of Heathcliff look: this Heathcliff was cold and brash, almost from the start. The film did not develop Heathcliff's early life, and I did not see anyone ever treat Heathcliff poorly. In the very beginning, Hindley merely closes the door on Heathcliff's face and informs him that he will now be sleeping in the stables. The next time we see Heathcliff, he is a grown man covorting with Cathy.

The point at which I really see Heathcliff's anger and violence that did not translate the same way for me as through the book is after Cathy has given birth to the baby and has died, Heathcliff is shown physically beating Isabella with Nelly watching directly. He calls her a slut, and she is shown with cuts and bruises all over her face. During the book, Isabella comes to Nelly for help and merely hints at what is going on at Wuthering Heights, but to personally see him hit her makes me struggle to find any soft side of him. I guess this, however, is merely the power of modern film....



As the story is unfolding even more, Heathcliff just becomes a colder anad crueler person. I think, because of this, I prefer the book version. I feel I have more emotion invested with the book because I am sympathetic toward Heathcliff; I want him to win and to be treated right. I see the other characters with whom he is interacting as almost completely docile in comparison to him. The book made Hindley much more violent and terrible, and during the movie, he had some one-liners, but he was more in the shadows.

Overall, I'm glad I could compare the book and the movie. I watched the 1992 version, and I found it rather enjoyable. I think it is interesting to compare original thoughts on the text to a movie production. It shows all the different ways of interpreting the same text.

Class, Characters, and Crashes

...sorry I was not here Friday :-( I am still battling a bit of the flu, but I am here today!

"What does _______ do to help people better understand scene_______ in book?"
-->This is the prompt!

Wuthering Heights
...another day, another experience...

These characters aren't nice! Do they get what they deserve?

-Think about the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine. Are they soul mates? Their love is so destructive. They are not "the best versions" of themselves when they're together. Their worst qualities come out when they're together.
-Perhaps Edgar is misinterpreting what the relationship is between Heathcliff and Catherine. Their relationship IS confusing.
-Page 101 in our books: look at the relationship between Nelly, a servant, and Catherine and the others. Nelly does EVERYTHING. One would have to have a somewhat intimate relationship with their servants because the servants are with them all the time. Class is what makes this distinguished relationship between the servers and the served. People become used to being waited on, and they get irritated when things go wrong.
-->Nelly does NOT adore Catherine, and she is quick to point out her faults. Catherine can be very narcissistic.
-Heathcliff is extremely perverse with his relationship with Isabella. He does not love her, but he wants to punish her like a voodoo doll for Edgar. His true anger is with Edgar, her brother.
-Heathcliff's emotions. "You married some guy instead of me!" Heathcliff is pissed! He wanted and should be Catherine's wife. The only reason she married Edgar is because of class! Catherine loved Heathcliff much more than she loved Edgar, but it all came down to class in the end.
-->Heathcliff: "You needn't be jealous of me. I'm not your husband." Catherine: "I'm jealous for you." This is all in realtion to Heathcliff's relationship with Isabella.
-Heathcliff wants revenge! Not for Catherine; he loves her and would never want to hurt her. He wants to marry Isabella to seek revenge on Edgar. Also taking power over the entire Linton family. They were a wealthy family, and he wants to soil thier good name. He is doing whatever he can to tear down thier name and heritage.
-->Remember that it is HINDLEY who ruined Heathcliff's potential because he made him a servant, whereas Mr. Earnshaw wanted Heathcliff to be raised as a child just like Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff could have been wealthy too!
-The only reason Heathcliff is staying at Wuthering Heights is because Hindley invited him. Clearly, Heathcliff had money. Heathcliff is entitled to Wuthering Heights legally
-Hindley's child is a mess!
-Heathcliff has been tortured all his life. He cannot take joy in anything. He has never experienced joy and has been humiliated all of his life.
-->Remember that Isabella and Edgar have made fun of him and called him a servant for all of his younger life, and this has stuck with him.
-->Heathcliff HATES Isabella. He is REPULSED by her. He wants to degrade the Lintons. He wants to bring them down to lower than his level.

-Catherine dies. She is going insane a bit because she is not allowed to be with Heathcliff.

What is a soul mate?
Someone who can talk with one another and always provide honest answers, and whatnot. But what are Catherine and Heathcliff.

Are Catherine and Heathcliff soul mates?

Man of Mystery: Heathcliff

When I was in high school, I read Wuthering Heights for the first time. I struggled to interest myself in the plot, and my mother would time me and make read for 45 minute increments. It just took me the longest time to get into it. Over time, though, it was Heathcliff's character that made me so interested in the plot. I don't know what I envisioned in my head, but I always thought about what his outward appearence may have been. To me, he was very "Phantom of the Opera"-esque. Mysterious, wore a dark black cloak, etc. He was forlorn, but for some deep good reason.
After I read the book, we watched the movie in class, and they portrayed Heathcliff as animal-like, and I didn't like it. He was like a circus freak... dark, in a bad way.

Now, during my second time reading the book, I imagine Heathcliff as the dark and handsome Johnny Depp type. I am more sympathetic toward him than I was the first time. I can understand his character on a deeper level. I think about the number of times that others hurt him and humiliated him. I put myself into his shoes. How would I act and feel after being put down time after time. He's like an abandoned and abused animal who finds himself in a welcoming home, only to be skiddish and sharp-mannered around his new owners who cannot completely understand his actions.

Wuthering Heights

The Bronte Sisters Emily Bronte, the writer of "Wuthering Heights"





The Bronte sisters were all talented in writing, and they all have books that are considered classics today. They read and write as a family. Interesting comment on women writing during the time.

Wuthering Heights

Lockwood is head-over-heels in love with a woman, and she loves him back. It is clear between the two of them. AND THEN! What does he do?! NOTHING! He hides and runs away and turns his back. She feels like an idiot for sharing her feelings.
-->Loving the unattainable...

Q. What does setting up a character like Lockwood do for the novel?
A. He enjoys making Heathcliff uncomfortable. Lockwood enjoys meeting someone who wants to having nothing to do with him.

Q. Why is Lockwood at Wuthering Heights?
A. He is going away from society after what has happened with the woman he loved.

Q. Impression of Heathcliff:
A. He is selfish. He is 37. He has a son who has died. He has a daughter-in-law, Catherine, that he is cruel toward. He has his servants. Terrible to his dogs: he is violent and kicks them.

Maxilary Convulsions: grinding your teeth so that you don't cry.
-->What men do before they start crying (think John!)

Cyber Rape vs. Real Rape

We met in a small group of three, and we were somewhat divided on whether or not cyber rape was similar (and how) to real life rape. We were divided by whether or not the physical aftermath of rape is stronger than the emotional. I feel that the emotional side is very important and it is the same as real rape. Cyberspace gives an individual a sense of power that he may not have in real life, therefore, his words have the potential to become extremely strong.

• Emotional investment with the people "living" in the online world. Think about novels and things we've read and watched that have traumatized us. Some of these things can be life-altering-- and they're in made up worlds!!!!
• What kind of mind could imagine creepy things like this?!
• Human confrontation with a monstrous imagination
• There is an emotional investment in watching or reading about a character. What is the emotional investment in BEING character? Is there something different about being an avatar?
• What is a REAL person's relationship with his AVATAR?
• Think about people who kill themselves and are severely emotionally injured by Myspace and Facebook interactions
• Are there more emotional involvements when being the avatar than when reading and watching a character?
• "Computer Fraud"... mother told the girl that the world would be a better place without her
• Emotional investment of people with avatars
• Before the avatar, writers could not write in this way...
• Trauma during 9/11. People watching TV and seeing the horrors of what people did and what happened. It is depressing for many people, but why do we need to see this? We don't need to be traumatized. News is traumatizing for many people. So many horrible images are replayed again and again. Violence sells.
  

Rape in Cyberspace

Julian Dibbell

I guess my generation is the one who has more or less grown up with the innovations of internet, chat rooms, and other online ventures. I remember when I was in middle and elementary school, my parents feared that I would be accosted by some online pervert, as those stories permeated the news at the time. Even today, you hear of people meeting on Myspace or Facebook, meeting up, and well, bad news bears from that point on. Chatrooms, I believe, have somewhat died out, but I remember when they were extremely popular and came complimentary with internet providers like AOL and Mindspring.
Cyberspace has created a new world for many people, and some people feel very involved in them. With "Rape in Cyberspace," we learn of Mr. Bungle, aka the man my parents warned me about when I was growing up with the internet. He was vile and perverted, needless to say. The interesting part is, however, no one physically saw him. Everything he did was through the swift power of his keyboard.
Personally, I find his ambiguous identity is more fearful. He is mysterious and not in a good, compelling way. He is wearing the ultimate disguise. My imagination runs wild with images of "Silence of the Lambs."
After reading the article, I feel that the power of the word is essentially more powerful than the body on an emotional level. Those who were affected by this creature still suffered from the post-trauma that other rape victims feel. People with low-confidence are known to build their confidence online and become a person who they wish they could be; they can create thier own identity. They can SAY whatever they want.
Physically reading the vulgar words that Mr. Bungle typed made me feel uncomfortable, and I was only reading the reprint. I belive that he did commit rape, even though he never phyisically touched or harmed anyone. "The body is the mind" when in cyberspace. That is all one has to go by, and I believe that that is proof that it is equally as strong.
I was slightly taken aback by the entire "toading" concept, and that some people wanted to turn him into a toad but feared it was too close to the controversial death penalty. I believe that further action should have been taken.
Maybe it's simply because several years have passed since the date of this article, but online-sexual predators are not taken lightly, and they can be tried as any other crime committed in the real world.