Cultural Criticism Response

When I first read Wuthering Heights in high school, I never thought about the book having any political themes in it, or anything like that.  In addition, I do not believe my teacher ever mentioned anything like that because we were probably having a hard enough time just trying to digest the story.

            I was also really interested in the part where Armstrong brings up the passage where Lockwood has his fight with the ghost.  I had always wondered the same thing, whether it was a dream, or actually happened in real life.  I always wanted to ask, but for some reason never did because it seemed like everyone else already knew, and I didn’t want to be the only one.        

            I thought the section on photography was the most interesting out of all of them.  I have always enjoyed photography, and this was pretty interesting seeing what things actually looked like during that time period.  And I really like being able to put into perspective what the setting from the story actually looked like. 

Cultural Documents and Illustrations Blog Post

            I really enjoyed reading the cultural documents and looking at the illustrations because it really helped to understand what was going on around the world at that time period.  I feel weird saying it, but I really liked the pictures because they really help put into perspective what the setting of the story might look like in real life.  I have always wished I could see in real life what the author was describing and see how close I was to getting it right.

            I was appalled at how English wives were treated during this time period.  I knew that they had few rights, but reading this made it even more clear how few rights they had.  The husband basically owned their wives and they could do nothing about it.  Their possessions’ were all lost when they married, their hard- earned money could be taken right away from them, and the husband could even take the clothes off her back. 

            I thought the breakdown at the end of how titles work by descent was very interesting.  It is mostly stuff that I already know, but it gives a very detailed explanation on how it works.  I thought the example with two daughters and two sons was interesting.  If both sons die, then the two daughters have to share the estate.  Overall, a very interesting read that really helped to understand the background of the story.

Wuthering Heights Blog Post

After reading Wuthering Heights for the second time, I have a much greater appreciation and understanding of the story.  I read it before in high school, but never really fully understood some of it.  Reading it now, I have realized how much I had forgotten. For example, I had forgotten how rude the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights really were.  They were a pretty odd family in just about every aspect at first.  But once you get to know them, you realize that they are just different than most people and are misunderstood in a lot of instances.  Having said that, I do not believe that I would have returned to Wuthering Heights after the first time there.  And I certainly would have been wary of going back after what happened the second time.  I mean, Lockwood is just trying to be a friendly neighbor and is ignored, mistreated, set upon by dogs for very little reason, and is even left to fend for himself in a blizzard.  It is as if these people do not care if Lockwood dies or not.  They finally decide to help him after they realize he could bleed to death from a nosebleed and let him spend the night.  During the night, he is attacked by a ghost and it would appear that Heathcliff is crazy.  What would cause someone to go back to a place like this?  There is no way I could ever go back after an incident like that, but somehow Lockwood persists and in doing so, understands what is causing all the strife for this family.

Blog Post #3

The first interesting thing I encountered reading this section, was when the author writes about there being certain books assigned to different genders.  I have never really thought about this before.  You know there are certain books that are designated for a certain gender, but that does not mean the other one can not read it.  Obviously a book with a pink cover is designated more to a female audience, but that does not mean guys are banned from reading it.

One thing that kind of shocked me was the amount of people stealing books with the sole excuse of just wanting to have that rare book.  There are quite a few things I could name that I would absolutely love to have, but that does not mean I can just go and steal them.  But the thing that was even more interesting was the fact the bookstore owners did not seem to mind too much and knew it was going on.

The thing that interested me most in reading this was when Manguel talks about a book actually belonging to someone.  I’ve never really thought about a book in terms of being “mine.”  To me the owner would always be the author and I am just kind of holding the book for a while before passing it on to the next reader.