Ellie Park's Final Post

Although both Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are exemplary and renowned works, Wuthering Heights, with its use of literary devices such as frame narratives, multifaceted characters and plot, and complex exploration of societal expectation, ethics, and emotion, ultimately would serve as the best option in the classroom. Firstly, both works challenge the technical abilities of the reader. While Pride and Prejudice employs irony and delicate word play, Wuthering Heights utilizes frame narratives and other quick shifts of perspective. Therefore, the works seem equal on this count. Secondly, Wuthering Heights incorporates more complicated characters and plots. Though Pride and Prejudice has strong female heroines, Wuthering Heights also possesses such a heroine, namely Catherine, in addition to the Byronic hero Heathcliff and other multifaceted characters that challenge reader’s perceptions and assumptions. In addition, the plot of Wuthering Heights, with surprising twists, revenge, and other complex elements, is undoubtedly more difficult than the straightforward and predictable narrative in Austen’s novel. Finally, Bronte’s book gives rise to more meaningful discussion than the work of Jane Austen. Both of these works provide commentary on social expectations and the meaning of love, but Wuthering Heights goes even further including life after death, revenge, betrayal, the mystical, and other themes in its extensive array of subject matter. These addition topics would allow more fruitful discussions and debates in class. Therefore, the wide range of character, plot, and theme found in Wuthering Heights ultimately create a novel better suited to the school environment.

Word Count: 250
Works Cited
Goldstone, Herbert. "Wuthering Heights Revisited." The English Journal XLVIII (1949): 4.
Easton, Celia A. "How to read Jane Austen." An introductory talk for the first day of ENGL 358 Major Authors: Jane Austen SUNY Geneso.