Comparative Question - Characters challenging aspects of the Cultural Context in 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Othello'.

2. “Central characters can be successful or unsuccessful in challenging aspects of the cultural context in texts.”

(a) Discuss the extent to which at least one central character is successful or unsuccessful in challenging at least one aspect of the cultural context in one text on your comparative course. Support your answer with reference to the text.

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In the two texts, ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte, and ‘Othello’ by Shakespeare, many of the characters find some way to challenge aspects of the cultural context of their respective texts. In this essay, I will be looking at how these three aspects of the cultural contexts are challenged: the hierarchal structure of society and the idea of marriage, the silencing of women by men, and the treatment of gypsies and servants by the upper echelons of society.

In this point, I will be looking at the hierarchal structure of society in relation to marriage. In both texts, we see two characters challenge this aspect of cultural context by marrying someone ‘below’ their status. In ‘Wuthering Heights’, Isabella is the character that this applies to. She runs away with Heathcliff and marries him in chapter 12 and 13, where we find out she has eloped (the maid tells that ‘She’s gone, she’s gone! Yon’ Heathcliff’s run off wi’ her!), and then when she writes a letter to Nelly explaining what she has done, respectively. Heathcliff, we know, is considered an outsider with unknown parentage, and thus, is ‘below’ the status of Isabella and the rest of her family. This concept is first introduced in chapter when Heathcliff is sent to the barn. Isabella’s challenge of this part of the cultural context is successful, and we can compare this challenge to that of Desdemona’s in Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’. In ‘Othello’, Desdemona successfully challenges the cultural context when she marries Othello. Othello is black and a ‘Moor’, and because if that, he is deemed unfit by certain people (Brabantio) to marry Desdemona. However, Desdemona persuades the Council (with whom Brabantio grudgingly agrees) to agree to her marriage to Othello. She says that ‘So much I challenge that I may profess / Due to the Moor my lord’. This shows how Desdemona is successful, along with Isabella, in challenging the hierarchal society in relation to marriage.

Challenges against the general treatment of gypsies and servants by the upper echelons of society are also seen in both texts. Gypsies and servants were not generally treated with the utmost kindness and respect, and here we see how they are either successful or unsuccessful in challenging their treatment. In the play ‘Othello’, Othello is, as was said before, a ‘Moor’. This means he was classed as an outsider and wasn’t treated like everyone else as a result. In this instance, Othello is successful in challenging his treatment, because he gains respect through his skill on the battlefield and becoming commander of the army. A completely different situation is seen in ‘Wuthering Heights’, where Heathcliff is the outsider. He is a gypsy, and, unlike Othello, Heathcliff is completely unsuccessful in challenging his treatment as a gypsy. Though Cathy Sr. is kind to him, Hindley, and Frances (Hindley’s wife) despise him and treat him horribly. Hindley ‘drove him from their company to the servants’ and told Frances to pull his hair when he first arrived. Heathcliff is mildly successful only because, when Hindley dies, he becomes master, but up until then, he is completely unsuccessful in challenging his treatment. Using this information, it is clear to see that Othello and Heathcliff are successful and unsuccessful, respectively, in challenging their treatment by the upper echelons of society.

The last point I am making is about the silencing of women. In both texts, we see this being challenged but, where in ‘Othello’, Emilia is successful in her challenge, the reverse is true when it comes to Cathy Sr. In ‘Wuthering Heights’, Cathy tries to challenge her silencing by Heathcliff but can’t because Heathcliff is too powerful. She succumbs to his will and is only free to speak and do what she wants after Heathcliff dies. We see Cathy’s state of submissiveness when Mr. Lockwood first comes to Wuthering Heights and he describes her as ‘mute’ and says that ‘she never opened her mouth’. We see a different situation in ‘Othello’. In ‘Othello’, Emilia, in contrast to Cathy, is successful in her endeavour to challenge her silencing by Iago. When she comes in after Othello has killed Desdemona, Iago orders her to stay silent yet she persists: ‘I will not charm my tongue, I am bound to speak’. Unfortunately, she is too late to fight for Desdemona, and it shows, as she is dying, that she is only free to express herself in death, because the men cannot stand for it to happen. These two examples show how Cathy Sr. and Emilia are unsuccessful and successful, respectively, in the act of challenging their silence.

In conclusion, from the information laid out above, I believe that the characters mentioned above (Isabella, Desdemona, Othello, Heathcliff, and Emilia), are all successful or unsuccessful in challenging at least one aspect of the cultural context in their respective texts.