Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte, 1847

725 Words3 Pages
The extract starts with a year - 1801, which immediately sets the scene. A year includes both cultural and social values of the time, and when the setting is extended to England in “In all England”, the reader has now got a feeling of both environment and social habits that will play a part in this text. This passage also explores how tone and juxtaposition of the characters develops them throughout the text. The tone is enthusiastic, and the use of exclamations marks effectively adds energy to the text - but also a certain naiviety. Already in the first paragraph the character Mr. Lockwood expresses his feelings about the environment by “This is certainly a beautiful country!” and his excitement about meeting the character Mr Heathcliff, “A capital fellow!”. However, his enthusiasm discharges in the meeting of Heathcliff himself, in a sentence that effectively contrasts the two characters which each other. “He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him” is followed by “black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows”. “Black eyes” is often a sign of anger and eyes are frequently used as reflection of a character’s emotion, so when the cautious reaction from the narrator Mr. Lockwood defaults the whole text comes of as credulous and simple-minded. This continues throughout the text as the hostile nature of Heathcliff develops without a suitable reaction from Lockwood, and the enthusiasm can once again be felt in Lockwood’s persistent sincerity, “I felt interested in a man who seemed more exaggeratedly reserved than myself”. The characters plays a big part in creating the tone, as the two contrast and highlights each others characteristics. This is obvious in their use of diction - the narrator Mr. Lockwood uses words such as “beautiful”, “heart”, “honour” and “hope” while Mr. Heathcliff is described by and uses a vocabulary including
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