Analysis of Wuthering Heights

   Emily Bronte, who was born in 1818, wrote a cannon, Wuthering Heights, in her 30 years life. The novel was unique in that time, not only the writer was a woman, which was not known until 3 years after the novel was published, but also it contains some rebellious concepts to conservative English society in 19^th century. When it is analyzed, position of women in Victorian society, class distinction of 19^th century and some features of Gothic fiction can bee sen in the novel.

   Firstly, the novel shows the position of the women in that era even before it is read, since Emily Bronte uses a pen name, a male name Ellis Bell, in order to diminish the criticism and prejudices against the novel. Women were supposed to be the angel of the house in 19^th century. Therefore,in order to be a good housemate,they let men do serious things such as writing. I think it is because men were afraid of loosing their power against women, because the pen is the power symbolically. People who are able to write books,can affect or manipulate the others. As an example of the pen is equal to power, the judge breaks his pen after giving sentence of death penalty. Breaking the pen, shows who has the power and who the decision maker is. However,thanks to the increasing need of human resources because of the Industry Revolution, women started to take part in the society more and more and thanks to the feminist awakening, they were able to write and take the pen/power in their hands. Additionally, women characters of the novel are another reflection of the Victorian society. There is a male dominant narration in the novel,which even created an idea that the real writer of Wuthering Heights was the brother of Emily Bronte. For example, women characters are depended on men and they are treated bad. However, I think it was just a misogynistic claim,because 19^th century was a male centric century and what Emily Bronte wrote about the Catherine and her passions was brave enough.

   Secondly, class distinction of the 19^th can be seen in Wuthering Heights. After the Industry Revolution, a new class occurred in the society. They did not have royal blood, but they were not like lower class,too. They learnt how to be a gentlemen or a lady, educated themselves and took the economic power thanks to merchant class. In the novel the most dominated class of the 19^th century English society,Middle Class, can be seen. Mr. Earnshaw is the best example of Middle Class in the manor, Wuthering Heights. He is gentleman, he educates his children,Hindley and Catherine, and takes an orphan,namely Heathcliff, tries to make him a gentleman,too. In Trushcross Grange, Mrs Linton is the best example of Middle Class lady. She both educates her own daughter Isabella like a lady and she teaches Catherine how to be a lady,too, while she is staying in their manor for a while. Mr Lockwood is another example of Middle Class gentleman in the novel. He is bored in the downtown, and wants to live far from it for a while,which is a common routine for his class of people, probably to show their difference that they can afford it and uprising individualist ideas. It is obvious he raised up in a more domesticated region,because he speaks in a sophisticated language and behaves kindly to people around him.

   Finally, even if Wuthering Heights is not regarded as a Gothic novel directly, it still has some features of it. Gothic fiction is a genre of literature that combines of both horror and romance. The main features of Gothic fiction are supernatural events, ghosts,darkness, villains,madness and Gothic architecture. In the novel, these features are seen easily. First of all, the place where the manor Wuthering Heights is located has the Gothic architecture. It is far from the city,old and huge building. In the novel Mr Lockwood defines it as “ the architect had foresight to build it strong:the narrow windows are deeply sen in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones.” ( C. 1, pg 4). In addition to this, the weather is always gloomy and harsh with lots of raining and stormy. There are also paranormal activities in the novel. Mr. Lockwood experiences one when he sleeps in the Wuthering Heights because of the weather. He is disturbed by Catherine’s ghost. “I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, ‘Let me in – let me in!’ … As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a child’s face looking through the window - … (V1 ch. 3, pg 26)” At the end of the novel, when Mr. Lockwood comes and learns what happened when he is in downtown, the main narrator Nelly Dean tells him about Heathcliff's ghost that “ I hope its tenant sleeps as soundly. But the country folks, if you ask them, would swear on the Bible that he WALKS: there are those who speak to having met him near the church, and on the moor, and even within this house. (V2 ch. 20, pg 354). Lastly, Heathcliff's mental disorder and villain actions are the other examples of the Gothic fiction. He treats his own son so bad and makes him get married with Cathy even if he does not love her. He also believes in ghosts and summons them. “Come in! come in!” he sobbed. “Cathy, do come. Oh do – once more! Oh! My heart’s darling, hear me this time – Catherine, at last!” (V1 ch. 3, pg 30) I have a strong faith in ghosts: I have a conviction that they can, and do, exist among us! (V2 ch. 15, pg 304)

   To sum up, Emily Bronte,pseudonym Ellis Bell, wrote her only novel Wuthering Heights in Victorian Age and position of women,class distinction and some features of Gothic fiction can be seen in her novel as a reflection of the century that she lived.

Cengiz GÜLER / Erasmus Student.

The sources which are used

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gothic_fiction.html

Mina URGAN – The History of English Literature (1986-1993)

The Poem of Age 35

Who is Cahit Sıtkı TARANCI

Cahit Sıtkı was born in 4^th October 1910 in Diyarbakır and passed away in 12^th January 1956 in Vienna. After starting a primary school in Diyarbakır he went to Saint Joseph French High School as a tradition of his wealthy family for secondary shcool. He finished his high school in Galatasaray High School which was another French based on high school in Turkey. In those schools, Tarancı learnt French very well and was affected by Baudelaire, Rimbaud,Mallarme. He started to write poems in high school years and his poems were published in the magazine of Galatasaray High School, Academy. After Tarancı finished high school, he continued his education in the School of Political Sciences in Istanbul between the years 1931 and 1935. Then he left for Paris,to study in the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, but he had to return to Turkey without completing his education in the wake of World War II in 1940.From 1944 on, he worked as a translator in the state-owned news agency Anadolu Ajansı , the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) and the Ministry of Labor. In 1951, he married Cavidan Tınaz. Following a severe illness in 1954, he became paralyzed. As the treatment of his health problem did not succeed in Turkey, he was taken to Vienna. He died on January 12, 1956 in a hospital there at the age of 46. His body was brought to Turkey and was laid to rest at the Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.

Masterpiece of Tarancı

Cahit Sıktı was an important poet in Turkish Literature and wrote a lot impressive works. However, The Poem of Age 35 is the one which gave him a great success and reputation. In this poem, Tarancı reveals his feelings about the death,loneliness and experiences in the life. A simple but effective language is used in this poem.

There are 35 lines,which refers to the age,and it starts with an allusion to Dante. “We are in the middle of the life like Dante.” As poet goes to French based on high schools, he knows European Literature, and shows in the beginning of his poem. As it is known, Dante starts his masterpiece Divine Comedy as “In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost.” Poet thinks the age 35 is a kind of limit of joy in the life and after this certain age humankind start to question his experiences in the life and miss the health and power that they used to have in 20s.

In the second stanza, poet looks at the mirror gets shocked. He realizes the gray in his hairs and the physical changes in his face. He thinks the mirrors which used to be friends with him, are the biggest enemy now.

In the third stanza, poet looks at old photos of him. He can not understand how time passes so fast and why stop aging is impossible. He hardly recognizes himself in the photos as the person he sees in the mirrors is not the same. He seeks for his previous days and joyfulness. He thinks the person who smiles in the photos can not be him, because he has a lot of concerns.

In the fourth stanza, poet hardly remembers his first love. He says his friends are far away now. The feelings he had, are gone now. The only thing poet has is nothing but loneliness.

In the fifth and sixth stanzas, poet talks about his experiences in the life. He says sky has different colors,too. He claims he understands the basic things such as flame burns so late. Therefore, he thinks he is too young to die. He sees a funeral and complains about that. He is afraid of being next.

In the last stanza, poet accepts death is inevitable. He thinks it as a sleep,but an eternal one. What is scary about dying is that you do not know where,how and at what age. He thinks death is a kind of being king for a second,because when you die everybody scares from you and they show great respect.

Aesthetic Categories: Good/Bad

Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı thinks art is for art,it is not a tool to improve society. He thinks poetry should not focus on social or personal benefits. The only aim of it to create good and beautiful works. Therefore, he uses some poetical elements to make his poems good.

Firstly, Tarancı uses syllabic meter in his poem. Every line has 11 syllables. He even omits a vowel from the first line of the last stanza,which is another common element for Turkish Literature, in order to decrease the syllable from 12 to 11. This is one the most common style in Turkish Literature. This technique gives the poem a better harmony so that it sounds better. Moreover, he shapes the poem like the title. There are 7 stanzas and each of them has 5 lines. When it is calculated, it is 35 like the age of 35,title of the poem.

Secondly, Tarancı uses harmony and rhyme in the poem. Since there are specific ends of the tenses in Turkish grammar, writer creates a kind of harmony in the poem,which is called as Redif. Besides the harmony, Tarancı uses rhyme in the poem. However, rhyme is not directly the similar sounds at the end of the poem in Turkish Literature. It is because Turkish is a agglutinating language. Rhyme in Turkish Literature occurs after the inflection suffix is omitted from the end of the word. If one letter is the same after the inflection suffix is omitted it is “poor rhyme,” if two of them are the same, it is “solid rhyme” and if it is more than two letters, it is rich rhyme. Tarancı uses solid rhyme more than once and shows his ability to write a poem.

Finally, Tarancı uses allusion to Dante and a metaphor to Turkish funerals, which makes his poem good. He gives Dante's name directly and refers his masterpiece Divine Comedy in The Poem of Age 35. Tarancı also uses funeral metaphor it he last line of the poem. In Turkey, before put the coffin in the soil, it is put in a specific place outside of the mosque. People, pray for the death person the last time and wait on their hand on foot. Tarancı think death person a treated like a king. However, the ironic part is he/she is not aware of his/her kingdom.

Critics

The Poem of Age 35 is one of the best poems in Turkish Poetry. Critics think this poem is a bridge between Garip Movement and traditional Turkish poetry. The poem has the themes and language of the Garip Movement which are death,loneliness and simple language. However, while poets of Garip Movement use free style and rejected syllabic meter, Tarancı uses traditional 11 meter and rhyme. This poem won a prize in a competition of Republican People's Party ( CHP ) the first party of Turkish Republic. In 1946 The Poem of The Age 35 was chosen the best poem and it made Tarancı one of most popular poets in Republican Era.

Influences

While writing the poem, Tarancı was affected by some European writers such as Dante and Mallarme. However, the basic influence was the Garip Movement. Garip means “poor and strange” in Turkish. Founder of this movement Orhan Veli Kanık chose this title intentionally, because they selected middle class people rather than elites in their works and they rejected all the rules of Turkish Poetry. They think poetry should have a simple language,and subject does not have to be too specific. This movement also called as the 1^st New Movement as what they did was quite new for Turkish Poetry. General themes of their poems are life,death,loneliness, poverty etc. Even if they were looked down on in that time, a great honor is given to them at present.

Interpretation

I think this poem is really a unique as it combines both Garip Movement and traditional Turkish poetic style. Poet explains his feelings in a simple way;however, they do not make the poem ordinary. Therefore, Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı proves that poem does not have to be too complex to be a good one. Especially the metaphor at the end of the poem is quite good. Everybody becomes a king or queen for 5 minutes, but ironically it does not have any worth.

The sources which are used :

http://www.edebiyatogretmeni.org/garipciler/

http://www.egitim.aku.edu.tr/sanatfelsefesi.pdf

http://www.biyografi.info/kisi/cahit-sitki-taranci

http://turkishliterature.blogspot.ro/2011/04/poem-of-age-35.html

Intertextuality in Fowles' The Collector

     The Collector of John Fowles who is generally attributed as a Post-Modernist writer was published in 1963. While writing to book, Fowles was inspired from a real story of Bartok’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle with a contemporary newspaper report. He says in Woodcock (1984; 27) that: “ a boy who captured a girl and imprisoned her in an air-raid shelter at the end of his gar- den ... there were many peculiar features about this case that fascinated me.” In the novel some characteristics of Post-Modernist Literature is used such as intertextuality . Shakespeare's play The Tempest, The Old Man of The Sea in story of Sinbad the Sailor from One Thousand and One Nights, Jane Austen's novel Emma are some of the most significant literary works which are mentioned in The Collector.

     The first inter-text in The Collector is Shakespeare's play The Tempest, which is obvious through the Miranda' s and Fredrick Clegg' s names. Firstly, Miranda is the daughter of the Prospero in The Tempest. She is stucked in an island, because his father is exiled from Milan where he was a duke in the play. Similarly, Miranda in The Collector is abducted by the anti-hero of the novel and stucked in a cellar. The lowering standards of being in an island is not so different than being kept in a cellar. They both are isolated from the civilization where they are supposed to belong because of their gender. While Miranda in The Tempest reaches to happiness and gets married to man she loves, Miranda in The Collector dies because of malaria without seeing the light which she looks forward to from these quotations: “ The thing I miss most is fresh light. I can’t live without light.” and “ I could see daylight through a keyhole.” Secondly, the name of anti-hero Fredrick Clegg is also an inter-text to the Shakespeare's play since the first name of Fredrick Clegg is Ferdinand, who gets married to Miranda in The Tempest ,and Clegg hopes to make Miranda falls in love with him. In the novel it is seen in this quotation:

“What’s your name?” she said. Clegg, I answered.“Your first name?” Ferdinand. However, unlike Ferdinand, Clegg never achieves his aim. Furthermore, after he reads Miranda's diary and learns what actually she thinks about him and hates her.

     In addition to his first name, Clegg is called Caliban in Miranda's diary, which creates another inter-text to The Tempest. Prospero tries to teach Caliban religion and language, but after Caliban tries to rape Miranda, he is treated like a monster. In The Collector, Clegg is tried to be educated by Miranda. She tries to increase his humanity and intellectuality.“You have money - as a matter of fact, you aren’t stupid, you could become whatever you liked. Only you’ve got to shake off the past. You’ve got to kill your aunt and the house you lived in and the people you lived with. You’ve got to be a new human being.” He is given a book which he stops reading. He also uses bad English which can be easily understood when his writing and Miranda's diary are compared. Clegg doesn't rape Miranda while Caliban in The Tempest tries it. However, he is still called as Caliban because of his narrow-mind, and psychological disorder by Miranda.

     Lastly, G.P whom Miranda loves in the novel can be linked with Prospero in The Tempest . They both are not young characters. Prospero has a daughter and lives in an island for years. G.P is earns his own money and he is elder than Miranda. Both of the characters are well-respected. Miranda praises G.P' s ideas about the collectors in the novel. “ G.P. saying that collectors were the worst animals of all. He meant art collectors, of course. But of course, he is right.” Prospero is the play's protagonist and he is a moral man. He admits to stop spell after he takes what he deserves and gives lesson to everyone. G.P 's name might also refer to Prospero as Great Prospero because sorcerers are generally called as great.

The second inter-text in The Collector is Jane Austen' s Emma. The heroin of Austen's novel is described as “handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition.” Miranda thinks herself like Emma and states her admiration that a few time in the novel. “I am Emma Woodhouse. I feel for her, of her and in her. I have a different sort of snobbism, but I understand her snobbism.” In this quotation, Miranda feels an instant connection between her and Emma because sometimes she looks down on Clegg who doesn't understand neither art nor literature like Emma's behaviors to lower class people. Miranda also tries to justify Emma's wrongs, which shows how she feels close herself to Emma.

“I know she does wrong things, she tries to organize other people’s live.Creative, determined to set the highest standards. A real human being. Her faults are my faults: her virtues I must make my virtues.” After finishing to book, Miranda matches the people in her life to the characters in the novel Emma. “Emma. The busi- ness of being between inexperienced girl and experienced woman and the awful problem of the man. Caliban is Mr Elton. Piers is Frank Churchill. But is G.P. Mr Knightley?”

     Finally, the third inter-text in the novel is to the story of Sinbad the Sailor and One Thousand and One Nights. In one of Sinbad's quest he is captured by Old Man of the Sea and makes him drunk to kill him. Miranda thinks Clegg is like Old Man of the Sea because he doesn't let her go. “I know what you are. You’re the Old Man of the Sea. The horrid old man Sinbad had to carry on his back. That’s what you are. You get on the back of everything vital, everything trying to be honest and free, and you bear it down.”

     To sum up, Fowles uses interxtuality in The Collector thanks to The Tempest, Sinbad the Sailor and Emma, which can be seen in the examples that I mentioned. 

Racism In Thoughts

     People suffered a lot because of racism and antipathy for others or minorities. Lots of innocent people died because of their color or nation in history. In 21th century, governments try to decrease racist activities in their countries. Racism is forbidden in almost all over the world. America has an African-American President, apartheid system finished and Mandela retired as the first black president of South Africa. Thank God, Mussolini and Hitler died. Racism in constitutions might finish, but what about the racism in thoughts? Has it really finished? The answer is no.

    Firstly, I think racism is growing people's mind day by day. The last  example of this happened in America which has a "black president". Zimmerman killed an innocent African-American teenager. It was because he was wearing a hood. Court released Zimmerman since if a person thinks his life is in danger, he has right to kill. This decision caused big protests in America. Although Mr Obama declared if he had a boy he would be like Trayvon Martin, people are still worried about hidden racism in thoughts. Because only half century ago African people had a bad position in society and it can be said they have just won race equality. Therefore, it is so normal for them to be afraid of events like this.

   Secondly, racism in Eurpoe is so obvious especially in football matches. In Italy, African footballer of Ac Milan Kevin P. Boateng walked off the pith during a preparation match because of racist Pro Patria fans in January. Two days ago the same event happened to Kevin Constant. Even the most adorable footballers have to experience racism sometimes. The biggest example of that is Roberto Carlos. In June 2011 Roberto Carlos was thrown a banana during a match while he was playing for Anzhi and Karim Benzema,French foot, was criticized a lot as he doesn't sing the national anthem of France, a racist newspaper in Germany didn't count the goals of Turkish originated players and said national match finished draw.

   Finally, in South Africa, which tried a lot to get rid of racism and apartheid system for years, Oscar Pistorius killed his girlfriend in Valentine's Day. He said he was too sorry and it was an accident as he thought she was a thief. There were campaigns around the world to support him. People supported him without even know who he is and his girlfriend. After a few days, Pistorious was released like Zimmerman;however, Oscar's case is still going on.

   Consequently, racism is still seen, even if people are equal in constitutions and governments try to emphasize how important equality is. It is really hard to break the taboos and privileges in thoughts. I can't stop thinking what would happen, if Zimmerman was an African and killed a white teenager with a bad excuse. Would he be released again by court? What would happen, if Oscar Pistorius was a black guy and killed his girlfriend. Would people around the world start a campaign and tell he didn't do anything wrong ? As Einstein says "it is harder to crack prejudice than an atom."

Grandson of Ottoman Empire: Turkey and its role in middle east

            Ottoman Empire also known as Turkish Empire ruled the world from 15th century to 17th century. It was settled in a geography that was19.902.000 km² . However, there was an end for Ottoman Empire like the other empires in the history. It finished legally 1922 and Turkish Republic was founded by Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK. Although this new type of country looked different it was like a "grandson" of the previous empire. The flag, language, religion were the same. Turkish Republic had even to pay the debts of the empire and try to settle up problems of empire.

           

            Now in the 90th year of the republic, Turkey tries to have a similar role like Ottoman Empire's in Middle East. It started in 2002 when Justice and Development Party became the 59th government. Turkey started to establish close relations with middle east leaders and PM Erdoğan visited most of the them. The main policy of the government was that " zero problem with our neighbors." There were powerful rumors that JDP ( Justice and Development Party ) was elected thanks to USA's support. After 2002 Turkey become the best country in middle east, economy grew, the debts are paid to IMF, there is not a lot conspiracies as much as before such as the journalists who are murdered. Turkey seems the most powerful country in Middle East and Balcanic Area. Are all those positive events because of skillfully administration of JDP or America's support ? That is the question as Hamlet says.

            Mahir KAYNAK a retired intelligence agent asks the same question one of his books. Is Turkey powerful because of skillful politicians and diplomats or is it because Turkey is wanted to be powerful by West to be used as a "buffer zone" to protect the interests of other countries such as USA. The answer is unknown but I think we might be so close to see it when the political mass is observed and analyzed in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Iran. These countries are nothing but just pawns in a chess game played by America, Russia, China and Germany. What about Turkey ? I think it is just a " knight " because there is no nation which wants to fight for the sake of the country and no people want to be martyr as much as the Turkish. 

Why did I write?

  Survey as a word has a lot of meanings such as "look at and examine." I choose this title for my blog as in my lessons my favoritte lesson was Survey of the English Literature. We read history, philosophy, myths, stories and poems. While doing that I realized how I changed my way of thinking during this department. Therefore I'm hoping to share my thoughts, my essays about the life, literature, politics, diplomacy etc. hoping to improve my language skills. Most probably I will the only one who reads this blog. However, I'm still optimistic because I think exactly like Tennessee Williams.
“Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory.”