In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, men are characterised by their innate dominance in the patriarchal system of puritanical Victorian England; Emily Brontë, herself living in such a system, seems to elevate the masculine characteristics of the characters to give them autonomy/power, as she herself was given power through assuming a male pseudonym, Ellis Bell. The dominance of men and masculinity, and its counterpart of female passivity is overtly presented in the relationship between Tess and Alec, exemplified in the scene where Alec feeds Tess a strawberry from the ‘green-house’– an extended metaphor for Alec’s ‘seduction’ of Tess, sexualising her before she matures, mimicking the strawberries being eaten before ‘they come’. Similarly, men and masculinity are explored through this insistent dominance in Wuthering Heights through the character of Heathcliff and his role as the ‘revenger’ in the novel, however his control does not originate from his relationship with Cathy, but rather his exertion of power on all the other characters, not simply the women. Unlike the relationship between Alec and Tess, the dominance and control in Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship is a subversion of traditional expectations, with Cathy embodying both the ‘masculine’ mental and characteristic physical dominance (WHIP / GRABBING HAIR) over Heathcliff. However, Heathcliff does not exhibit female/feminine passivity outside of this relationship – perhaps due to the elevated, beyond-understanding, spiritual qualities of Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship. As such, Brontë seems to elevate traditionally ‘masculine’ qualities, such as dominance.
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