What can be said about Emily Brontë’s enigmatic novel? Readers either love it…or they hate it.

Wuthering Heights is controversial because it stirs the soul like no other novel can. Within its pages, embodied within the fiery essence of love, lie the pangs of humiliation and emotional turmoil, the both of which resurface in the form of devotionally motivated vengeance peppered with spots of domestic violence. Heathcliff is the monster, but why? What are the social constructs that propel his need to make others suffer? And who is Catherine, but a woman who knows she cannot outwit the unspoken rules of society? She marries Edgar to help Heathcliff, but is this a justified mode of action?

Feelings drive the plot henceforth, where personalities rise above principles. Wuthering Heights drives deep into the meaning of life, of what is fair and what isn’t. Where the points of importance are kept in moderation by the kindly narrator, Mrs. Dean, they are at once blown out of proportion by the lightning that strikes by the force of desire, the desire to be loved, the desire to enforce hate. The pain goes so deep that the effects are generational, all the more harrowing by the fact that such far-reaching consequences were intended, even celebrated. Biblical in this sense, the wrath of God is the metaphor, where the sins of the elder will be paid for by the sins of the younger. But the strain on the heart can only go so far. It kills others, but ends by the force of its own relentlessness. The flowering of humanity finds its way in the end, as does the spring of life within those most dark and lonesome places.

The latest film edition of Wuthering Heights includes a new spin on the novel in which the interracial element is taken to the full extreme, but why should that matter? Without a doubt, the pain remains the same. Enjoy the new movie, with James Howson performing as Heathcliff, in a movie theater or on a DVD coming soon:

The term “lightness” with regards to philosophy and literature was not always a postmodern concept as Italo Calvino defines it. Lightness on Milan Kundera‘s terms was something of a negative quality. Lightness pulled one away from the weight of the world; to seek lightness would be a mode by which one would try and escape from reality. Seeking lightness in this manner was a means to detach from the responsibility of living.

Calvino alters the perception of lightness by redefining it as a positive quality. Lightness is a means of gaining perspective. Lightness is a force that propels.  Lightness is a coping mechnisim, a way of escaping from the rigors of the world.

To become light is to allow oneself to rise, to access a different plane by which to look at the environment. Changing perspective on the matters that weigh a person down is to alleviate the discomfort of that weight.

Calvino uses science to bolster his claim. He highlights the power of the tiniest aspects of life, the atom, DNA, etc., principle structures that support and create the weightiest aspects of the greater world at large. Lightness is a force that gives and sustains life.

Calvino also uses the example of the shaman to describe lightness. He notes the ability of the shaman, when matters overbear the tribe with disease, infection and basic troubles, to attain a higher plane of consciousness so that he may be able to change the face of reality.

These concepts are important for Calvino and his literary escapades. He views literature as a transformation of ideas, and he views lightness as a transfromative power. Literature itself is not only mimetic power created by the poet and his inventions, but the language in literature can assume the power of lightness. Flying carpets and those who ride lightly on the wind to their destinations are achieving lightness, all the while conveying a sense of lightness to the reader. Breezes and bees, drifting and gliding are words of light verbal texture and they produce the lofty feeling of the lightness that helps one to contend with worldly weight.

The questions provided stem directly from Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millenium:

Why does Calvino write the six memos?
To look for an overall definition of his work.

How does Calvino define “weight”?
Qualities that stick to writing from the start; interia, opacity of the world.

What is the Medusa myth considered an allegory to?
A poet’s relationship to the world; a lesson in the method to follow when writing. Persesus rides the wind then uses the mirror to view his situation. The wind is “lightness,” so that the mirror will provide an enlightened perspective.

Calvino refers to Milan Kundera’s novel to assign the meaning of weight to mean what?
The weight of living; a current state of oppression in Kundera’s country, and a type of oppression that pervades living throughout the human condition.

Where does Calvino’s view of science fit into the discrepancy between weight and lightness?
The weightness of the world is supported by minute entities like DNA, atoms, etc. Lightness in these terms are small entities with forces that are seemingly more powerful than weight.

How does Calvino’s computer science analogy depict lightness as a force?
The software of a computer cannot operate without the hardware (weight); software–the light stream of ones and zeros–becomes lightness as a force that produces meaning through the hardware.

How should the term, “knowledge of the world tends to dissolve the solidity of the world” (Calvino 8) be interpreted?
An understanding of the world helps to keep the weight of the world from crushing people.

What does Calvino say “profound emotion” does for Ovid?
Profound emotion transforms the nature of a single common substance into what it most differs from.

How does thoughtful lightness make frivolity seem dull and heavy?
Thoughtful lightness, likened unto pursuing the intellect and knowledge of the world, renders old ideas that are bound by a type of stagnation dwelling within group-majority-thought as uninspiring, even superficial.

How does Calvino describe the two contrasting tendencies in literature?
One tries to make language a weightless element that hovers; the other tries to give language the weight, density and concreteness of things, bodies, sensations.

Does Calvino mean to imply that specific use of language can lead to a sense of lightness?
Yes. Use of language such as: breeze, petal, bee, firm-but-light, nimble, etc.; this verbal texture in language gives a sense of weightlessness.

Why does Calvino employ Shakespeare as a model to represent his vision of lightness?
Lightness in language, specifically the use of language that evokes the feeling of weightlessness, offers a transformation of interpretation. Shakespeare’s characters are sometimes able to distance themselves from their own dramas via the mobility of light language.

How is the sluggishness of human consciousness, as described by Cyrano (20), contended with in regards to literature?
Through the use of lightness in language; poetic invention.

How does Calvino’s shaman on page 27 overcome the woes of tribal life?
By ridding the body of its psychological weight he could fly to another world, another level of perception, where he could find the strength to change the face of reality. This concept is Calvino’s summation of lightness, that by becoming light, in mind and in language, the perception of the world takes on a different perspective.

“The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.”

The definition comes with an example:

“The blindfolded figure with scales is an allegory of justice.”

Speaking in terms of literary allegory, this definition with an example seems fairly straightforward, but does it explain what allegory truly does as a function? And what should the reader of allegory be doing?

Allegory is an extended metaphor that asks the reader to look closely at what is being said, to discern deeper meaning. In this manner, allegory works as a tool to convey messages in a cryptic manner. Allegory allows subjects to be examined in depth without tying the subject to specific people or situations. This process of describing without explicit identification protects the creator of allegory in cases of criticism, and bolsters acclaim in cases of profound revelation. Allegory is thus a type of explanation that conveys what might otherwise be overlooked providing a reader takes the time to discern the message. Alternately and paradoxically, where certain non-allegorical subjects might be at first difficult to understand, allegorical depictions of such subjects are often easier to understand than the nature of the subjects themselves.   

For the task of reading allegory: the reader of allegory observes the characters and content of a text and determines what abstract idea or principle the connection between the two is supposed to represent.

Should this transposition of worded images into ideas supposed to happen in real-time?

In order to discern allegorical meaning, the reader has to consider the characteristics of a character and the context by which they are behaving before an allegory can be identified. This idea would suggest that transposing a text into allegory would function like a syllogism: a character in a situation does this and that, this and that happened, therefore the character must represent abstract idea “x.”

The problem with identifying allegory through this equation-like process is that a reader will come to expect a character’s behavior. Inevitably, the character will not fulfill its obligation to a representation causing the allegory itself to breakdown. Strict adherence to a singular allegorical interpretation can also produce characters that are flat simply because of this predictability. In addition, external circumstances occurring outside of the character’s path of development can alter the perception of an intended allegory.

Such literary conditions tell on the need to recognize how allegory can shift in its nature. If an abstract idea is pinned to a character, a reader has to be prepared to observe how a representation may change as a narration progresses. This what the reader of allegory does. Though the equation formula leads to the notion: character = x, the flexibility of content within the text may destabilize the outcome, warranting the basis for the possibility of different outcomes.  The dictionary definition’s example states: the blindfold figure [lady] is justice. But what is justice? A beautiful woman wrapped in a sheet wielding power over others? Virtuous vengeance? A courtroom? Karma? And why does justice have to be blind? Does not one need to see who is being justified? Is it necessary that the gender of justice be female? Are women more justifiable than men? In this manner, allegory can spin off into multiple directions. Likewise, a character fighting bad guys with the symbol of Christianity on his chest can represent biblical good over evil, or it can represent the power of a nation that fights under the banner of religion. 

For practical reasons, the temptation for the reader of allegory is to read then identify allegory afterwards, as to avoid the pitfalls of lengthy contemplation that can ruin the fun of reading. But the allegorical reader is responsible for recognizing the life of a text and the ability of language to manipulate interpretation. When an action occurs that does not fit with a representation, the reader must identify and adjust. When similar characters behave in similar ways, the presence of duplicated suggestions have to be accounted for. When puns are used, how should a reader react? An interpretation must consider the subtle inconsistencies as they happen–in real-time–in order to make sense of a narration lest a reader misjudge the nature of a text.

Time also influences the meaning of allegory. A hawk flying high above may have once represented a spirit flying into the afterlife, but later may represent notions of reconnaissance espionage. Culture affects the meaning of allegory. One ethnic group may interpret a battle scene as a savage lack of reason while another may view it as a necessary component of national expansion. Individuality can influence how allegory is interpreted. A vegan observes the animal farming industry as a representation of mankind wielding unlawful power over the animal kingdom while a common consumer may view the industry as mankind’s right to survive.

What can help the allegorical reader is to consider the author’s situation and the context by which a text is composed. Specific ulterior motives generally drive the creator of an allegory. Even in this case, however, allegory is not static. As the dynamic of an author’s mind is complex by the very nature of existence itself, an author’s intended allegory is subject to powers that are beyond authorial control. Varying thematic elements will subconsciously slip into an author’s work that render the intentions of a text valid only to a certain extent. Truthful interpretation arrives out of examination from outside the text and from an unbiased perspective, not from minds operating within and creating the text. The author’s intent, then, should be considered in conjunction with authorial environments that both, exist beyond the text while at the same time, influence an interpretation.

The reader of allegory must therefore shape representation by both the character = x method and according to the shifting nature of allegory so that a rich and complete understanding of an allegorical representation can occur. The reader of allegory should consider the range of possibilities posed by the era and context of the text and the era of interpretation. The intent of an author should be accounted for when considering allegory, whether it be a symbolized longing for love or a bold political statement etc. Ultimately, these accounts should ready themselves for interpretive variations in accordance with not only the nature of the reading audience performing the interpretation and the pliability of language, but for the slippery nature of allegory itself.

Figures of Balance:

Parallelism: use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases

Ex. One desires to run a bloody marathon, as one wishes to climb a gruesome mountain

Antithesis: sharply contrasting ideas juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure

Ex. Praise the independent child, pray for the co-dependent woman

Chiasmus: inversion of the second of two parallel structures

Ex. The spires of his tainted wealth, money corrupted by cruel ambition

Figures of Repetition:

Anaphora: repitition in the beginning of lines of poetry

Ex. He saw the darkened path behind him
        He saw the lighted path before him
        He saw the difference and the choice
And chose to go forward

Epistrophe: repetition at the end of lines of poetry

Ex. Why did the world hold such solemn sights of woe,
        yet in my eyes I could only perceive such solemn sights of woe,
        for my heart was a landscape carved by solemn sights of woe.

Figures of Amplification:

Parenthesis: a phrase  inserted into a passage with which it is not grammatically connected, and marked off by brackets, dashes, dots, etc.

Ex. Shaharra fleeing from larva–the larvae in her mind–
              Erasing scars of lost mother afar 

Periphrasis: roundabout way of expressing something; circumlocution; describing something without naming it

Ex. Tasty expressions of life’s sweet flavor, what tongue does not adore?

Polysyndeton: repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect

Ex. We are the ones who will struggle and we are the ones who will suffer and you are the ones who will lose and die. 

Figures of Omission:

Asyndeton: omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used

Ex. “I will steal any money, shoplift any goods, rob any bank, so that I may simply survive,” the young man said to us on that dusty street.

Ellipsis: omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding

Ex. John and Mary know how, and they do it all night long.

Figures of Address:

Apostrophe: addressing the audience directly

Ex. Right now, you are probably asking yourself…

Rhetorical Question: a question that does not require an answer

Ex. Why should I sit here and listen to this?

Figures of Syntactic Deviation:

Inversion: rearranging syntax of a common sentence; placing words out of order

Ex. Failed were the swordsman’s efforts to strike down the invisible warrior.

Anthimeria: use of a word as if it were a member of a different word class (part of speech); typically, the use of a noun as if it were a verb

Ex. He took the slimy thing from the water and frogged me in the face.

Figures of Verbal Play:

Pun: use of words to exploit ambiguities and innuendoes in their meaning, usually for humorous effect; a play on words

Ex. Let us celebrate the idol mind of our leader. (Idol is to be a substitute for idle.)

Neologism: a new word, expression, or usage

Ex. Y’all heard me, it’s time to get jiggy in da haouse!