English Literature (Gothic/Victorian): Wuthering Heights, the Supernatural, and What We Don’t Know with Dr Matthew Bradley, The University of Liverpool

The objective of the session will be for students to question how much they know about the events of Wuthering Heights, particularly in relation to the supernatural; my aim is for them to finish the session with the knowledge that Emily Bronte isn’t allowing them to settle on a final position about what is happening in the novel.

The format will begin with a close reading of the famous section where the ‘ghost’ of Cathy appears to Heathcliff. Students will be encouraged to determine and discuss what they think is really happening. The discussion will then be broadened to encompass other supernatural happenings in Wuthering Heights, and then will ask how we can know anything that’s narrated in the novel for certain.

The session will conclude by exploring the strange idea of thinking what ‘really happens’ in any novel.

The benefit should be principally a greater understanding of the way narrative technique might reflect real-life experience (i.e. none of us can nip outside our own sense of events to find the ‘real’ happenings), and that Bronte is alerting us to this.

Suitable for: Year 12/Year 13

Biography: Dr Matthew Bradley

Preparation/Pre-reading: It is expected that students taking part will have read Wuthering Heights and be familiar with the text. It would be helpful if the students could re-read the ghost scene in Wuthering Heights – Ch 3, ‘The Ghost at the Window’.

It would also be useful for students to consider questions in advance relating to studying this subject at university. These questions may cover, for example, the application process, course structure, and university lifestyle.