Lifting the Veil on the Brontë Juvenilia: A Study of the Gondal Saga and Wuthering Heights

In 1848, before her death, Emily Brontë completed a novel that has transcended time and has become a staple of classic Victorian literature; that novel is Wuthering Heights. While many have read or have heard of this novel, the origination of the tale has been left to speculation and uncertainty. I hope to uncover some of the truth behind the novel's origination by comparing its plot, themes and characters to Emily's juvenilia poetry. The Gondal poetry, as it has come to be called, gives a greater insight into the framework for the novel, and through careful explication of specific passages, can be seen as a precursor to the popular gothic novel. While Wuthering Heights is a fictional story, I will give details that will explain that through studying the novel in relation to the juvenilia, it is more than possible that her writing contains elements of her personal life, environment and viewpoints.No embargoAcademic Major: Englis