2。1 The narrative method and Nelly Dean’s role outside the main plot as a narrator

The narrative method of Wuthering Heights is not the same as omniscient narration which is a traditional narrative mode of 19th century。 The narrative method of this novel is what is called Chinese boxes (Shi, 2003)。 Shi Aimin (2003) also puts forward her doubts about Nelly from the angle of narratology。 Emily creatively adopted the double flashbacks when writing the novel from the first-person point of view。 The time span of the story between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange was from 1771 to 1802。 The first and last three chapters were elaborated by the tenant Mr。 Lockwood from the first-person point of view about his experiences of visiting Wuthering Heights。 The story from 1771 to 1802 was told by Nelly Dean through her memory。 The story seemed to come to an end but stagnate when Lockwood first came to Wuthering Heights in 1801。 However, he was absent from February to September in 1802 which was the critical period of the story。 Although Mr。 Lockwood visited Wuthering Heights again in 1802, what he missed was Heathcliff’s death。 It was a turning point of Heathcliff’s change which also leaded the story to another side。 This part was again told by Nelly through her memory。 The double flashbacks consist of the two recall of Nelly Dean。 文献综述

According to the time line, we may find that to some extent, Mr。 Lockwood was excluded from the story。 Although the story was written by Mr。 Lockwood in the first-person point of view as his dairy, he actually got the second-hand information about some characters, such as Catherine and Heathcliff’s childhood and their love。 Therefore, the understanding of the story and different characters of his as well as that of ours was highly depended on Nelly’s narration。 Under this circumstance, Nelly was put in a position that she could actually dominate the characters, affecting people’s judgement of the story itself and different characters。 She was not a small potato of little importance any more, instead her multiple roles in the novel made her a complicated figure worth studying。

In the novel, Nelly’s main role, as we can easily recognize, is the main narrator of the novel。 In Lockwood’s pleading, Nelly told him the story between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, especially the complex love among Catherine, Heathcliff, Edgar, and Isabelle。 As a narrator, however, her description towards different characters carries her preferences, thus making her narration not objective。 By probing into her narration details, we may find some clues in the text。

(1)It is strange people should be so greedy, when they are alone in the world! (P 21) 

(2)Rough as a saw edge, and hard as whinstone! The less you meddle with him the better。 (P22)

(3) It's as dark almost as if it came from the devil (P23)。

The first point I want to point out is that Nelly tried to leave a negative impression of Heathcliff on Lockwood。 At the very beginning of Nelly’s narration, she used “greedy”, “rough”, “hard” and “devil” to describe Heathcliff, leaving Mr。 Lockwood a negative impression deliberately。 For Lockwood, what Nelly said about Heathcliff seemed to be consistent with his first impression about this man。 

The next point lies in the fact that Nelly was pleaded to tell the story at the very beginning, but later she was unable to hold herself back to reveal the past memory。 As Lockwood mentioned that Nelly returned to continue the story, as well as doing her own work。 Undoubtedly, Nelly was happy to find someone eager to listen to her about the story though she actually had a lot of work to do at hand。来*自~优|尔^论:文+网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766*

The third point I want to mention is that Nelly’s narration seems to be whitewashing of her wrongdoing。 In other words, she tried to avoid telling something that was ought to blame her for。 In chapter seven, Nelly attempted to leap over some three years。 As a narrator, we can easily notice her great power to cut the story, not to mention changing some details that Lockwood and the readers don’t know。 When Heathcliff disappeared in a rainy day, Catherine rushed into the rain to look for him and sat with wet clothes overnight, falling seriously ill。 What great pain for her we can imagine since she lost Heathcliff。 Nevertheless, in chapter nine, Nelly didn’t tell anything about the past three years but skim over with several words, which arouse our suspicion about her intention。 Did she try to minimize the harm that Heathcliff’s departure brought to Catherine so that nobody would have sympathy for the willful mistress? During Catherine’s marriage, she also did something to break the relationship between Catherine and Linton deliberately。