Organic Unity or Binary Opposition：A Comparative Study of New Criticism and Structuralism Based on Wuthering Heights

Abstract：As text-oriented critical theories， both New Criticism and Structuralism pay much attention to the text itself which is regarded as a unity independent of other things beyond it， such as the authors intention， the readers response， and the historical background， etc. Although both of the two theories attach importance to the text， they still differ from each other in the analytical methods of the text. New criticism tends to expose the organic unity and rich connotations of the text by analyzing its symbols， tension， paradox， and irony， etc. with the use of systematic theory， while Structuralism disintegrates a literary work into pairs of contradictory and related binary opposition and then integrates them into an organic whole. Through the analysis of the same text， Wuthering Heights， from the perspective of New Criticism as well as of Structuralism respectively， this essay will show the similarity and the difference of the two theories when they are used to interpret literary works. Wuthering Heights.

Key words：New Criticism；Structuralism；Wuthering Heights

To begin with， it is necessary to give a brief introduction to the two theories.

First， New Criticism， as a literary theory arising as the predominant critical approach in the 1940s through the 1960s， involves the close and careful reading and interpreting of individual literary works. New Criticism differs greatly from previous literary criticism as it dismisses authorial intent， and particularly ignores biographical and historical information about an author. Instead， from the perspective of New Critics， literature is to be interpreted based solely on the cohesiveness of the work. They regard the work of art as an autonomous object and a self-contained universe of discourse. To New Critics， whatever the author intends is useless， as the form of the work always transforms intent and produces new meanings. Therefore， critics are required to analyze symbols， irony， paradox， and tension， to find how the work becomes an organic unity. For New Critics， “organic form is a particular concept important to the New Critics，” （Guerin， Wilfred L.， et al. 83）. Generally speaking， New Criticism mainly focuses on the work itself， and its purpose is to uncover the works unity with every element supporting the unifying theme.

Second， Structuralism， flourishing from 1960s to 1970s， also emphasizes the study of the literary work itself rather than that of the author. However， from the viewpoint of structuralists， “the text is seen as an object structure activating various codes and conventions which are independent of author， reader， external reality.” （Seldan， 53） Based on Saussures relevant linguistic theory that language is a signifying system in which the relations among the elements that make up of the system are extremely important， literary structuralists intend to regard literature as embodying systematic sets of rules that enable it to signify since literature is a verbal art which is composed of language. That is， structuralists believe that where there are texts there are rules governing their production and interpretation， so for them understanding texts means identifying codes behind texts. Moreover， Structuralism does not pay much attention to the interpretation of particular literary works. According to Eagleton， “Structuralism， as the term suggests， is concerned with structures， and more particularly with examining the general laws by which they work.” （127） Besides， Structuralism can be applied to literature in varied ways. Some structuralists divide the texts they are studying into the smallest structures possible and then investigate the relations among the parts. Other structuralists study the structural patterns in individual texts and examine binary opposition： relationships between rich and poor， old and young， visible and invisible， presence and absence. In the view of structuralists， any works surface feature can be reduced to the deep structure underlying， namely， the essence of the work. Thus， interpretation of the work lies in understanding and outlining the essence through the examination of binary opposition.

After getting an overview of New Criticism and Structuralism， now its time to discuss how they are used to analyze literary works. The same text， Wuthering Heights， will be interpreted on the basis of New Criticism and of Structuralism one by one.

In the first place， New Criticism will be adopted to interpret the symbolic implications in Wuthering Heights as an organic unity. “Symbol is a way of using something integral to the work to reach beyond the work and engage the world of value outside the work.” （Guerin， Wilfred L.， et al. 86） It is all known that good literary works need symbols to make themselves more meaningful and compressed， and so does the novel Wuthering Heights which also has varied symbols， including symbols of places， symbols of characters， symbols of natural things， and symbols of plots， etc. Here symbols of places in this novel will be taken as an example to show how New Criticism is used to interpret a literary work. There are two main places which are Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange in this novel. First， Wuthering Heights is one name of the place， and it is also the name of the ancient manor located on the moors. On the one hand， from the literal meaning of Wuthering Heights， “wuthering” is a local adjective used to describe the fierce and wild winds that blow during storms on the moor， and “heights” indicate the geographic location of the manor. As we all know， the heights are the places where storms come frequently and where the natural environment is also atrocious and execrable. This kind of climate influences the temperament of the people living in Wuthering Heights. They are fractious， coarse and violent， with Healthcliff being the typical representative. On the other hand， some paragraphs in this novel describe Wuthering Heights as a place whose components are strong wind， storm， and tumult， exposure， power which stunt and create an “excessive slant”， deprivation， denial， narrowness and a craving for warmth and health –the “sun”. Therefore， it can be concluded that Wuthering Heights， the name of the moor， indicates the basic tone of the novel， which will be full of tumult and passion. Second， Thrushcross Grange is another chief place of the novel. Literally， “thrushcross” is a bird which likes singing only when it is sunny and warm， and “grange” especially means the aristocratic manor far from the town. The two words link together， showing a fantastic picture—in a big manor， it is full of green trees and colorful flowers with the thrushcross singing pleasantly. The interior of the manor is also gorgeous. In such a harmonious and peaceful manor， the people living there are mild， kind， and obedient. For example， after Catherine is bit by the dog in Thrushcross Grange， the Lintons take good care of her. However， in terms of the word-building of “thrushcross”， there is another implication. “Cross” has the meaning of misfortune and crucifixion. Thus the word “thrushcross” implies that the peace at Thrushcross Grange will be broken， and the people living there will suffer misfortune， like being nailed to the cross， since kind people are easy to be hurt. Isabellas experiences prove this kind of misfortune—Isabella is ill-treated by Heathcliff after their elopement， suffering a lot during her marriage. The two places， Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange， construct the basic framework of the novel， and they also symbolize a kind of conflicting and opposing tension， which contributes to the organic unity of the novel. From what has been discussed， we can find that the analysis of Wuthering Heights from the perspective of New Criticism， through closing reading， analyzing the denotation and connotation of words， and integrating elements of this novel， mainly focuses on revealing the organic unity of the novel.

Then its Structuralisms turn to be applied to analyze Wuthering Heights. Although the text is also important for structuralists， they prefer to pay more attention to binary opposition in this novel rather than interpret the organic unity like New Critics. They hold that the study of binary opposition in literary works can help get the essence of the surface phenomenon and seek to find the common rules and codes that govern the form and content of all literature. According to Greimas belief that the fundamental structure of binary opposition shapes our language and the narratives through which we articulate our experience， structuralist analysis mainly focuses on searching for underlying binary opposition as an analysis device. Form the perspective of Structuralism， there are many pairs of binary opposition in this novel. The first one is binary opposition in settings. Setting is a necessary part in a novel since it plays a special role in the novels progress by providing a specific and meaningful background to the events and tension. Besides， setting is also closely related to the characters， themes， plots， symbols， and outcome of novel. In this novel， there are two settings—Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange， which have many differences in appearance and mood. The settings between them represent two completely opposing worlds and values which form another binary opposition， namely storm and calm or nature and culture. The second one is binary opposition between characters which is shown clearly from the symmetrical presentation of the three generations of the two families. There are many opposing figures in the novel， such as Heathcliff and Edgar， Hindley and Edgar， Catherine and Isabella， Catherine and Cathy （younger Catherine） as well as Cathy and Linton Heathcliff. The last one is binary opposition in themes. After reading this novel， I find there are two chief themes， one being love and hatred and the other being life and death. It is obvious that both of the two themes， being perpetual ones in the history of literature， construct binary opposition. From what has been discussed， it is obvious that Structuralism also attaches importance to the text itself， but it tends to explore underlying binary opposition in literary works when it is employed to interpret literary works.

In light of the aforementioned discussion about the process during which New Criticism and Structuralism are used to interpret the same text Wuthering Heights， it can be easily found the similarity and the difference of the way in which the two theories are applied to interpret literary works. Their similarity lies in their attitude towards the text， that is， both of them pay close attention to the text itself， ignoring other factors beyond the text， such as authors intention， the readers response， and the historical background， etc. And their difference exists in their analytical methods of the text itself. New Criticism is inclined to analyze the texts symbols， tension， irony， and paradox， etc. to reveal how all of those elements work together to make the text an organic unity， while the interpretation of Structuralism mainly focuses on the search for underlying binary opposition as an analysis device.

【Works Cited】

[1] Eagleton， Terry. Literary Theory： An Introduction [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press & Blackwell Publishers， 2004.

[2] Guerin， Wilfred L.， et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press & Person Education， 2004.

[3] Selden， Raman. A Reader Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Publishing， Inc.， 1999.

【作者简介】

武玉珍（1992—），女，河南新乡人，重庆大學2014级在读研究生，主要研究方向：英美文学。