Twilight, Wuthering Heights & Celebration Love

"If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger"

- Emily Brontë

 
Recommended tea: Love & Tea Company's Celebration Love

Recently, I was visiting the old bookstore where I used to work. 

Now, unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you know that the newest movie in the Twilight saga New Moon just came out. Seriously,  you would HAVE to be living under a rock because everyone on the planet who owns some kind of business is using the success of Twilight and the release of New Moon to sell sh*t. And it is exactly that - sh*t! 

New Moon 3-D puzzle balls:

Sneakers (care of regretsy):

BAND-AIDS!

The dress that Bella wears in the new movie (which is actually really cute...did I say that?):

 

So, obviously, no one can resist jumping on the Twi-wagon (twagon?) to make a buck... not even (gasp) Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Emily Bronte?!

I walked into the bookstore, expecting to see hundreds of mass-market copies of New Moon, tables dedicated to it, vampire merchandise galore (which I did) ...but THIS? The classics re-released, endorsed by Bella and Edward?

And then I thought "Holy crap... is it true? Are people REALLY not reading these books anymore?"

In this day and age, does Shakespeare need Stephenie to sell?

So, after I stopped twitching and regained consciousness, I thought "Hey, Stephenie... Suck it! I just bought an awesome new version of Wuthering Heights with cover art by Ruben Toledo (see the picture at the top of this post... GORGEOUS!) and I'm gonna read THAT and NOT New Moon (more like New Schmoon) and you're not getting any of my money and I'm gonna show you HA!"

So I started reading Wuthering Heights, what I have been told is Bella and Edward's very FAVORITE book of all tiem for reelz guyz, for the first time in a long, long time. 

Guess what I realized? Cathy and Heathcliff... um... not much healthier than Bella and Edward.

Edward is a vampire. Heathcliff digs up Cathy's corpse (years after she has died) and cuddles it.

Bella hangs out with Jacob for awhile (I assume?). Cathy MARRIES someone else.

Bella tries to kill herself so that she can see Edward. Cathy...um... actually kills herself. Albeit in a roundabout way, but she does. AND, she kills herself just to piss Heathcliff off.

And then Heathcliff prays that she will not go to heaven, but stay on earth as a ghost, haunt him, and drive him mad so that they won't be separated (you would think that if they loved each other THAT much they would've found a way to be together... yes? But I digress).

So yeah, Bella and Edward are in an abusive relationship (yes, this has been confirmed). But if Bella and Edward are in an abusive relationship... Cathy and Heathcliff? They're on a whole other level of abusive that hasn't even been named yet. Like, worse that Jerry Springer abusive if you really think about it.

So what's the deal here? I was thoroughly, honestly confused with myself. Why, you ask?

Because I friggin LOVE Wuthering Heights. I eat it up. I think Heathcliff (that JERK Heathcliff) is super duper dreamy. 

And at the same time I loathe a book like Twilight because I'm afraid it will send young girls the wrong message about relationships.

So what sets the two apart? What makes one a classic and one brain candy? What makes one thrilling and the other sickening?

I could think of only two explanations:

• Emily Bronte is a darn good writer. Stephenie Meyer is not.
  

Emily: "My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."

Stephenie: "Fall down again, Bella?'
'No, Emmett, I punched a werewolf in the face.'" 

(need I say more?)

• Heathcliff and Catherine are equals in their relationship. 

Yes, Heathcliff, like Edward, yells at the girl he loves and tells her what to do. But you know what? Catherine yells right back! She doesn't say, "Okay, now will you please chew my food for me because I lack the ability to do anything myself? Oh! And did you remember that I'm clumsy?"  

Other than abusive relationships, there is one other thing that they have in common. These books - Twilight, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet - reinforce the idea that there is such a thing as enduring, everlasting, life-shattering love. Love that makes everything else unimportant.  We all want to believe that there is something bigger out there - that there is that one person who will make all of the trivial things... trivial. In Wuthering Heights, the power of their love destroys them and (almost) everyone around them. In Twilight, I think it destroys Bella and her ability to be a free-thinking, powerful woman.


So yes... to me, even though there are similarities, Twilight still equals suck and Wuthering Heights still equals awesome. But the way my heart leapt watching Cathy and Heathcliff made me understand why, to some people, Twilight equals awesome.

But, on a completely different note, these new "Twi-classic!" covers brought something else to my attention. 

If Stephenie Meyer hadn't told these girls to read these classics, would they ever have done it?

How many of us Twi-haters have so often said, "GRR, Stephenie! We hate you! Why are you making our poor children read crap when they should read literature?" 

But I think the reality (albeit, the sad reality) is that these children would be reading crap regardless of whether or not Twilight had even been published. And that crap would probably not make them want to read Wuthering Heights or Pride & Prejudice. This crap does. They could be using their gazillions to endorse thousands of things, but to endorse some of the best books of all time? Books that these pre-teens would otherwise have no desire to read? That's pretty awesome.

Stephenie, I still hate your books, but you've definitely earned some points with me. 

Now go roll around in your pile(s) of money. 

Hey! Look at this! 

• Nightlight: A Parody 
• Kristen Stewart bites her lower lip a lot
  

The Scarlet Letter & Dream by the Fire

"I have often wondered...why high school kids almost invariably hate the books they are assigned to read by their English teachers." 

-Stephen King

Recommended tea: The Republic of Tea's Dream by the Fire Red Tea 

If the picture above isn't instantly recognizable to you, you obviously didn't read The Scarlet Letter in high school. I remember cracking that book open, spending hours trying to read it, wishing that I could be watching The Real World instead. 

When we talked about it in class, nothing jumped out at me. Nothing about it seemed extraordinary. To me, it was a long, overly verbose book that a teacher made me read to make me suffer and to learn to do what I was told, no matter how painful.

Years and a college degree later, I heard a segment on NPR. It was a part of their incredible "In Character" series, which explores the most influential and memorable characters in American fiction. Some of these were Harriet the Spy, Cookie Monster, Darth Vader, and Hester Prynne. 


Now, some of you might be thinking "WHY would they talk about cookie monster?" 


I hate to admit, MY honest reaction was "WHY would they talk about boring ole Hester Prynne?"


And then, they read a selection from the book:


...she took off the formal cap that confined her hair; and down it fell upon her shoulders, dark and rich, with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance and imparting the charm of softness to her features.


Not too shabby, huh? Actually, to be specific, in the NPR segment they had John Updike read this selection, which he recited from memory, and which, he said, still makes him cry.


"Well, maybe I should try reading that sucker again," I thought to myself. Then, I saw that The Scarlet Letter was going to be released with a new cover:

 

You can't tell in this photo, but the "A" actually GLEAMS in the light.

I decided that it was time to give Hester and Mr. Hawthorne another chance. I gave away my old high school copy in favor of the new gleamy version, deciding that it was vital to see it with completely new eyes.

I was surprised by how instantly I fell in love with it. Actually, it was this specific moment in the first chapter that made me fall in love with it. Hawthorne describes the prison, saying:

The rust on the ponderous ironwork of its oaken door looked more antique than any thing else in the new world.  Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era... But, on the one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.

Holy crap. Our high school teachers were right!

This isn't the first time I've re-read a book that I hated in high school. When I read To Kill A Mockingbird in school, it went through and over my head. This year I read it again, laughing and sobbing my way through it. Now, it's one of my favorite books, and I think of Scout as one of my best fictional friends.

But, let's not forget that when I read it in school, I hated it. And I'd venture to say that most of us did. Something doesn't seem right about this picture. Am I alone on this one? Teachers were literally showering us with beautiful language and amazingly human stories. In one ear, out the other, to the back of our dusty closets. 

Why do we hate the books that we were forced to read in high school? Maybe the keyword there is "forced." Is it because we were told to read them, and being a teenager means hating being made to do anything? Is it because we weren't mentally or emotionally developed enough to appreciate them? Is it because our teachers didn't take the time to help us understand WHY these books are important?

Most (NOT ALL) of my experiences with reading in high school were like this:

Teacher: Read this.

Student: Why? 

Teacher: Because it's important. 

Student: Why is it important? 

Teacher: Because I said so. 

Student: Is it good? Will I enjoy it? 

Teacher: That's not the point. The point is it's a classic and that means you need to read it so that you can get into a good college.

This, of course, is probably not even close to what actually happened. But for some strange reason, when you're in high school, that's the way it feels - like someone is trying to force you to appreciate something antiquated that has nothing whatsoever to do with who you are. 

You lose the wonder that reading gave you as a child and all of a sudden reading is a chore.

How is it possible that all of this amazing literature was before our very eyes, and we were completely blind to its beauty? 

Maybe you can't be forced to appreciate art. Art's beauty lies in its ability to entice you, to draw you in, to make you look twice and ask questions. Art speaks to you in its own time, when you're ready to listen to it. But Art loses it's power when it is shoved under your nose. The whisper of a painting or a novel is much louder than the shout of the lesson plan or the report card. 

Also, in high school you might feel sorry for a character like Hester Prynne, but you lack the hindsight - the memories, the scars, the good and bad choices you've made - to be able to meet Hester and ache  WITH her. 

As a child, I looked at Hester and thought "The moral of this story is that we shouldn't judge anyone. The End. Give me my test score."

As an adult, I look into Hester's eyes and realize that we are the same.  She isn't a character - she is my friend, my sister, my neighbor.

Hester is me. Hester is you. Hester is all of us.

Take a moment to consider all of those classics you skimmed through at the last minute, the night before the test - Great Expectations, Moby Dick, Oliver Twist, Huckleberry Finn, Wuthering Heights - a whole treasure trove of books screaming, "Please, give me another chance! I promise that I have something valuable to say! We can relate to each other!" 

Without the test looming after you reach the last page, these books have a new, alluring, shiny glow. Dig them out of the closet, approach them with newer, wiser eyes, and learn why your English teacher gave them to you in the first place.

...and then, give your English teacher the opportunity to say, "I told you so!"

Hey! Look at this!

• A teacher's guide for connecting The Scarlet Letter and Laurie Halse Anderson's YA novel Speak
• NPR's In Character series 
• Ruben Toledo Reimagines the Classics