5、Wuthering Heights has a difficult narrative structure. The story begins in 1801. It is first narrated by Lockwood, a visitor staying in Thrushcross Grange, one of the two houses, where we can meet different characters in the novel. Lockwood is a narrow, dull man who is basically afraid of feeling; as a result, he is a bad man who lives emotionally through a dirty interest in the lives of others. It is this side of his character that leads into the main narrative stream of the novel. His interest in what he sees and experiences on his visits to Wuthering Heights leads him to encourage  Nelly Dean, the house-keeper at the Grange, to provide him with the information concerning the people that he has met: Heathcliff, Cathy, Hareton, Joseph and, of course, the ghost of Catherine.

Nelly Dean’s story forms the major part of the narrative. While Nelly is meant to be an objective narrator, she has a lot to do with what has happened over the past twenty-five years that have led to the present state of affairs. Therefore, as readers, we need to realize how Nelly presents events and characters and her own role in determining the course of events.

The final part of the novel concerns the immediate future and provides us with the results of Lockwood’s visit to the Heights and the appearance of Catherine’s ghost. It is narrated by both Lockwood and Nelly.

Finally, Isabella, the one time wife of Heathcliff, through a letter, narrates one middle part of the novel.

Although this narrative structure may, at first, be very difficult, it is necessary because in the world of the novel, time order of the years is not so important; the events of twenty-five years ago are as much a part of the present as those in which Lockwood finds himself in 1801.

 

47．From the first paragraph, we can know the first narrator is _____________.

       A．Lockwood                                          B．Thrushcross       

       C．Heathcliff                                            D．Nelly Dean

48．The house-keeper at the Grange satisfies Lockwood’s dirty desire by ____________.

       A．telling him the story of the ghost of Catherine

       B．providing him with the information of Wuthering Height

       C．encouraging him to know more about the people he has met

       D．showing him around the place he is visiting

49．What is special about the middle part of the novel?

       A．One part of it is narrated in the form of a letter.

       B．It describes how Isabella and Heathcliff got separated.

       C．It is the most difficult part in the novel.

       D．One part of it suggests Catherine has been dead

50．This passage is quite probably ____________.

       A．a piece of news                                   B．a reading guide

       C．a writing guide                                    D．an advertisement of a novel