The Domestic Spaces Troubled by the Figure of the Outsider. Essay Sample

The fiction work of Victorian novelists such as Emily Bronte and Arthur Conan contains some aspects of the struggles between the insiders and the outsiders. These are well presented in Wuthering Heights and The Sign of Four. In these two novels, there seem to be troubles of confrontations in the domestic spaces resulting from the figure of the outsiders. Some of the notable outsiders that bring about a disturbance in Wuthering Heights include Heathcliff and Lockwood, among others, while in The Sign of Four, the Indian servants, inhabitants and Tonga, British administrators and officials in India, as well as the Agra treasure, among others are a representation of the external figures bringing about a disturbance on the domestic spaces. With all this in mind, it is worth analyzing the arrival and presence of the outsider in social spaces, and how it results in a disturbance and interruption of the established usual and ordinary standards in society.

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Bronte, in the novel, depicts a small isolated society that thrives on established norms and codes. The society in Wuthering Heights clings on a structure where some people in the community are accepted while it considers some as "others" through the concept of "otherness" discussed in the novel. The community in the story has a closely-knit structure where the outsiders have to adhere to specific established codes, as seen in the minimum conditions stipulated for Mr. Lockwood. The disruption of the normal in Wuthering Heights community is evident through the initial and the final settlement of Lockwood. Lockwood, in the novel, is a representation of an external figure dealing clumsily with the indigenous of Wuthering Heights (Goff, 1984, p.490-500). He continually creates disturbances in the community as a result of the lack of a coherent understanding of events in this new society. His southern origin poses a significant ground for the interruption of the typical conduct in society. However, he takes more of a central position trying to blend in with the new cultures. Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is a character that demonstrates the disturbance of the outsiders in the usual settings of this society. He is an outsider in the sense that he came from an external community and was brought up by Mr. Earnshaw. He also represents an outsider's perspective concerning the class. His class and feelings for Catherine bring about confrontation and disruption in the familiarity of Wuthering Heights. He develops a grudge and hatred for Catherine and his brother as a result of a failed affair and harsh treatment. In addition to that, Heathcliff brings about disruption in the domestic spaces by influencing Catherine's desires for assimilation and joining the gentry class since she believed that marrying him would diminish her socially.

Rejection in Wuthering Heights forms another aspect of the figure of outsiders in the novel. Hindley, at some point becomes a figure of the outsiders as a result of his drunkenness. His bereavement behaviors result in an outsider's status. As a result, his sister Catherine abandons him and rarely visits him after she got married. Marriage and Hindley's behaviors cause a disturbance in the domestic spaces in the novel. Isabella's dealing with Heathcliff brings about a disruption in the social and family connection that she initially had with her brother (Watson, and Towheed, 2011, p.130). Additionally, Catherine's status of an outsider resulting from being a widow makes her break ties with people in the community. She, therefore, decides to spend most of her time in the kitchen alone. Thus, the outsiders in Wuthering Heights cause changes in the domestic ideals, primarily through the introduction of unfamiliarity in the community to accommodate the outsiders or inhabitants (Hall, 2002, p.1860).

There are numerous forms of troubles and disturbances in the domestic spaces emanating from the depiction of characters in The Sign of Four. One of the characters that demonstrate the aspect of the figure of outsiders is Tonga. The novel presents him as a black individual in a description that carefully portrays that he looks like an animal. There is an aspect of alienation as a result of racial discrimination. Tonga, coming from Andaman Island, is an outsider bringing significant changes in the domestic spaces. The Victorian era, in this case, uses Tonga as an external figure in a way that portrays the immense racial discrimination of that time (Doyle, and Earnshaw, 1962, p.100-130). Thus, outsiders brought disturbances in the typical structure of the community. Some of the disruptions resulting from the character are his cannibalism visible through the use of poisonous dart to kill. Social inequality is a common phenomenon in the novel. The Indian servants are treated as outsiders as a result of their low level in society. Throughout the novel, they experience several acts of separation and segregation as a result of their outsider's state. The actions affecting their activities in serving their masters are an indication of the effects that the outsider's state has on the community. The Indian servant is an equal outsider bringing changes in the domestic spaces through their service and line of work (Doyle, 2010, p.300). The British officers in India are a symbol of outsiders in the novel. They served in the army with both male and female officers. They brought significant disruption in the domestic spaces in the community as a result of their action toward service provision. The Agra treasure is an item used to emphasize on the aspect of outsiders. The pursuit of the Agra treasure brought about disruption in the domestic space. It resulted in the maiming, suffering, and deaths of some characters in the novel (Doyle, and Earnshaw, 1962, p.115-158).

Conclusively, Bronte, and Conan in their novel, use a different approach to bring about the disruptions in the social settings and domestic spaces as a result of the figure of externals or outsiders. The two novels use characters to explicitly examine the Victorian era's internal spaces and how the outsiders influenced the changes in the domestic spaces. In Wuthering Heights, social disparity, locational distancing and changes in conduct and lifestyles are the primary elements for considering individuals as outsiders. In The Sign of Four, the author uses characters such as the Indian officers, Tonga, Indian servants, and the Agra treasure to show how these elements of outsiders influenced the disruption of the domestic spaces.

References

Doyle, A.C., and Earnshaw, H.C., 1962. The Sign of four (pp. 89-158). Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Doyle, A.C., 2010. The sign of four. Broadview Press.

Goff, B.M., 1984. Between Natural Theology and Natural Selection: Breeding the Human-Animal in" Wuthering Heights". Victorian Studies, 27(4), pp.477-508.

Hall, C., 2002. Civilizing subjects: Metropole and colony in the English imagination 1830-1867. University of Chicago Press.

Watson, N.J. and Towheed, S., 2011. Romantics and Victorians (Vol. 2). Bloomsbury Academic.