Pygmalion

I wonder if Higgins' abilities are realistic. The idea that a person can differentiate 130 different vowel sounds seems absurd to me. What makes one accent better than another? Although Higgins can tell them apart minutely, society in general can tell what class one is by their speaking habits. Language seems to be a way of keeping people in their respective classes as well. By learning to speak better, Eliza is breaking out of her class and opening up new opportunities for herself. This is by odd chance though, a sort of cinderella story, and normally she would be stuck in the same economic situation through her whole life. When we think of the things which hold people back in society, speech pattern is not typically something that springs to mind. It is not the only thing which must be refined of course, but in Eliza's case it is the main change.

I think Orwell's overall point is valid. I've often felt that academia pushes a certain degree of flowery language that often obscures meaning more than it illuminates it. I could not even understand what the authors of the quotes that Orwell gives were trying to say. I don't agree, however, with the way Orwell seems to brand certain words and phrases as generally bad. Just because a word is often misused, does not render it meaningless. Democracy, for instance, has a specific definition. It is not meaningless just because people incorrectly label certain governments as democracies. If someone was to look beyond the word itself they would certainly discover whether a certain government was actually democratic. I also think that many metaphors have taken on a life of their own. Whether they are relevant in real life or not, people understand what they mean, even if they don't understand why. I don't think we should throw "Achilles's heel" out the window, simply because most people today are not familiar with the Greek story. The phrase is still universal. It is well understood to mean someone's specific weakness.
I wonder how Orwell would feel about how language has progressed, or regressed since his time. Would he approve of the simplifications seen in texting and cyber-language? Or would he say that as we communicate more and more, we are saying less and less?

Feminist Criticism of Wuthering Heights

Pykett’s assertions drew the women of this Wuthering Heights into a new light for me. Her critique allowed me to more clearly see the power of the female characters of this novel in shaping their own destiny, where before I often thought of them as victims. They struggle to create a life which suits them in an environment that defines them by the men they choose. Pykett also illustrated to me how this text was actually a bit radical for its time. The heroines hardly act as proper ladies by the standards of the day.

The elder Catherine is punished, not for going against society, but for going against her true nature.

Although time have changed greatly since the setting of this novel, women still face similar problems trying to reconcile their true selves with the expectations of society.  This connection makes the novel seem more timeless. I have developed greater respect for the women in this novel and the challenges they faced.