Unpopular Opinions: Classic Literature

If you love classic literature as much as I do, you're bound to have some strong opinions about their content - and not all of it matches the most common opinions and perceptions that people have. So today I want to share a few of my "favourite" unpopular opinions that I have.

Spoilers, spoilers abound! For each book I'm talking about, the description might contain spoilers. If you haven't read these books, it's safe to read the titles in bold, but you might want to avoid the explanations underneath.

Wuthering Heights
Not only is this story the greatest tale of obsession (and not love), but the most horrible person in the book is actually Cathy. How she treats Heathcliff, Isabella, and Nelly, and is extremely self-serving, and she looks down on everyone. Yes, this tale does also discuss love (and I don't deny that Heathcliff and Cathy love each other), but more than anything Wuthering Heights is about obsession, passion, jealousy, revenge, and social status.


Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Angel is a product of his time and upbringing, and Tess's parents (specifically her mother) is the true villain of the story. Yes, Alec is an absolute scoundrel, but John and Joan Durbeyfield are manipulating, whining, lazy scoundrels. Not only do they cause most of the problems encountered by Tess in the novel (although they do not intend, nor could they foresee the consequences of some of these actions), they also force her further into the situations to satisfy their own needs and agendas.


Mansfield Park
Is one of Austen's best-written works. It contains less unnecessary text than Sense and Sensibility, and is truly one of her best (if not her best) social commentaries. Fanny is a strong character mentally, although her sweet temperament  gets her into trouble because she doesn't want to displease anyone. This comes in part from her simple and poor upbringing, and that she has been brought into a high class household. Anytime she makes waves is an excuse to have her removed from the house, which would be devastating on two accounts: making her a financial burden on her family, and separating her from her dearest cousin Edmund. So, in order to keep herself in favour, she is often too sweet and pleasant to articulate anything against what the family wants, but she is absolutely not weak or boring.


Black Beauty
Is a terrible book to give to young girls who love horses. Just because it is about a horse, doesn't mean it is good for horse-lovers! Now, I have read it two or three times, and think it is fantastic...but it's also so awfully depressing that I wouldn't automatically give it to a child. It contains so much cruelty to horses, that it might be too upsetting for many.


Little Women
A relationship between Jo and Laurie could only have worked well if Jo had been able to go to Europe. I don't know whether or not a relationship between these two could have worked anyway, but there were a few things that absolutely would have needed to happen if there was any shot for them. Jo really needed to go out and experience the world and fulfill her dreams of going to Europe. Her upbringing and life was so different from Laurie's, and she had so many things and ideas going on in her head about life and love that needed to get sorted out first, and the exposure to art may have been truly useful for her writing. Laurie would have needed the time being separated from her to learn to see her clearly.