A close reading of Wuthering Heights (Brontë 2003) and Pride and Prejudice (Austen 2015) examining the qualities that make a text canonical, according to Harold Bloom (Bloom 1996) drawing on Frank Kermode’s opinion that a combination of ‘happiness and dismay’ is vital to a readers experience of ‘pleasure’ and is essential in canonical texts (Kermode 2004).

‘Are you depressed?’ my doctor asked me in a drawling bored voice.

Was I depressed? My face felt warm; red blotches were creeping their way up my neck. It happened whenever I was nervous or embarrassed. Was I allowed to be depressed? I had a fulfilling job, friends, a loving husband and family. I had purpose in my life. On paper, my life looked great.

I thought back to the last few months, where things had reached a breaking point. My throat felt tight, threatening tears. I recalled feeling overwhelmed in a room full of laughter, finding it too loud. The days I called in sick because I could not bring myself to get out of bed. Crying for no reason. My mind, becoming a bucket filling up with stress, worry and sadness – the bucket was overflowing. I was drowning.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.