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Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (09_wuthering_heights_by_emily_bronte.doc)

Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights

Title:

        Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Published:

        New York: Bantam Books, 1986        

About the author:

        Emily Jane Brontë  (July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848) was a British novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. She used the pen name Ellis Bell.

About the book:

        The name of the novel comes from the manor on which the story centres. First published m 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights ranks high on the list of major works of English literature. A unique achievement in its time, this work dramatizes a vision of life controlled by elemental forces which transcend conventional categories of good and evil. A brooding tale of passion and revenge set in the Yorkshire moors, the novel has inspired no fewer than four film versions in modern times. Early critics did not like the work, citing its excess of passion and its coarseness. A second edition was published in 1850, two years after the author's death by her sister Charlotte. Sympathetically prefaced by Charlotte, it met with greater success, and the novel has continued to grow in stature ever since.

        Wuthering Heights is a novel of romance, revenge, and tragedy. It exhibits many characteristics of the so-called Gothic novel, which focuses on dark, mysterious events. The typical Gothic novel is designed to both horrify and fascinate readers with scenes of passion and cruelty; supernatural elements; and a dark, foreboding atmosphere and unfolds at one or more creepy sites, such as a dimly lit castle, an old mansion on a hilltop, a misty cemetery, a forlorn countryside, or the laboratory of a scientist conducting frightful experiments. In some Gothic novels, characters imagine that they see ghosts and monsters. In others, the ghosts and monsters are real. The weather in a Gothic novel is often dreary or foul: There may be high winds that rattle windowpanes, electrical storms with lightning strikes, and gray skies that brood over landscapes. (The word wuthering refers to violent wind.)

        The novel is admired not least for the power of its imagery, its complex structure, and its ambiguity, the very elements that confounded its first critics. Emily Brontë spent her short life mostly at home, and apart from her own fertile imagination, she drew her inspiration from the local landscape the surrounding moorlands and the regional architecture of the Yorkshire area-as well as her personal experience of religion, of folklore, and of illness and death. Dealing with themes of nature, cruelty, social position, and indestructibility of the spirit, Wuthering Heights has surpassed the more successful Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in academic and popular circles.

Main Topic:

        Wuthering Heights is composed of two stories told one after the other. The first is about Cathy Earnshaw's relationships with Heathcliff and Edgar Linton. Their all-encompassing love for one another, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them both. Social tensions prevent their union, leading Heathcliff to shun and abuse society. The plot is given here in detail, as the book's narration is at times non-linear.

        The second traces the course of Catherine Linton's relationships with her two cousins, Linton Heathcliff and Hareton Earnshaw. It has long been recognized that the two stories have much in common, and this is usually attributed to `repetition', a view which emphasizes the chronological sequence of events.

        Dean's story provides insight into how the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine would have far-reaching repercussions for their families. Heathcliff's passion for Catherine is so dark and sinister that he becomes hellbent on destroying the happiness of her sister-in-law, her daughter and even his own son. This mission of destruction, though fervent during Catherine's lifetime, becomes still more impassioned after her death.

Plot summary:

        The novel itself opens in 1801, with Lockwood arriving at Thrushcross Grange, a grand house he is renting from Heathcliff, who at this point resides at the titular Wuthering Heights. After attempting - and failing - to win over his surly, unwelcoming landlord, and intrigued by the curious state of affairs he finds at Wuthering Heights, when confined to his sickbed after catching a cold Lockwood curiously asks his housekeeper, Dean, of the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights.

        At this point, Dean takes over the narration (although Lockwood occasionally breaks in during her narrative). Dean's story begins thirty years earlier, when Heathcliff - then an orphaned foundling living on the streets of Liverpool - is brought to Wuthering Heights by the then-owner, Mr. Earnshaw and raised as his own. Also in the household are two servants, Joseph, a cranky old man, and Nelly Dean.

        Earnshaw's own children, Hindley and Catherine, initially detest Heathcliff; over time, however, Catherine is won over by Heathcliff and the two eventually become inseparable childhood friends. Hindley, however, continues to resent Heathcliff, seeing him as an interloper in his father's affections, and the two boys become bitter rivals. But Hindley’s abuse of Heathcliff meets with severe censure if old Earnshaw witnesses it. As Nelly observes: “...twice, or thrice, Hindley's manifestations of scorn, while his father was near, roused the old man to a fury....” (chapter 5, pg.39) Mr. Earnshaw sends Hindley away to college, keeping Heathcliff nearby.

        Upon Earnshaw's death three years later, Hindley comes home from college to take over the estate, surprising everyone by also bringing home a wife, a woman named Frances. As the new master of Wuthering Heights, Hindley brutalizes Heathcliff, spitefully forcing him to work as a hired hand. Despite this, Heathcliff and Catherine remain firm friends. Although initially something of a wild child, an accidental dog bite forces Catherine to stay at the nearby Linton family estate, Thrushcross Grange, for six weeks. During this time, she matures and grows attached to the refined and mild young Edgar Linton. When she returns to Wuthering Heights, she goes to some trouble to maintain her friendship with both Edgar and Heathcliff, in spite of their having an instantaneous dislike for each other.

        A year later, Frances dies soon after the birth of Hindley's child Hareton. Destroyed by her death, Hindley turns to alcohol. Some two years after that, Catherine accepts a marriage proposal made to her by Edgar. Catherine – though now so passionately in love with Heathcliff that she says: „My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.“ (chapter 9, pg.79) – confides to Nelly that she has decided to marry Edgar Linton, who has made it clear that he wants her, because it would be degrading to marry Heathcliff. Unfortunately, Heathcliff overhears the conversation and leaves at this point, never hearing her continuing declarations that Heathcliff is as much a part of her as the rocks are to the earth beneath. Catherine is mortified when she realizes that Heathcliff has overheard her, but by that point he has left Wuthering Heights, furious at the fact that he can no longer be with Catherine and unaware of the true bond that she feels towards him. Nevertheless, she marries Edgar, and the two initially live happily.

        After Catherine has been married to Edgar for two years, Heathcliff returns, and it is soon revealed that he is intent on destroying those whom he blames for preventing him from being with Catherine. In the interim, he has amassed significant wealth (by means that are not revealed) and has duped the alcoholic, self-destructive Hindley into owing him Wuthering Heights. He is also intent on ruining Edgar, and when he learns of an infatuation Edgar's sister Isabella has developed towards him, Heathcliff elopes with her, much to Edgar's despair; not only does this ruin his relationship with his sister, but it also places Heathcliff in a position to inherit Thrushcross Grange upon Edgar's death. After his marriage, Heathcliff's true contempt for Isabella emerges and he treats her in a cruel and abusive fashion.                Back at Thrushcross Grange, Catherine - whose physical and mental health has been ruined by the ongoing feud between Heathcliff and her husband - dies in childbirth, giving birth to a daughter also named Catherine. Her death, however, only intensifies Heathcliff's bitterness and determination to continue his vendetta. Isabella flees Heathcliff's cruelty a month after Catherine's death, and later gives birth to a boy, Linton. At around the same time, Hindley dies, and Heathcliff takes ownership of Wuthering Heights. He also takes control of Hindley's son, Hareton, determined to raise the boy with as much neglect as he had suffered at Hindley's hands years earlier; despite this, Hareton remains intensely loyal to Heathcliff, viewing him as a surrogate father. Despite his grief over his wife's death, Edgar devotes himself to raising the younger Catherine, who grows into a gentle-natured girl who shares the flighty nature her mother had once possessed.

        Twelve years later, Isabella is dying and sends for Edgar to come retrieve and raise her and Heathcliff's son, Linton. However, Heathcliff finds out about this and takes Linton from Thrushcross Grange back to Wuthering Heights. The boy is sickly and spoiled, and his father has nothing but contempt for him, but nevertheless delights in the prospect of his own son ruling over the property of his enemies. To that end, Heathcliff forces young Catherine and Linton to marry. Soon after, Edgar Linton dies, followed shortly by Heathcliff's son, Linton. This leaves young Catherine a widow and a virtual prisoner at Wuthering Heights, as Heathcliff has gained complete control of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Chronologically, it is at this point in the narrative that Lockwood arrives, taking possession of Thrushcross Grange, and that Nelly Dean tells her story. Shocked and horrified at the sordid details of what has transpired, Lockwood leaves for London.

        During his absence from the area, however, events reach a climax; young Catherine, at first repulsed by and contemptuous of Hareton's rough, uncouth and uneducated nature, gradually softens towards him—just as her mother grew tender towards Heathcliff. In her lonely state of existence at Wuthering Heights, Hareton becomes her only source of happiness, and the two fall in love. Heathcliff, on seeing their love for each another, appears to no longer care to pursue his life-long vendetta. Having been haunted for years by what he perceives as the elder Catherine's ghost, Heathcliff finally dies, a broken and tormented man, and Catherine and Hareton marry. Heathcliff is buried next to Catherine (the elder), and the story concludes with Lockwood - who has learnt of these events from Nelly Dean - visiting the grave, unsure of exactly what to feel.”… watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.“ (chapter 34, pg.315)

Characters:

Heathcliff -  An orphan brought to live at Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, Heathcliff falls into an intense, unbreakable love with Mr. Earnshaw’s daughter Catherine. After Mr. Earnshaw dies, his resentful son Hindley abuses Heathcliff and treats him as a servant. Because of her desire for social prominence, Catherine marries Edgar Linton instead of Heathcliff. Heathcliff’s humiliation and misery prompt him to spend most of the rest of his life seeking revenge on Hindley, his beloved Catherine, and their respective children (Hareton and young Catherine). A powerful, fierce, and often cruel man, Heathcliff acquires a fortune and uses his extraordinary powers of will to acquire both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, the estate of Edgar Linton.

Catherine -  The daughter of Mr. Earnshaw and his wife, Catherine falls powerfully in love with Heathcliff, the orphan Mr. Earnshaw brings home from Liverpool. Catherine loves Heathcliff so intensely that she claims they are the same person. However, her desire for social advancement motivates her to marry Edgar Linton instead. The location of Catherine’s coffin symbolizes the conflict that tears apart her short life. She is not buried in the chapel with the Lintons. Nor is her coffin placed among the tombs of the Earnshaws. Instead, as Nelly describes, Catherine is buried “…in a corner of the kirkyard, where the wall is so low that heath and bilberry plants have climbed over it from the moor.” (chapter 16, pg.158) Moreover, she is buried with Edgar on one side and Heathcliff on the other, suggesting her conflicted loyalties. Her actions are driven in part by her social ambitions, which initially are awakened during her first stay at the Lintons’, and which eventually compel her to marry Edgar. However, she is also motivated by impulses that prompt her to violate social conventions – to love Heathcliff, throw temper tantrums, and run around on the moor.

Catherine is free-spirited, beautiful, spoiled, and often arrogant. She is given to fits of temper, and she is torn between her wild passion for Heathcliff and her social ambition. She brings misery to both of the men who love her. Catherine is a happy, spirited, likable child – but full of the devil. Nelly says of her: „Certainly she had ways with her such as I never saw a child take up before; and she put all of us past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day: from the hour she came down-stairs till the hour she went to bed, we had not a minute's security that she wouldn't be in mischief. Her spirits were always at high-water mark, her tongue always going - singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who would not do the same. A wild, wicked slip she was - but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish...“ (chapter 5, pg.41)

Edgar Linton -  Well-bred but rather spoiled as a boy, Edgar Linton grows into a tender, constant, but cowardly man. He is almost the ideal gentleman: Catherine accurately describes him as “…handsome, pleasant to be with, cheerful and rich…” (chapter 9, pg.75) However, this full assortment of gentlemanly characteristics, along with his civilized virtues, proves useless in Edgar’s clashes with his foil, Heathcliff, who gains power over his wife, sister, and daughter. Edgar is particularly humiliated by his confrontation with Heathcliff, in which he openly shows his fear of fighting Heathcliff. Catherine, having witnessed the scene, taunts him, saying: “Heathcliff would as soon lift a finger at you as the king would march his army against a colony of mice.” (chapter 11, pg.109) As the reader can see from the earliest descriptions of Edgar as a spoiled child, his refinement is tied to his helplessness and impotence.

Nelly Dean -  Nelly Dean (known formally as Ellen Dean) serves as the chief narrator of Wuthering Heights. A sensible, intelligent, and compassionate woman, she grew up essentially alongside Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw and is deeply involved in the story she tells. She has strong feelings for the characters in her story, and these feelings complicate her narration.

Lockwood -  Lockwood’s narration forms a frame around Nelly’s; he serves as an intermediary between Nelly and the reader. A somewhat vain and presumptuous gentleman, he deals very clumsily with the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. Lockwood comes from a more domesticated region of England, and he finds himself at a loss when he witnesses the strange household’s disregard for the social conventions that have always structured his world. As a narrator, his vanity and unfamiliarity with the story occasionally lead him to misunderstand events.

Young Catherine -  The first Catherine begins her life as Catherine Earnshaw and ends it as Catherine Linton; her daughter begins as Catherine Linton and, assuming that she marries Hareton after the end of the story, goes on to become Catherine Earnshaw. The mother and the daughter share not only a name, but also a tendency toward headstrong behavior, impetuousness, and occasional arrogance. However, Edgar’s influence seems to have tempered young Catherine’s character, and she is a gentler and more compassionate creature than her mother.

Hareton Earnshaw -  The son of Hindley and Frances Earnshaw, Hareton is Catherine’s nephew. After Hindley’s death, Heathcliff assumes custody of Hareton, and raises him as an uneducated field worker, just as Hindley had done to Heathcliff himself. Thus Heathcliff uses Hareton to seek revenge on Hindley. Illiterate and quick-tempered, Hareton is easily humiliated, but shows a good heart and a deep desire to improve himself. At the end of the novel, he marries young Catherine.

Linton Heathcliff -  Heathcliff’s son by Isabella. Weak, sniveling, demanding, and constantly ill, Linton is raised in London by his mother and does not meet his father until he is thirteen years old, when he goes to live with him after his mother’s death. Heathcliff despises Linton, treats him contemptuously, and, by forcing him to marry the young Catherine, uses him to cement his control over Thrushcross Grange after Edgar Linton’s death. Linton himself dies not long after this marriage.

Hindley Earnshaw -  Catherine’s brother, and Mr. Earnshaw’s son. Hindley resents it when Heathcliff is brought to live at Wuthering Heights. After his father dies and he inherits the estate, Hindley begins to abuse the young Heathcliff, terminating his education and forcing him to work in the fields. When Hindley’s wife Frances dies shortly after giving birth to their son Hareton, he lapses into alcoholism and dissipation.

Isabella Linton -  Edgar Linton’s sister, who falls in love with Heathcliff and marries him. She sees Heathcliff as a romantic figure, like a character in a novel. Ultimately, she ruins her life by falling in love with him. He never returns her feelings and treats her as a mere tool in his quest for revenge on the Linton family.

Mr. Earnshaw -  Catherine and Hindley’s father. Mr. Earnshaw adopts Heathcliff and brings him to live at Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw prefers Heathcliff to Hindley but nevertheless bequeaths Wuthering Heights to Hindley when he dies.

Mrs. Earnshaw -  Catherine and Hindley’s mother, who neither likes nor trusts the orphan Heathcliff when he is brought to live at her house. She dies shortly after Heathcliff’s arrival at Wuthering Heights.

Joseph -  A long-winded, fanatically religious, elderly servant at Wuthering Heights. Joseph is strange, stubborn, and unkind, and he speaks with a thick Yorkshire accent.

Frances Earnshaw -  Hindley’s simpering, silly wife, who treats Heathcliff cruelly. She dies shortly after giving birth to Hareton.

Mr. Linton -  Edgar and Isabella’s father and the proprietor of Thrushcross Grange when Heathcliff and Catherine are children. An established member of the gentry, he raises his son and daughter to be well-mannered young people.

Mrs. Linton -  Mr. Linton’s somewhat snobbish wife, who does not like Heathcliff to be allowed near her children, Edgar and Isabella. She teaches Catherine to act like a gentle-woman, thereby instilling her with social ambitions.

Narrator:

        The narrative is non-linear, involving several flashbacks to events in the past, and involves two narrators – Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean, whose stories are interwoven with each other.

        Lockwood narrates the entire novel as an entry in his diary. The story is organized as a narrative within a narrative, or what some critics call "Chinese boxes." Lockwood is used to open and end the novel in the present tense, first person. “I have just returned from a visit to my landlord - the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.“ (chapter 1, pg.1) The story that Lockwood records is told to him by Nelly and Lockwood writes most of the narrative in her voice, describing how she told it to him.

        Most of the events are narrated from Nelly’s point of view, focusing only on what Nelly can see and hear, or what she can find out about indirectly. Nelly frequently comments on what the other characters think and feel, and on what their motivations are, but these comments are all based on her own interpretations of the other characters – she is not an omniscient narrator. “Sometimes, while meditating on these things in solitude, I've got up in a sudden terror, and put on my bonnet to go see how all was at the farm. I've persuaded my conscience that it was a duty to warn him how people talked regarding his ways...“ (chapter 11, pg.102)

Books, chapters:

        The book contains 34 chapters, which describe about forty years of the story.

Bibliography

Benvenuto, Richard: Emily Brontë. Boston: Twayne, 1982.

Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights. New York: Bantam Books, 1986.

Davies, Stevie: Emily Brontë. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.

Thornley, G.C.; Roberts, Gwyneth: An Outline of English Literature.

Essex: Longman Group, 2001.

Internet:

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/ebronte/dawson3.html

http://www.essayarchive.com/view.php?p=MTY4NDI=&s=9

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wuthering_Heights&printable=yes

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_19c/wuthering/gothic.html