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Braeden Smith

English 4263 Section 01

Summer 2021

Professor Irina Strout

Essay #2

Gothic Elements in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights

Two of the greatest narratives to emerge from 19th century England are the novels Jane

Eyre and Wuthering Heights by Charlotte and Emily Brontë. With a special eye for examining

the role of women in their time, the novels expertly present their settings and characters to

invoke reflection on the norms, flaws, and structure of English society. Their masterful use of the

devices familiar to audiences from the popular Gothic genre invoke suspense and intrigue to

provoke deeper thought on the moral questions suggested in their books in addition to

maintaining a readers’ interest. However, the two Brontë sisters, while influenced by the

common tropes of this Gothic genre, also go beyond the usual elements by exploring the origins

of their characters’ actions and temperaments.

To begin examining the similarities between the Brontë novels and the Gothic genre, we

must identify important strategies used to incorporate suspense and interest into the narratives.

Jane Eyre tells the story of a young governess who has lived her life at the mercy of those with

greater power or prestige than herself. Through much of the novel she views herself as, and from

a financial standpoint truly is, an “insignificant plebian” (C. Brontë 1:206). Compared to other

women in the novel, even her own cousins, she lacks resources and relies entirely upon the
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willingness of men, Mr. Rochester and St. John, to employ her as a teacher to survive as a single

woman. This sense of helplessness adds a tension to Jane’s relationships with the two men, who

both pursue a romance with her and assume that she will return their advances regardless of her

personal emotions. The novel also, through the strange ongoings at Thornfield Hall and personal

experiences of Jane, adds to the novel aspects of mystery and the supernatural which introduce

even greater interest and suspense. Seconds before Jane weds Mr. Rochester, Bertha Mason is

unmasked as the perpetrator behind the many strange occurrences of Thornfield Hall and

revealed as the secret, insane wife of Mr. Rochester. Forced to bring his “disgusting secret” (C.

Brontë 2:69) to light, Rochester relates the story of how the situation with his “bad, mad and

embruted partner” (C. Brontë 2:69) came to be. This mystery, with its suggested aspects of the

supernatural, which when revealed to be the mad actions of an insane wife constitutes an almost

otherworldly aspect in itself, lends the narrative an ongoing suspense that holds interest with the

mystery of the unknown. This supernatural suspense compounds itself with the dreams and

strange experiences of Jane. Whether the ill-omened dreams of children or Rochester’s

disembodied cry of “Jane! Jane! Jane!” (C. Brontë 2:240), the otherworldly has a subtle but

definite contribution to the action and tension within the novel.

Wuthering Heights shares many of these narrative devices as well, especially regarding

topics suggesting the supernatural. Heathcliff, the antagonist of the novel, claims to be constantly

tormented by the spirit of his lost love Catherine. His obsession with her increases throughout the

story, till at the end he sees her everywhere, to the extent that he claimed, “The entire world is a

dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!” (E. Brontë 309).

Other events suggesting the supernatural include when Heathcliff dug up Catherine’s coffin and

got the feeling “that Cathy was there: not under me, but on the earth” (E. Brontë 276), the wide
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array of superstitious characters in the story, and reports of Heathcliff and Catherine’s ghosts

roaming the moors after Heathcliff’s death. To further the supernatural and mysterious

atmosphere, the setting of Wuthering Heights, as well as Jane Eyre, largely take place in older,

castle like buildings. The setting and atmosphere of the titular estate of Wuthering Heights in

particular contribute to a darker and foreboding tone, with frequent rain and the name itself,

Wuthering, being “descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy

weather” (E. Brontë 4). The foul and unpredictable weather, which frequently waylays the

characters of the novel, reflects the extreme temperaments of the inhabitants and the terribleness

of the events unfolding around them. Beyond these supernatural and atmospheric effects, the

narrative also shares with Jane Eyre themes of powerlessness in its female characters. Every

female character in the novel is frequently at the mercy of their husbands and families. The

instigator of a great deal of the story’s conflict, Catherine, refuses to marry Heathcliff not

because she does not love him, but out of fear of what will happen to her. She claims, “It would

degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him” (E. Brontë 78) and

that “if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars” (E. Brontë 79). Despite her objections,

she never denies her innate feelings, declaring “My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal

rocks beneath- a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff!” (E. Brontë

80). She does not lack feelings for Heathcliff, rather she fears for her livelihood and comfort

should she submit to her passion. Likewise, the other women constantly have their wishes

disregarded. Isabella Linton’s dying command to have her son raised away from Heathcliff is

quickly disregarded, Cathy’s legal claim to her inheritance is manipulated until she holds no

control over it, and Nelly, as a mere servant, had no power in the first place. Such conflicts

highlight the inherent difficulties of contemporary women and add to the drama by keeping the
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audience in suspense as to how the women will proceed. Furthermore, these aspects of

storytelling, while masterfully used by Emily and Charlotte Brontë, are also common tropes of

Gothic literature.

The Gothic genre, which was popularized in the later 1700’s and had continued

prominence throughout the 19th century and the Romantic Age, was based on a fascination with

fear, horror and the repulsive, as well as supernatural elements. With these subjects, the Gothic

attempted to invoke the same strength of feeling commonly associated with traditional subjects

like religion or love. That is not to say the Gothic disregarded such subjects, but rather it

emphasized the dark side, or the photographic negative, often forgotten in previous literature. By

calling forward the hypocritical, unjust or unthought of elements in these older systems and

examining them in a new light, the Gothic genre seeks to explore violence, inequality, and

rebellion against expected norms. The Brontë sisters call to mind the specific sub strain of the

Female Gothic, which, while very similar to the greater Gothic movement, placed particular

focus on tragic female heroines and their struggles against controlling male figures, restrictive

societal expectations, and their own lack of power, all of which are addressed in both Jane Eyre

and Wuthering Heights. Along with the Gothic genre in general, tropes utilized in Female Gothic

narratives include dark and gloomy castle settings, the suggestion of mystery and supernatural

occurrences, and intense emotion.

Emily and Charlotte, however, go beyond this influence by not allowing their characters

to be defined by such regulations. While their novels certainly make use of Gothic ideas and

characters, the sisters go further by attempting to examine how their characters pasts influenced

their current persons. This exploration of causality is particularly evident in their male

characters. Both Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester and Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff share many
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similarities with the men of the Gothic genre. In Jane Eyre, Jane describes Mr. Rochester as “…

proud, sardonic, harsh to inferiority of every description…” (C. Brontë 188). Despite his genuine

love for Jane, Rochester is supreme in his self-confidence and gives less regard to Jane’s feelings

and independence than he should. In the same vein, Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff is controlling,

manipulative, and vengeful. Edgar Linton warns his daughter that he is “a most diabolical man,

delighting to wrong and ruin those he hates, if they give him the slightest opportunity” (E. Brontë

213) and even Catherine, who loved Heathcliff, gave terrible warnings of his nature, calling him

“…an unreclaimed creature, without refinement, without cultivation…” (E. Brontë 99) and “…a

fierce, pitiless, wolfish man…” (E. Brontë 99). Both men are deeply flawed and contemptuous,

common of the Gothic genre. However, the Brontë sisters also provide sympathetic backstories

for how they became as they are. Heathcliff suffered much in his childhood from the people he

now terrorizes, the narrator Nelly described him as “…a sullen, patient child, hardened, perhaps,

to ill treatment; he would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear…” (E.

Brontë 37). This treatment only worsened after the death of his adoptive father, when he was

forced to be a servant, denied of any goodness, and ultimately rejected by Catherine. Rochester,

in comparison, was tricked into his first marriage by his own family. His father “could not bear

the idea of dividing his estate and leaving me a fair portion… Yet as little could he endure that a

son of his should be poor” (C. Brontë 2:86). To solve this his father arranged a marriage to a

wealthy, but insane, women “…as I found out after I wed the daughter” Rochester said, “for they

were silent on family secrets before” (C. Brontë 2:69). His keen, almost desperate love of Jane

was a result of his genuine passion mixed with intolerance of his current situation. Rather than

simply leaving them as flawed characters, both Heathcliff and Rochester were given compelling,

tragic stories to explain how they developed their questionable personas. This gives not only
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Heathcliff and Rochester additional narrative and thematic weight, but it also makes them

complex characters with worth beyond their relationship to the heroine. This insightful address

of the environments and events that shaped their male character’s present personalities and

actions set apart the Brontës from other Gothic writers.

The unquestionable, though not absolute, influence of the Gothic genre on the works of

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights had a profound effect upon what the works were able to

portray and how they were received in society. While both works were criticized, the use of

narrative devices and characters familiar to the Gothic tradition reflected popular contemporary

works and complemented the darker themes of powerlessness and oppression of women that was

a focus for the Brontë sisters. By adopting the Gothic tradition, yet not allowing it to restrict their

work, Emily and Charlotte were able to explore the background of such dark topics and question

how these states of depravity came to be, thus setting their work apart from their Gothic

contemporaries.
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Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York, Vintage Books, 2009. 2 vols.

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York, Puffin Books, 2012.