SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE

Wuthering Heights published in 1847, was Emily Bronte’s first and only novel. A classic tale of jealousy,
vengefulness, and passion, it is widely regarded as a classic of English Literature. The novel brings out
Bronte’s mastery of an extremely complex structure, acute evocation of place, and poetic grandeur. The
story revolves around two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the
Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent relationships with the Earnshaws' foster son, Heathcliff.

The title ‘Wuthering Heights’ is symbolic of the characters and relationships in the novel. It actually
represents more than one important aspect of the novel.

‘Wuthering Heights’ is the name of the residence where nearly all-important events occur in the novel. It
is at Wuthering Heights that Mr. Earnshaw brought Heathcliff for the first time. It is at Wuthering Heights
that the novel’s major characters Heathcliff, Hindley, and Catherine all matured. The development of the
relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine and Heathcliff and Hindley’s hostility also begins from the
Wuthering Heights. So, the foundation on which the following incidents of the novel are established is at
the Wuthering Heights.

As claimed by some critics, the title wuthering heights also act as a ‘premonitory indication’ of the stormy
nature of actions that happen during the course of the novel.

In Ch 1 of the novel, we read: "Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. 'Wuthering'
being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is
exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one
may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs
at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving
alms of the sun. Happily, the architect had the foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply
set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones."

This description of the landscape serves as a metaphor for how the decayed and disordered Earnshaw
family dwelling in the utmost harsh weather of Wuthering Heights stunts individuals such as Heathcliff
and Catherine and turns them into strangely “thorny”, violent and tough people. Furthermore, the
name ‘Wuthering Heights’ is also closely associated with the moors. Those who are living in the moors
are poles apart from the others. They are more powerful, rugged and fearless because of the
environment that has moulded them. Even Catherine goes to the extent to declare that she does not
want to go to heaven, instead she wants to join the violent and harsh Wuthering Heights.

The title Wuthering Heights, in many ways represents the character of the protagonist Heathcliff. It is
situated on the dark and gloomy moors, which mirror Heathcliff's character. Heathcliff, an orphaned boy
from Liverpool, was an unmannered child, wild in spirit and quick to anger. Though he was taken into the
family by Mr. Earnshaw, he is always treated as an outsider, especially by Hindley Earnshaw. Heathcliff is
only kind treated by Mr. Earnshaw and his daughter Catherine, who are deeply fond of him.

Heathcliff grows up to be a sullen, rude, and jealous man. After Catherine marries Edgar Linton and dies
early in their marriage, Heathcliff's negative character traits worsen. He becomes obsessed with seeking
revenge on the Linton and Earnshaw families. Like the inhospitable moors, Heathcliff traps Catherine’s
daughter, Cathy—he locks her into a marriage to his son Linton, and her living situation at Wuthering
Heights is close to unbearable. Thus, Heathcliff's brute and rugged character parallel the harsh wilderness
of the moors and the forlorn place Wuthering Heights became when he assumed ownership of the
house.

All the important characters of the novel were emotionally connected with Wuthering Heights. In one
scene, Catherine tells Nelly that she once had a dream and, in that dream, she was in heaven. But despite
being in heaven, Catherine was not happy and the reason behind her unhappiness was that the heaven
was not the Wuthering Heights “Heaven did not seem to be my home”, she said. Emily Bronte’s
employing of the residence’s name in the title indicates that Wuthering Heights was an emotional centre
for the novel’s major characters.

The story of Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights” begins in Wuthering Heights when Lockwood visits
Heathcliff and the novel also ends in Wuthering Heights when Lockwood goes to meet Heathcliff again
and finds that Heathcliff has perished and Hareton and Cathy are at the point of getting married. The
‘Wuthering Heights’ is always the centre of the action. It seems like a living and breathing entity reflecting
the harsh nature of its family members. Therefore, all the above factors justify the significance of
the novel’s title “Wuthering Heights” perfectly.

CHARACTER OF HEATHCLIFF

Wuthering heights published in 1847, was Emily Bronte’s first and only novel. A classic tale of jealousy,
vengefulness, and passion, it is widely regarded as a classic of English Literature. The novel brings out
Bronte’s mastery of an extremely complex structure, acute evocation of place, and poetic grandeur. The
story revolves around two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the
Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent relationships with the Earnshaws' foster son, Heathcliff.

The central character in Wuthering Heights is Heathcliff, the orphan whom Catherine’s father brought
from Liverpool. Heathcliff is an innocent kid who has lived a difficult life till Mr Earnshaw picks him up. He
grows up with Catherine and Mr Earnshaw loves and cares for him. As a child, he is Catherine's friend
whom he starts loving as he grows up. However, he loses the care and love after Mr Earnshaw's death
and feels betrayed when Catherine leaves him for Edgar Linton. These events bring a profound change in
Heathcliff and throughout the rest of the novel he remains a sadistic demon. It is also very difficult to
peep into his heart. Emily Bronte has given Heathcliff's character a solid cover which makes it difficult to
read his heart and understand his emotions fully. Sometimes readers can feel the presence of a romantic
hero in him. However, it seems like the darker side of his personality has grown too strong and takes over
whenever he tries to be sympathetic to others.

Owing to the novel's enduring fame and popularity, he is often regarded as an archetype of the tortured
romantic hero whose all-consuming passions destroy both him and those around him. His complicated,
mesmerizing, consumable, and altogether bizarre nature makes him a rare character, with components
of both the hero and villain. At the very outset of the novel, we meet the character of Heathcliff, through
Mr. Lockwood’s narrative and he describes him as a “solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with” and
he calls the place “a perfect misanthropist’s Heaven.” Heathcliff’s initial statements as recorded by Mr
Lockwood, “I should not allow anyone to inconvenience me,”, “Guests are so exceedingly rare in this
house…” paint him as an unloved, isolated and unaccompanied creature which definitely is heart aching
for readers. The first paragraph of the novel provides a vivid physical picture of him as well, as Lockwood
describes how his “black eyes” withdraw suspiciously under his brows at Lockwood’s approach.

Heathcliff as a character was a victim of Victorian class consciousness where the lower strata of society
like him are easily exploited in the urban areas. He was treated indifferently by other characters due to
his social status and he tried to establish a wealthy status by disappearing from Wuthering Heights for
three years and he returned back as a complete gentleman. While Catherine loves him, she does not
think of him as an equal or a possible suitor; she states that “it would degrade me to marry Heathcliff
now.” As a result, Heathcliff has to suffer through watching the woman he loves marry another man, and
then he experiences the agony of losing her at a young age. He tells Catherine before her death, “What
kind of living will it be when you—oh God! Would you like to live with your soul in the grave?”
When he a child he was seen as a thing rather than a human. “Not a soul knew to whom ‘it’ belonged.”
Nelly, consistently addressed Heathcliff as “it” as though he were an animal, not human. Without having
done anything to deserve rejection and knock-back, Heathcliff was made to feel like an outsider.

Obsession is an integral part of Heathcliff's personality. His love for Catherine knew no bound. He doesn’t
stop loving her even after she dies. He goes her grave and kisses her. Hindley’s harassment and abuse
after Mr Earnshaw's death made him obsessed with seeking revenge.

He becomes a tyrant in his pursuit of revenge, not even sparring his wife Isabella, to whom he soon turns
a “fierce, pitiless, wolfish” husband and she wonders, appealing to Nelly, “Is this a man? Is he a human
being or a devil?” He does not take long to prove that he is inhuman, when he almost kills her and she
has to escape from the Heights for good. Heathcliff’s emotional traumas offer an explanation for why he
becomes so tormented and, in turn, so fixated on tormenting others.

Thus, Heathcliff is indeed the most significant character in the novel Wuthering Heights. He bestrides the
novel which is a story of his love, frustration, hatred, revengeful passion and his reconciliation with life. In
a word, Heathcliff is the soul of the novel. He not only acts and suffers, but causes others to act and
suffer. His strength permeates the story. His power for good and for evil shocks and surprises us. He is as
powerful and amoral as the forces of nature with which he is often compared. He is both worldly and
profoundly romantic. Love and hatred merge in him and both are extreme.

GOTHIC ELEMENTS IN WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Gothic literature can be defined as writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and
melodramatic narrative devices, and an overall atmosphere of exoticism, mystery, fear, and dread. Often,
a Gothic novel or story will revolve around a large, ancient house that conceals a terrible secret or serves
as the refuge of an especially frightening and threatening character.

Wuthering heights published in 1847, was Emily Bronte’s first and only novel. The story revolves around
two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and
their turbulent relationships with the Earnshaws' foster son, Heathcliff. The novel features various
elements commonly found in a gothic novel.

(typical gothic characters)

In Wuthering Heights, the characters of Heathcliff and Isabella represent typical Gothic characters.
Heathcliff is depicted as a tyrant or a villain-hero, the most prominent character and appear in most
Gothic novels. They are cold, ruthless, and imperious and they are like evils because they will do virtually
anything, be it moral or not, in order to get their purposes obtained. All the criteria of good and evil in the
real world had lost their values for Heathcliff, sometimes depressed and gloomy, sometimes fiery and
brutal, he was treated unjustly while was distorted by the revenge. His evilness was not in his nature, but
caused by his origin and the environment. The revenge he put into force was extremely devastating and
rebellious. In contrast to Heathcliff, Isabella, like other Gothic weak women, is seduced and prisoned by
Heathcliff, and falls a victim of his revenge plan. She was tempted by Heathcliff, dreamed of romantic
love and eloped with him, ignoring others’ warning. She paid great sacrifice to her ignorance: being
prisoned, tortured, and escaped, died miserably far away from her warm home. Innocent but weak
women are another typical characteristic of Gothic novels, often they are beautiful, pure, and when they
are in adverse situation, they are usually helpless and desperate.

(setting of the novel)

In addition to the typical Gothic characters, there are also the gloomy and horrible atmospheres which
exist throughout the novel. “On the bleak Yorkshire moors” describes the Yorkshire moors physical
appearance. The estate has little vegetation and is more weathered, which moors are, as they are jutting,
bare rocks towards the ocean. Wuthering Heights is an old stone house with gothic architecture and
bleak interior. The people that live in Wuthering Heights are bitter and act violent. The setting of the
house enforces the actions of the Earnshaws’, and Heathcliff. The name of the estate even sets a theme
of gloom in the novel. Lockwood says Wuthering is, “a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the
atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather”. All these make the building of
Wuthering Heights an eerie and ghostly building and its surroundings, a perfect setting for a gothic novel.

(supernatural elements)

Uncanny plots or supernatural scenes are one of the most distinct elements of Gothic novels. When
reading Gothic novels, we may encounter ghosts, mysterious apparitions, and unexplainable sounds or
events, which is quite a thrilling yet exciting experience. Ghosts appear throughout Wuthering Heights, as
they do in most other works of Gothic fiction, yet Brontë always presents them in such a way that
whether they really exist remains ambiguous. Certain ghosts—such as Catherine’s spirit when it appears
to Lockwood—may be explained as nightmares. The villagers’ alleged sightings of Heathcliff’s ghost could
be dismissed as unverified superstition.

The gloomy and horrible colour of the Gothic story is manifested in different ways. Dreams are
mentioned throughout Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, but the dreams that stand out the most are
the pair of nightmares that Lockwood has on the night he spends at Wuthering Heights. The scary ghost,
the bloody hand, the broken window and the pale face outside all contribute to the uncanny atmosphere
which Bronte created. After Catherine’s death, Heathcliff’s craziness, digging of her tomb and longing for
being buried together with Catherine all stimulate the readers’ nerves. At the end of the novel, some
supernatural phenomenon like the wandering ghosts of the couple is also created to pile on the Gothic
colour.

(theme of revenge)

In Wuthering Heights, the Gothic theme which is the most evident one is: revenge. Nearly all of the
action in Wuthering Heights results from one or another character's desire for revenge. The result are
cycles of revenge that seem to endlessly repeat. Hindley takes revenge on Heathcliff for taking his place
at Wuthering Heights by denying him an education, and in the process
separates Heathcliff and Catherine. Heathcliff then takes revenge upon Hindley by, first, dispossessing
Hindley of Wuthering Heights and by denying an education to Hareton, Hindley's son. Heathcliff also
seeks revenge on Edgar for marrying Catherine by marrying Cathy to Linton.

Thus, the use of gothic elements in Wuthering Heights is abundant, and Bronte’s proficient use of them
added to the complexity of the plot and evoked emotions like terror and conflict in the minds of the
readers.