Wuthering Heights

Wuthering
Heights

by Emily Bronte
 Emily Bronte
1818-1848
• Born in northern England; grew up near the
Yorkshire moors
• Never had a career, never married, never left her
home (isolated from society)
• Fifth of six children; sister Charlotte Bronte wrote the
famous novel Jane Eyre
• Her mother died when she was only three; father a
minister; Evangelical religious upbringing
• She was an “intensely private” person
• Published Wuthering Heights in 1846
 Emily
Brontë
1818 - 1848
 More about Emily
• Tallest of the Bronte children
• Extremely intelligent; taught herself to play the piano and
speak German
• Unconventional religious beliefs for minister’s daughter;
rarely attended church; unlike the other children, never
taught Sunday school
• Wrote under a male pen name along with her sisters to
publish a book of poems
• Extremely thin—said to have starved herself often out of
stubbornness
• Refused to see a doctor or rest when she contracted
tuberculosis, until it was too late
Strong-willed…like her characters?
• Emily had an unusual character, extremely unsocial
and reserved, with few friends outside her family.
She preferred the company of animals to people and
rarely travelled, forever yearning for the freedom of
Haworth and the moors. She had a will of iron – a
well known story about her is that she was bitten by
a (possibly) rabid dog which resulted in her walking
calmly into the kitchen and cauterizing the wound
herself with a hot iron.
 Novel written during 19th century Victorian Literary
Period
• The Victorian Period is named after Queen
Victoria---literary period influenced by return to
Classicism—focusing on rationality/intellectualism
(vs. Romanticism)
• It was a time when women were expected to be
prim and completely centered on domestic life
• Romanticism was less in fashion (18th cent)—yet
Bronte girls were “Romantic Rebels” (novels
characterized by gothic elements such as haunted
mansions and twisted love stories)
 Romanticism
• Stressed the importance of feeling rather than
thinking
• Emphasis on the natural—the darker aspects
of existence, especially human nature
• Focus on romantic attraction and strong
emotions
• The “dark hero”- the protagonist who
embodies the passionate, brooding, possibly
evil nature
 Byronic Hero
Heathcliff is regarded as a classic Byronic hero. The Byronic hero
was defined by Lord Byron’s epic narrative poem , Childe
Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812.
Elements of the Byronic hero:
– a distaste for social institutions and social norms
– conflicting emotions or moodiness
– high levels of intelligence and cunning
– self-criticism
– mysterious origins and a troubled past
– self-destructive tendencies
– a loner, rejected from society
 Romanticism, the Gothic novel, and
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights contains elements of Romanticism and the
Gothic novel.
Romantic elements:
– nature as a powerful spiritual force
– descriptions of the countryside
– elevated emotional levels and passion
– a desire to rise above the limitations of ordinary human existence
– a strong interest in death
– a portrayal of opposites – escape and pursuit, life and death
– isolation, both emotional and geographical
– elements of the supernatural
 The Gothic novel
Elements of the Gothic novel
– a castle, sometimes ruined or haunted
– sinister, ruined buildings
– extreme landscape and weather
– death and madness
– omens
– ancestral curses
– terrifying events
– taboo and sensational topics
– a suggestion of the supernatural
– a villain or villain-hero (Byronic hero) driven by passion
– a heroine wooed by both a good and a dangerous suitor
– revenge
 Industrial Revolution and Social Class
• Wuthering Heights was written in 1847, which
was a time when Capitalism and the Industrial
Revolution were the dominant forces of the
British economy and society. It was a time of
rapid, often confusing, change that led to
violence. As a result of the changing
economy, the traditional relationships
between classes and the social structure
began to change.
 Industrial, cont.
While wealth had traditionally been measured by land
ownership, the eighteenth century had begun a trend
toward a cash-based economy.
This created a middle class who were more economically
powerful than its landowning superiors (gentry).
The power of yeomen, or the respectable farming class,
as well as the traditional power-holding gentry was
challenged by the newly wealthy capitalists.
 Social Changes...
Each of these classes is represented in the novel
by various characters.

• Hareton is a member of the respectable

farming class

• the Lintons are members of the gentry

• Heathcliff makes his fortune (somewhat

mysteriously) as a capitalist
Women’s Rights…
During this time period women’s
rights were changing.
Why this is relevant:
• Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights during the
beginning of the women’s rights movement in
England.

• The primary concerns of the movement were the

lack of women’s right to vote and the lack of
married women’s property rights. The latter issue
arises in Wuthering Heights.
 Yorkshire Moors
• “Wuthering” means stormy or turbulent/wild
• The moor is an essentially hostile environment
but also beautiful.
• A desolate and isolated part of England
• The setting in Wuthering Heights reflects the
area where Emily Bronte grew up
• Characterized by rugged hills with scattered,
hard, black stones with little vegetation
 Point of View
(the perspective from which a story is told)

• Events in Wuthering Heights are told from several different

points of view
• The novel opens and closes from the point of view of Mr.
Lockwood
• The next narrator of the story is Mrs. Ellen (Nelly) Dean; her
point of view is “closer” to the story itself than Lockwood’s
• Embedded within the narration of Lockwood and Nelly are
points when characters such as Isabella Linton and Cathy
Linton speak for themselves.
• The reader must ultimately decide what he/she thinks about
each character because of the varying points of view
 Framework Story
• Wuthering Heights is highly praised for the unique narrative
technique Emily Bronte used to execute the novel, often
referred to as a “frame narrative.”
• The two main narrators are Lockwood and Nelly Dean, but
other narrators arise throughout the novel when Nelly quotes
what other characters have told her.
• The frame narrative form of the novel adds complexity for the
reader. Lockwood is the outer layer and Nelly the inner layer.
• Since the story passes through layers, the reader must
question the reliability of all that he or she reads.
– Example: Nelly glosses over events to minimize her own guilt.
– Example: Lockwood is naïve and lacks good judgment.
 The Narration
Two filters
a. Mr. Lockwood

b. Nelly Dean
The Setting - Yorkshire, England
The Setting, cont.
Wuthering Heights is set in
three locations:
• Wuthering Heights

• Thrushcross Grange

• The Yorkshire Moors

 Wuthering Heights and
Thrushcross Grange
• Bronte emphasizes the relationship of each house to
the natural world around it.
• Wuthering Heights is located on top of a hill where it is
exposed to the harsh weather and is dark and gloomy.
• Thrushcross Grange is located in a valley where it is
protected by a stone wall. The Grange is also luxuriously
decorated.
• The contrasting houses also directly reflect the
inhabitants who live inside
• Thrushcross- Lintons; Wuthering Heights- Earnshaws
Character
Map
of
Wuthering
Heights
 Characters
• Heathcliff: brought to WH as a young boy by old Mr.
Earnshaw; has a wild, uncontrollable nature;
consumed by his love for Catherine Earnshaw
• Catherine Earnshaw: a wild girl growing up at WH;
befriends Heathcliff as a child; attracted to the
refined life at TG; recognizes that she loves Heathcliff
but is married to Edgar Linton
• Edgar Linton: a pampered, somewhat spoiled boy
living at TG; polite and well educated; attempts to
“civilize” Catherine but does not understand her
passionate personality
•
Characters
Hareton Earnshaw: son of Hindley and Frances Earnshaw;
used a pawn by Heathcliff to wreak revenge on Hindley;
grows up to be big and strong with a bad temper
• Cathy Linton: daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar
Linton; sheltered upbringing at TG; eventually brings
peace and happiness to WH
• Hindley Earnshaw: despises Heathcliff for being favored
by his father Mr. Earnshaw; unkind and self-destructive;
mistreats and humiliates Heathcliff and Earnshaw’s death
• Linton Heathcliff: the sickly son of Isabella Linton and
Heathcliff; self-centered and unable to love anyone
 Characters
• Isabella Linton: sister of Edgar Linton; raised at TG; shallow
and weak; later becomes abusive and vengeful after
marrying Heathcliff
• Mr. Lockwood: first narrator of the story; rents TG from
Heathcliff; well-educated but doesn’t life to be around
people
• Mrs. Ellen (Nelly) Dean: second narrator of the story; once
lived at WH then became housekeeper at TG; sensible and
trusted by most characters in the story
• Joseph: elderly servant at WH; prone to evangelical
ravings about sin/religious fanatic; speaks with a thick
Yorkshire accent (sounds Scottish)
 Literary Elements and Techniques
• Structure: The first half of the novel tells the
story of Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and
Edgar Linton. The second half mirrors the first
by describing the actions of the children of the
characters in the first half (Cathy Linton, Linton
Heathcliff, and Hareton Earnshaw).
• Symbols: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross
Grange
• Foreshadowing: the use of ghosts
 Novel Structure

• Wuthering Heights is told in medias res (Latin

for "into the middle of things”). It usually
describes a narrative that begins, not at the
beginning of a story, but somewhere in the
middle — usually at some crucial point in the
action. The purpose in Wuthering Heights is
to add a sense of mystery.
C. Structure
1. Two main parts:
last meeting with Cathy

Heathcliff’s motivation for revenge Heathcliff’s Revenge

 Keep In Mind…
• Keep track of dates and how the story progresses.
• Keep track of who is speaking. This will help you
keep your reading organized.
• Keep track of whether or not the story is flashback
mode or not.
• It is not necessary to understand all of Joseph’s
dialogue, but you need to keep in mind his
characterization and the meaning behind what he
says.