Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is Emily Bront's only novel. It was first published in 18! under
the pseudonym Ellis Bell" and a posthumous se#ond edition was edited by her sister
$harlotte. %he name of the novel #omes from the &or'shire manor on the moors on whi#h
the story #entres (as an ad)e#tive" wuthering is a &or'shire word referring to turbulent
weather*. %he narrative tells the tale of the all+en#ompassing and passionate" yet thwarted"
love between Heath#liff and $atherine Earnshaw" and how this unresolved passion
eventually destroys them and many around them.
,ow #onsidered a #lassi# of English literature" Wuthering Heights' innovative
stru#ture" whi#h has been li'ened to a series of -atryosh'a dolls"
.citation needed/
met with mi0ed
reviews by #riti#s when it first appeared" with many horrified by the star' depi#tions of
mental and physi#al #ruelty.
.1/.1/
%hough $harlotte Bront's Jane Eyre was originally
#onsidered the best of the Bront sisters' wor's" many subse2uent #riti#s of Wuthering
Heights argued that its originality and a#hievement made it superior.
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Wuthering Heights
has also given rise to many adaptations and inspired wor's" in#luding films" radio"
television dramatisations" a musi#al by Bernard 4. %aylor and songs (notably the hit
Wuthering Heights by 5ate Bush*" ballet and opera.

$hara#ters
Heathcliff is the #entral male #hara#ter of the novel. 6n orphaned foundling raised
by the Earnshaw family" he forms an early bond with his foster sister $atherine Earnshaw"
and they both fall passionately in love with ea#h other as they grow. -eanwhile he nurses
a bitter rivalry with his #ruel foster brother Hindley" who resents the attention their father
shows Heath#liff. 6 brooding" vindi#tive man" his anger and bitterness at $atherine's later
marriage to their neighbour Edgar 7inton sees him engage in a ruthless vendetta to destroy
not only his enemies but their heirs" a #rusade that only intensifies upon $atherine's death.
Catherine Earnshaw is Heath#liff's adoptive sister. 6 free+spirited and somewhat
spoiled young woman" she returns Heath#liff's love utterly" but #onsiders him too far
beneath her for marriage into poverty from both not having any money8 instead #hoosing
another #hildhood friend" Edgar 7inton" through whi#h marriage she hopes to advan#e
Heath#liff. 7ater" after Heath#liff's return" she a#'nowledges to both men that Heath#liff is
her true love. However her physi#al and mental health is destroyed by the stress of
regretting her marriage to Edgar and the feud between them" and she des#ends into
propheti# madness before dying during #hildbirth.
Edgar Linton is a #hildhood friend of $atherine Earnshaw's" who later marries her.
6 mild and gentle man" if slightly #old" #owardly and distant" he loves $atherine deeply but
is unable to re#on#ile his love for her with her feelings for her #hildhood friend. %his leads
to a bitter antagonism with Heath#liff" and it is partly this whi#h leads to $atherine's mental
brea'down and death. 7inton is in#apable of #ompeting with Heath#liff's guile and ruthless
determination a#ross the de#ades" and his health fails him while still a relatively young
man.
Isabella Linton is the younger sister of Edgar who be#omes infatuated with
Heath#liff. 9he fundamentally mista'es his true nature and elopes with him despite his
apparent disli'e of her. Her love for him turns to hatred almost immediately" as she is ill
treated both physi#ally and emotionally and held #aptive against her will. Eventually she
es#apes" leaves for 7ondon and gives birth to their son 7inton Heath#liff" whom she
attempts to raise away from Heath#liff's #orrupting influen#e.
Hindley Earnshaw is $atherine's brother and Heath#liff's other rival. Having loathed
Heath#liff sin#e #hildhood" Hindley delights in turning him into a downtrodden servant upon
inheriting Wuthering Heights. However" his wife's death in #hildbirth destroys him8 he
be#omes a self+destru#tive al#oholi# and gambler and it is this that allows Heath#liff" upon
returning to Wuthering Heights" to turn the tables and to manoeuvre the family property
away from him.
Ellen (Nelly) Dean is" at various points" the house'eeper of both %hrush#ross
:range and Wuthering Heights" and is one of the two narrators of the novel. 9he
re#ogni;es early on that Heath#liff is $atherine's true love and tries to dissuade her from
the disastrous marriage to Edgar. Having been a disapproving witness and unwilling
parti#ipant to many of the events between Heath#liff and both the Earnshaw and 7inton
families for mu#h of her life" she narrates the story to 7o#'wood during his illness.
Linton Heathcliff is the son of Isabella and Heath#liff. He bears no resemblan#e to
Heath#liff and ta'es after his mother. He is a si#'ly #hild who grows up ignorant of his
father until his mother's death" when he is thirteen years old. He is for#ed to live at
Wuthering Heights and grows into a bullied" trembling shadow of his father. Heath#liff
arranges for him to marry his #ousin $atherine 7inton so that he may inherit both the
estates of Wuthering Heights and %hrush#ross :range. He dies shortly after entering into
the for#ed marriage.
Catherine Linton is the daughter of $atherine Earnshaw and Edgar 7inton. 9he
inherits both her mother's free+spiritedness and dar' eyes and her father's gentle nature"
fa#ial features and fair hair. Heath#liff ta'es advantage of her fundamentally pure nature
and manipulates her into marrying his own son" 7inton. <n#e she has be#ome another
#aptive of Wuthering Heights" Heath#liff resorts to the same torture he applies to everyone
against whom he bears a grudge. 6s a result" she regards him with #ontempt and disgust
and be#omes silent and morose. 9he later falls in love with her #ousin" Hareton Earnshaw.
Hareton Earnshaw is the son of Hindley Earnshaw" who is adopted by Heath#liff
upon Hindley's death. Even before this" he has waged a #ampaign of torment against the
young man while living together at Wuthering Heights. Heath#liff spitefully turns Hareton
into a downtrodden" illiterate servant" mu#h as Hindley on#e did to him" but does not further
mistreat him as Hindley had done. =espite this" Hareton remains strangely loyal to him"
even adopting a superfi#ially similar personality. >ui#' tempered and easily embarrassed"
he falls in love with $atherine at an early point" and despite her #ontempt for him is thus
inspired to improve himself. He bears a strong li'eness to his aunt and is the only person
who mourns Heath#liff upon his death.
Joseph is a servant of the Earnshaws and later Heath#liff. 6 bullying" la;y and snide
man" he hates Heath#liff but is somehow bound to be his servant. Intensely religious" he is
san#timonious" self+righteous and largely held in #ontempt by those around him. He
spea's in the traditional West &or'shire diale#t. %his diale#t was still used in the Haworth
area up until the late 1?!@s" but there are now only portions of it still in #ommon use.
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Lockwood is the narrator of the novel. 6 re#ently+arrived tenant at %hrush#ross
:range at the beginning of the novel" he is intrigued by the #urious goings+on at Wuthering
Heights" and persuades ,elly =ean to tell him the story of what happened during a bout of
si#'ness. 7o#'wood is apparently a wealthy" relatively young man who #omes to regret not
approa#hing the younger $atherine 7inton himself. =espite displaying many self+#entred
attributes" he is also a sensitive and romanti# soul who is deeply affe#ted by the saga of
Heath#liff and $atherine.
7iterary allusions
%raditionally" this novel has been seen as a uni2ue pie#e of wor' #on#eived in
solitude by a genius #onfined to the lonesome heath" deta#hed from the literary
movements of the time. However" Emily Bront re#eived literary training at the
Bensionnat HCger in Brussels by imitating and analysing the styles of #lassi# writers.
9he also learned :erman" and was able to read the :erman Domanti#s in the original.
%he wor' of 7ord Byron was also admired by all three Bront sisters. %he brother+
sister relationship between Heath#liff and $athy is reminis#ent of the brother+sister
#ouples in Byron's epi#s. %he #hara#ter of Heath#liff is reminis#ent of the Byroni# hero.
Gothic and spernatral ele!ents
%he novel #ontains many :othi# and supernatural elements" although the true
nature of the latter is always ambiguous. %he mystery of Heath#liff's parentage is
never solved. He is des#ribed by Hindley as an 'imp of 9atan' in #hapter four" and by
the end of the novel ,elly =ean is entertaining notions that Heath#liff may be some
hideous ghoul or vampire. %he awesome but unseen presen#e of 9atan is also alluded
to at several points in the novel" and it is noted in #hapter three that 'no #lergyman will
underta'e the duties of pastor' at the lo#al #hapel" whi#h has fallen into dereli#tion.
:hosts also play a role in the novel. 7o#'wood has a horrible vision of $atherine
(the elder* as a #hild" appearing at the window of her old #hamber at Wuthering
Heights and begging to be allowed in. Heath#liff believes this story of $atherine's
ghostly return" and late in the novel behaves as though he has seen her ghost himself.
When Heath#liff dies" he is found in the bedroom with the window open" raising the
possibility that $atherine's ghost entered Wuthering Heights )ust as 7o#'wood saw in
his dream. 6t the end of the novel" ,elly =ean reports that various superstitious lo#als
have #laimed to see $atherine and Heath#liff's ghosts roaming the moors. 7o#'wood"
however" dis#ounts the idea of Eun2uiet slumbers for those sleepers in that 2uiet
earth.E