"Wuthering heights" di Emily Brontë

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Data:	08.10.2001
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"WUTHERING HEIGHTS" BY EMILY BRONTË

AUTHOR
Emily Brontë is born at Thornton, in Yorkshire, in 1818. Her mother dies when she's young and her aunt Elizabeth comes to the Brontës' house to look after the six children: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne.
Emily attends the Clergy Daughters School and the Roe Head School, where Calvinism is imposed. In 1835 Emily returns home where she spends a solitary life. In 1842 Emily and Charlotte go to Brussels where they study French, German, drawing, music, singing and arithmetic. In 1846 Charlotte decides to publish a volume of poetry, "Poems", written by herself, Emily and Anne, but they use pseudonyms. In 1847 Emily publishes "Wuthering heights" and Charlotte reveals their true identities. In 1848, at the age of thirty, Emily dies of tuberculosis.

PLOT
"Wuthering heights" is a story about love, hate, sorrow and death. It is narrated by, first Mr Lockwood, and Nelly Dean, the housekeeper.
At the beginning of the book, Mr Lockwood had just arrived at Thrushcross Grange as a tenant. He went to see Mr Heathcliff, the man who was renting him the house. When he arrives at Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff makes it very clear that Mr Lockwood is not welcome
Lockwood is curious about the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and when he becomes ill he asks Nelly to tell him about them. She tells that the previous owner of the home, Mr Earnshaw, had a son, Hindley, and a daughter, Catherine. One day Mr Earnshaw brought home an orphan, Heathcliff. He soon became Mr Earnshaw's favourite and great friend of Catherine. Hindley hated him for that ad after his father's death, he started to treat Heathcliff like a servant. After some time Hindley got married with Frances; she gave birth to a child named Hareton and then she died shortly. In the meantime Catherine met Edgar Linton, a rich man who lived with his family at Thrushcross Grange. When he asked Catherine to marry him she accepted even though she still loved Heathcliff. Catherine wanted to marry Edgar because he was rich and to help Heathcliff. In fact he was poor and she wanted to rise and place him out of her brother's power. Catherine told Nelly her decision but Heathcliff listened the conversation and he went away for four years.
When he returned, he was and educated gentleman with money and Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister, fell in love with him. One day there was a confrontation between Heathcliff and Edgar and Catherine had a breakdown and she became ill. Isabella and Heathcliff got married and they went to live at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff started to treat Isabella badly, having his revenge on Edgar.
Catherine's illness got worse and Heathcliff went to see her. They had a passionate meeting and Catherine died that night after giving birth to Cathy.
Isabella left Heathcliff and she had a son, Linton. Hindley died leaving Heathcliff as the master of Wuthering Heights.
Many years later, Isabella died and Linton went to live with his father, Heathcliff.
Hoping to destroy the Linton family, Heathcliff ordered his son to marry Cathy, Catherine and Edgar's daughter. But Linton died and Cathy fell in love with Hareton Earnshaw. Heathcliff couldn't stop their love and the two youngs got married. Heathcliff said to Nelly that since Catherine's death, he had been haunted by her. He died and at last their souls were reunited.

SETTING
The story takes place in England in the late 18th /early 19th century. The isolated and wild windy moor of Yorkshire is the dominant landscape.
The two principal settings are Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
Wuthering Heights is probably located in a place constantly buffeted by wild winds. Its inhabitants also seem creatures of the storm. They are constantly being torn by strong passions.
In contrast, Thrushcross Grange is the symbol of the calm and the Lintons are gentle.

CHARACTERS
Heathcliff
He's an orphan and when he was young he was poor and rude. But after some years he became a rich and polite man.
At the beginning of the story he's presented by Mr Lockwood, who goes to see him. He says that Heathcliff is suspicious (" I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows", extract one, lines 7-8), when he invites Mr Lockwood to come in, he expresses the sentiment "Go to the Deuce" (extract two, line 10) and he' reserved. With this description I can infer that Heathcliff is solitary and not polite.
Heathcliff has two passions: the passion for Catherine and his passion for revenge. He loves Catherine and he is tormented by the loss of her. He wants to take revenge on Hindley and Edgar because they have ruined his life. Hindley treated him as a beggar and that’s why Catherine didn’t marry Heathcliff, as Catherine explains in the extract three, lines 2-3 and in the extract five, lines 14-16. And Edgar is the one who married Catherine, and who was keeping Catherine and him apart. So Heathcliff takes control of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, he treats badly Isabella and he's cruel with Cathy and Hareton too.
He remains true to his love even when Catherine has betrayed him for Edgar. He thinks that nothing could share him from Catherine (extract ten, lines 26-28).

Catherine Earnshaw
She falls in love with Heathcliff, marries Edgar Linton because he's rich and she dies after giving birth to Catherine Linton.
She loves wildly Heathcliff and admits that Heathcliff "he's more myself than I am" (extract three, line 5) and that Edgar is as different from her "as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire" (extract three, lines 6-7). She thinks that she and Heathcliff are the same soul saying "I am Heathcliff"(extract six, line 8) and her "love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath" (extract six, line 6).
Catherine's acceptance of Edgar's proposal, then, is a betrayal of Heathcliff and of herself. Perhaps Cathy wants to be a rich lady or perhaps her true desire is to free Heathcliff from Hindley's power (extract five, lines 15-16).
At the beginning of the story she's beautiful and powerful but after her marriage with Edgar, she has a breakdown so she becomes ill and delirious. She changes, "her thick, long hair had been partly removed at the beginning of her illness; and now she wore it simply combed in its natural tresses over her temples and neck" (extract eight, lines 2-4). She's pale too and her eyes seem not to look at the objects around her, it seems that they gaze beyond.

Edgar Linton
He lives at Thrushcross Grange, he's rich and asks Catherine to marry him. He' s the rival of Heathcliff because he has married Catherine

Mr Loockwood
He is one of the two narrators. I think he is a cold person, in fact he decides to spend some time at Trushcross Grange to recover from an unhappy love affair (summary page 45) and he's insincere too because he wants to stay alone but after all he craves company at Wuthering Heights when it's clear he's not wanted.

Nelly Dean
She's sensible and she believes in the true love. In fact she supports the relation between Heathcliff and Catherine as shown in the extract five, lines 1-5, and she accepts to give Heathcliff's letter to Catherine. She often acts as the "bridge" between the worlds of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.
She tries to shelter others from the truth. She may not lie to Lockwood, but she lies to some characters of the story but with good motives. For example in the extract four she lies to Catherine saying to her to stop talking because Heathcliff is coming with Joseph but in reality Heathcliff is hidden. In the same time she doesn't want Heathcliff knows the truth. She shelters Edgar from the truth because she doesn't tell him the relation between her wife and Heathcliff and she lies to a servant saying him to go to the village to buy some oranges for his mistress but, in reality, she wants to stay alone with Catherine and to give her Heathcliff's letter (extract seven, lines12-15).

Hindley Earnshaw
He is the brother of Catherine and he's cruel with Heathcliff treating him like a servant.
But Hindley is also a victim deprived of his beloved wife when she dies, and, finally deprived of Wuthering Heights by his enemy Heathcliff.
I think that Hindley is weak and he hasn't the strength of the other members of Wuthering Heights.

Hareton Earnshaw
He is the son of Hindley and falls in love and marries Catherine Linton

Isabella Linton
She is the sister of Edgar and the wife of Heathcliff but later runs off to London and she gives birth to a son, whom she calls Linton

Linton Heathcliff
He is born in London and when his mother(Isabella Linton) dies, he goes to live with his father Heathcliff.

Catherine Linton
She's the daughter of Catherine and Edgar. Cathy can be seen as a pale version of her mother.
She is forced to marry Linton by Heathcliff but when his husband dies, she falls in love with Hareton and marries him. They are the ones finally able to escape the vicious circle of suffering in which the other character were trapped.

NARRATOR
In Wuthering Heights there is multiple narration, which means that the story is told by more than one narrator. The two main narrators are Lockwood and Mrs. Dean. The latter relates the events that happened in the past, from her own personal experience. Her role is very important because she explains the story of the inhabitants Wuthering Heights and Thrusshcross Grange. She tells Lockwood the events, who also retells her story to an anonymous audience (the readers) writing it on a diary. Lockwood also adds information about the present course of events, again from his own experience. He uses a more sophisticated language than Mrs.Dean.
Lockwood is the only real stranger to the moors. He's pleasant, courteous and educated.

THEMES
Love and passion
The love between Heathcliff and Catherine is the principal theme in the novel and the whole story revolves around the passion that Catherine and Heathcliff feel for each other.
Their love is true but tormented and never realised during their lives. They will be reunited only after the death, as written at the summary at page 57("After his death, people claim to see the ghosts of a man and a woman wandering on the moor"). The love is wild and eternal. In facts, Heathcliff and Catherine continue to love each other even if they get married with other people, they live in separated houses and after Catherine's death, Heathcliff remains in love with her until he dies.
The lovers identify with and as each other and Catherine declares "Nelly, I am Heathcliff" (extract six, line 8)
The passion is what divides Catherine from Edgar. She says that her love for Edgar is like the foliage in the woods and her love for Heathcliff is like the eternal rocks(extract six, lines 5-7). So I can infer that her feelings for Edgar are changeable and her feelings for Heathcliff will be the same forever. Catherine's passion for Heathcliff ruins the lives of many people at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.

Revenge
This is the most dominant theme of the second half of the novel, although in the last chapter Heathcliff abandons his plan for revenge.
Heathcliff takes revenge on Edgar and Hindley treating Isabella (Edgar's sister) and Hareton (Hindley's son) badly.
Heathcliff first believes that if he can avenge the death of Catherine and he will somehow grow closer to her. However, the exact opposite occurs. When Heathcliff gives up on his plan for revenge, he is soon reunited with Catherine in eternal bliss.

Selfishness
Heathcliff is probably the most selfish person in all of Wuthering Heights. He ruins Catherine's life when he disappears for four years. He also ruins Isabella's life by marrying her only for revenge. Heathcliff forces young Cathy to marry Linton. These are only the major actions that show Heathcliff's selfishness.
Catherine's selfish character is evident when she wants both Edgar and Heathcliff at the same time. Catherine wants Edgar for his life and Heathcliff for his soul. She doesn't want to choose between the two of them, and therefore she never did. Thus, she caused pain for Heathcliff and Edgar.

PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS
I liked Wuthering Heights and I think that the story is interesting. At the beginning I was very curious about Heathcliff's behaviour and then the love story of Heathcliff and Catherine has involved me. I admire the strength of the two lovers, especially Heathcliff because Catherine is everything for him.
I didn't like the character of Catherine, she shouldn't have married Edgar only because he was rich. I think that Catherine liked the luxury as she liked Heathcliff. Thus, she chose to marry Edgar to have a good life and, as she said to Nelly, Edgar would have learnt her true feelings toward Heathcliff and he would have tolerated him . In this way Catherine thought that it was possible to be rich and to have Heathcliff but she wasn't right.
I think that Emily Brontë doesn't use a very simple style and sometimes I had to read the passages several times to understand well their meaning.

FROM TEXT TO CONTEXT
Wuthering Heights was written at the beginning of the Victorian Age (the reign of Queen Victoria, 1837-1901), a period characterized by political, social and religious controversy.
The novel was the most important literary genre in Victorian age and the novelists assured a role of great social importance. In the mid century novel acted as spokesman for the society and took on a moral function. Writers treated the many issues such as democracy and rapid industrialisation. The greatest novelists share a faith in the perfectibility of the mankind and believed that the goodness of human heart could improve the general situation so in their works they showed that good is capable to triumphing over evil.
The book represents the transition between the old and the new age. It is not merely a Victorian novel and there are elements in it that were influenced by 18th century Romanticism and reworked by Emily Brontë. Thematically it can be linked to the past (Romanticism) but at the same time it uses narrative devices which are completely new. In her work she described the suffering of an individual personality and presented a new conception of the heroine as a woman of vital strength and passionate feelings