Literary Guide to Wuthering Heights
Background and Literary Context
Biography of Emily Brontë:
Emily was born to a clergyman in Yorkshire.
At the age of , she attended a difficult boarding school with her sisters.
Following the deaths of two sisters, Emily and Charlotte (author of Jane Eyre) returned to their family home.
Along with their siblings Anne and Branwell, they developed an elaborate fantasy world and collaborated on stories, plays, and poems.
Emily was deeply connected to the Yorkshire moors of her childhood, where she frequently returned after spending time elsewhere.
She published Wuthering Heights in and died from tuberculosis the following year.
Historical Context:
The novel's action coincides with the American Revolution, which symbolizes the subversion of traditional power structures by common individuals.
Heathcliff is framed as a figure staging a personal revolution against two established, wealthy families.
Literary Connections:
The work shares Gothic elements with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
It aligns with Romanticism through its focus on the sublime in nature, human imagination, and spirituality over industrialization.
It also parallels George Eliot’s Middlemarch () in its realistic portrayal of provincial life.
Key Technical and Narrative Facts
Full Title: Wuthering Heights.
Date of Publication: .
Literary Period: Victorian.
Genre Classifications:
Romanticism: Intense emotion and the sublime.
Realism: Candid examination of provincial village life.
Gothic: Features include secret-laden houses, mysterious relationships, wild landscapes, and vulnerable heroines.
Setting: Yorkshire, England, spanning the late to early century.
Point of View: Framed narrative. Mr. Lockwood narrates the story to the reader as it was told to him by Nelly Dean, a former housekeeper for the Earnshaw and Linton families.
Central Climax: The emotional reunion between Heathcliff and Catherine just before she gives birth and passes away.
Primary Antagonist: Heathcliff (portrayed with moral ambiguity, prompting both sympathy and opposition from the reader).
In-Depth Character Analysis
Heathcliff:
Role: The central conflicted hero/villain; an orphan brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw.
Attributes: Described with a "gypsy" appearance and a mysterious past; an ultimate outsider.
Motivation: Driven by an untamed, massive love for Catherine and a subsequent desire for revenge after losing her.
Outcome: Eventually gains ownership of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange through manipulation but finds little joy in his success.
Catherine Earnshaw Linton:
Attributes: Beautiful, fiery, proud, and impulsive. Possesses a dual nature: she loves the luxury of civilization (Edgar) while being spiritually bound to the wild moors (Heathcliff).
Conflict: She chooses to marry Edgar for social security while maintaining that her soul is identical to Heathcliff’s.
Mr. Lockwood:
Role: The primary narrator and a tenant of Thrushcross Grange. He is an outsider from the city, characterized as smug and emotionally detached.
Ellen ‘Nelly’ Dean:
Role: The source of the story for Lockwood; housekeeper to both the Earnshaws and Lintons.
Perspective: Educated and articulate despite being a servant; she is often a mother figure and a confidante to many characters, though she is sometimes seen as meddlesome.
Hindley Earnshaw:
Arc: Begins as a good-natured boy but becomes a bitter, self-destructive alcoholic after his wife, Frances, dies. He exerts his power over Heathcliff early on, which sparks the cycle of revenge.
Edgar Linton:
Attributes: Handsome, cultured, and soft-spoken. He represents the refined country gentleman. Though seemingly fragile, he is strong in a quiet, introspective manner, though he can be unforgiving.
Cathy Linton (Younger Catherine):
Attributes: Daughter of Edgar and Catherine. Combines her mother’s passion with her father’s calm beauty. She is capable of growth and empathy, eventually looking past class status to recognize nobility in Hareton.
Hareton Earnshaw:
Role: Son of Hindley; he is the rightful heir to Wuthering Heights but is kept illiterate and unrefined by Heathcliff in an act of revenge.
Attributes: Rough and shy but possesses a sensitive and kind soul underneath.
Isabella Linton:
Role: Edgar’s sister who marries Heathcliff. She is ill-equipped for his cruelty and is eventually treated as property or a tool for revenge.
Linton Heathcliff:
Attributes: Son of Heathcliff and Isabella. Sickly, whiny, and manipulative. He is used by Heathcliff to gain legal control of Thrushcross Grange.
Thematic Explorations
Nature and Civilization:
Contrast: Wuthering Heights (nature/passion) is pitted against Thrushcross Grange (civilization/culture).
Character Correlates: Heathcliff represents nature (unknown origins, roams the moors) while Edgar represents civilization (studious, reserved).
Synthesis: Hareton Earnshaw represents a combination of both; he is rooted in nature as a farm boy but becomes civilized through his education and love for Cathy.
Love and Passion:
Destructive Love: Heathcliff and Catherine’s bond is all-consuming and violent.
Proper Love: The relationship between Edgar and Catherine is comfortable and socially acceptable but less profound.
Healthy Love: Cathy and Hareton demonstrate a balanced affection that has passion without destruction and gentleness without dullness.
Masculinity and Femininity:
The novel challenges gender stereotypes. Emily Brontë often gives her female characters (like Catherine) masculine traits of recklessness and strength, while some male characters (Edgar and Linton) are described with more feminine attributes, such as delicacy and weakness.
Class and Social Mobility:
While class was typically rigid in the century, the novel explores characters whose status changes. Heathcliff moves from poverty to wealth through unknown means, and Hareton is reduced from the gentry to a servant.
Revenge and Repetition:
The plot is a cycle of vendettas: Hindley mistreats Heathcliff; Heathcliff dispossesses Hindley and stunts Hareton; Heathcliff uses Cathy and Linton to hurt Edgar. The cycle only ends when Heathcliff loses the desire for revenge.
Gothic and the Supernatural:
Hauntings are central. Catherine’s ghost is a source of hope for Heathcliff, rather than just fear. Death is treated not as a conclusion but as a point where lovers might finally reunite.
Master Symbolism and Setting
Wuthering Heights (The House):
A centuries-old farmhouse that is sturdy, fierce, and unchanging.
Symbolizes raw natural instincts, primal emotions, and the wild moors.
Thrushcross Grange:
A symbol of refined, tamed culture, manners, and education.
It is an outpost of urbanity compared to the wild surroundings.
The Weather:
Storms and harsh winds signify that characters are subject to forces beyond their control.
Those who respect and endure the weather are portrayed as the strongest characters.
Detailed Chronological Plot Summary
The First Generation (The Earnshaw and Linton Conflict):
Mr. Earnshaw adopts the orphan Heathcliff, sparking Hindley’s lifelong jealousy.
Hindley returns from college with his wife, Frances, and takes over Wuthering Heights upon his father’s death, degrading Heathcliff to a servant.
Catherine and Heathcliff spend their youth roaming the moors; after an injury, Catherine stays with the Lintons and becomes attracted to Edgar’s lifestyle.
Catherine decides to marry Edgar because she feels it would degrade her to marry Heathcliff, though she claims Heathcliff is her true self.
Heathcliff overhears her and disappears for three years.
The Return and Revenge:
Heathcliff returns wealthy and polished. He moves into Wuthering Heights, exploiting Hindley’s gambling debts and alcoholism.
Heathcliff elopes with Isabella Linton to spite Edgar and gain a claim to the Linton estate.
Catherine becomes ill after a conflict between Edgar and Heathcliff; she dies after giving birth to young Cathy.
Heathcliff begs Catherine’s ghost to haunt him for the rest of his life.
The Second Generation:
Hindley dies, leaving Wuthering Heights to Heathcliff, who treats Hareton like a servant.
Isabella dies, and Heathcliff forces her son, Linton, to live with him.
Heathcliff manipulates a romance between the weak Linton and young Cathy, eventually kidnapping Cathy to force a marriage that will secure his ownership of Thrushcross Grange.
Edgar and Linton both die, leaving Cathy as a reluctant resident of Wuthering Heights with Heathcliff and Hareton.
Resolution:
In the present (), Lockwood rents the Grange. He witnesses the residents of Wuthering Heights.
Cathy and Hareton fall in love, as Cathy helps educate him.
Heathcliff, seeing the image of Catherine in both of them, loses his drive for malice. He dies and is buried next to Catherine. Cathy and Hareton plan to marry and move back to the Grange.
Analysis of Key Quotes
Chapter 1 (Lockwood on Heathcliff):
Lockwood notes the contradiction in Heathcliff, calling him a "dark-skinned gypsy" in appearance but a "gentleman" in dress and manners ().
This highlights the novel's focus on crossing social boundaries and the mysterious, menacing air surrounding the protagonist.
Chapter 3 (The Ghost):
Lockwood dreams of Catherine’s ghost grabbing his hand and begging to be let in. His violent reaction (rubbing her wrist on the broken glass) reveals the latent brutality even in "civilized" people ().
Chapter 9 (Catherine’s Declaration):
Catherine famously states, "I am Heathcliff!" (). She describes her love for him as the "eternal rocks beneath," suggesting their union is fated and necessary, whereas her love for Edgar is like the "foliage" that changes with seasons.
Chapter 15 (The Deathbed Exchange):
Heathcliff blames Catherine for her own death, saying she broke his heart by breaking her own (). This explores the idea that cruelty often stems from powerlessness and pain.
Chapter 34 (Heathcliff’s End):
Heathcliff claims he is "within sight of my heaven" as he prepares to die and reunite with Catherine, rejecting the conventional Christian afterlife ().