Emily Brontë, one of five sisters in the Brontë family of writers, is well-known for her elegant writing style in her poems. Published in 1847, a year before Emily Brontë’s death, Wuthering Heights is Brontë’s only novel. As a tragic novel, Wuthering Heights embodies the true 19th century tragedy with features such as its dramatic plot, catharsis emotions, and ability to fascinate and horrify the reader at the same time. In the romantic novel, social relevance is a prominent theme as Heathcliff, the protagonist, seeks revenge for squandering his chances of being with his soul mate, Catherine Earnshaw. As a novel of such pronounced literary merit, Wuthering Heights has a complex plot built on its strong female characters, social class differences, and recurring cycles. Specifically, the recurring cycles lead the reader to the resolution of the novel without having trouble identifying all of the subplot issues brought out during the novel. Overall, the most important element in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is the motif of recurring cycles.
Emily Bronte, one of six children from Yorkshire, England, wrote the critically acclaimed Wuthering Heights, a romance novel of social relevance with qualities of romanticism and gothicism to form the destructive journey of love. Brontë utilizes the setting of the English Moors, a setting she is familiar with, to place two manors Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange to mirror the mood of characters, their action, and the atmosphere of conflicts. The moors provide a place for Brontë to isolate and magnify the characters as a small community, then she uses the manor to explain each character individually. The 19th century setting allows the reader to view the destructive nature of love when one loves the wrong person. The Wuthering Heights
Creating a haven from the cruel outside world, families ideally provide protection and support for each of their members. In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, however, bitterness grows between the Earnshaws and the Lintons. Within these two families, siblings rival for power and parents fail to fulfill their roles as caregivers. The intertwining relationships of the Earnshaws and the Lintons are marked by physical abuse, degradation, and emotional negligence. These reduce each of the family members’ life to a lonely and meaningless journey though the cold and misty moors.
The gothic and often disturbing Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s classic novel that contains undeniably powerful writing that created her timeless love story. Andrea Arnold transformed her masterpiece into a cinematic rendition to recreate the wild and passionate story of the deep and destructive love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff.
Wuthering Heights is a novel which deviates from the standard of Victorian literature. The novels of the Victorian Era were often works of social criticism. They generally had a moral purpose and promoted ideals of love and brotherhood. Wuthering Heights is more of a Victorian Gothic novel; it contains passion, violence, and supernatural elements (Mitchell 119). The world of Wuthering Heights seems to be a world without morals. In Wuthering Heights, Brontë does not idealize love; she presents it realistically, with all its faults and merits. She shows that love is a powerful force which can be destructive or redemptive. Heathcliff has an all-consuming passion for Catherine. When she chooses to marry Edgar, his spurned love turns into a
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte was published in 1847 and received many contradictory judgements. One main judgement that criticized the novel was how multiple characters can have a change in characterization depending on the reader. Many of the novel's characters, such as Heathcliff, possess positive values, but readers tend to focus on their negative qualities which allows these characters to change. Growing up poor and homeless, Heathcliff’s character changes many times throughout the novel as he grows older and possess negative qualities towards other characters. Later residing as an old, lonely master, Heathcliff’s change in character at the end of Wuthering Heights signifies that he has gone mad and leads to intentions that Heathcliff has not committed suicide, but lost all will after all he has been through.
“I thought, though everybody hated and despised each other, they could not avoid loving me,” admits bedridden Catherine Linton, desperate for company in her cooped-up chamber at Thrushcross Grange (Brontë 173-174). Characterized by her wild childhood excursions and rude, unladylike comportment, Catherine reigns as the most impetuous and attention-seeking female figure in the love story of Wuthering Heights. Chronicled from the perspective of her maid, Nelly, this complex novel radiates around Catherine’s affection for her adopted brother, Heathcliff, and unfavorable marriage to Edgar Linton. While individually, Catherine’s insolent behaviors throughout the story (which include pinching Nelly, ear-boxing her Edgar, and vilifying her sister-in-law, Isabella) warrant no sympathy from the reader, Catherine-in-full evokes a degree of compassion because of her eternal heartbreak. By showing that even the fieriest façade can conceal
The novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ (1847) by Emily Brontë and the film adaptation ‘Wuthering Heights’ (2011) by Andrea Arnold each convey respective values and perspectives reflective of the contrasting contexts and forms of each text. The novel, set in the Romantic period, is centred around two families living on the isolated, Yorkshire moors, and the explosive interactions between them. The concept of confinement contrasts against the freedom of nature throughout the novel. Nature is another key theme and a fundamental aspect of the Romantic period, used to present ideas such as rebellion and freedom. Finally, passion within human relationships is thoroughly explored through Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship within the novel. However, as the film adaptation is a product of a contemporary post-feminist, post-colonial time period, these themes can now be explored through lenses such as racial discrimination, feminism, and human connection.
Wuthering Heights, a novel by Emily Bronte is one of the most admired and favorable written works in English literature. When the novel was published in the year 1847, it sold very poorly and only received a minimum amount of reviews. Although the novel does not contain any sexual relations or bloodshed, it is considered to be inappropriate due to its portrayal of an unconstrained love and cruelty. Wuthering Heights is formed on the Gothic tradition in the late 18th century, which consists of supernatural encounters, malformed imagery, and the effects of mystery and fear. The novel has been studied and analyzed for many years, yet it remains unexhausted as a result of its memorable powerful characters. Because of the depiction of Catherine and Heathcliff’s corrupted love, their story remains one of the most nostalgic love stories in all of literature. Also, during the Victorian Age there were some drastic changes economically, socially, and politically. So as a Victorian writer, Emily Bronte clearly distincts the difference between the wealth of middle and upper class in Wuthering Heights. The setting of the novel is mainly within the Yorkshire moors of northern England and rural areas at that time were controlled by a strict Hierarchy government. Bronte represents this accurately in the novel by entitling the Linton family as the gentry’s class and the Earnshaw family as gentlemen farmers. In Wuthering Heights, the theme of revenge takes place as a necessity after the loss
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë explores the themes of love throughout the novel, which endorses a damaging and obsessive infatuation that brings about pain and despair for all characters included in the novel. The relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine can undoubtedly be seen by readers as the most important relationship in the novel, and their desire for one another is intricate and complicated. It can be argued that their longing for one another leads to Heathcliff’s ultimate revenge and obsession towards Catherine, highlighting the destruction of their love, not only destroying each other, but also everyone around them with their agonising romance. In fact, the novel is a revengeful love story of Heathcliff, the protagonist, and his obsession with his one true love, Catherine.
Emily Brontë, who wrote by the pen name of Ellis Bell, published a novel and dozens of poems purely with her experiences and imagination. Being one of three authors in her family, one of the most well known Brontë works was Wuthering Heights (Emily). In this story about revenge and love, a strange boy was adopted into a wealthy family called the Earnshaws. Mr. Earnshaw adores the boy and names him Heathcliff, but when Mr. Earnshaw dies, his son, Hindley, degrades Heathcliff. While doing this, Hindley keeps his younger sister, Catherine, away from Heathcliff. Later, Catherine ends up marrying another man, betraying Heathcliff’s love. Because of these events, Heathcliff was lead into a life of mysterious wealth, vengeance, and insanity. Emily Brontë experienced tragedy just as these characters have. Throughout Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, one can connect the characters’ experiences and personalities to Brontë’s own family, life, and career.
Someone having their true lover marry another person whom they do not truly love would be a difficult and undesirable situation. How a person in a similar situation reacts to it, especially in the long term, can reveal a lot about their character. Such is the case with Heathcliff, the main character of Wuthering Heights, a novel written by Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights takes place from the late eighteenth century through the early 1800s (decade) within the two houses of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange and on the land surrounding them (1, 58). The two houses are located in England and are near the village of Gimmerton (1, 102).
In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Heathcliff’s strong love for Catherine guides his transformation as a character. While Heathcliff enters the story as an innocent child, the abuse he receives at a young age and his heartbreak at Catherine’s choice to marry Edgar Linton bring about a change within him. Heathcliff’s adulthood is consequently marked by jealousy and greed due to his separation from Catherine, along with manipulation and a deep desire to seek revenge on Edgar. Although Heathcliff uses deceit and manipulation to his advantage throughout the novel, he is never entirely content in his current situation. As Heathcliff attempts to revenge Edgar Linton, he does not gain true fulfillment. Throughout Wuthering Heights, Brontë uses Heathcliff’s vengeful actions to convey the message that manipulative and revenge-seeking behaviors will not bring a person satisfaction.
When evaluating the family problems of a typical middle class American you may find deaths in the family, divorces, money problems, sibling rivalries, and more. In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, all of the above is seen with a topping of vengeance and selfishness. This interesting conflict is caused by the abusive actions of the characters. From relationship to relationship, one character abuses another to get to their way or to get back at another character for their own wrongdoing. Having this occur frequently throughout the novel creates a dumbfounded sort of tone and leaves the reader on the edge of their seat. Throughout the novel Wuthering heights, Emily Bronte emphasizes the characters ' abusive and unhealthy relationships; this is exemplified through repeated vengeant duality, internal and external conflict, and irrational thinking.
Love is a strong attachment between two lovers and revenge is a strong conflict between two rivals. In the novel Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte uses setting to establish contrast, to intensify conflict, and to develop character. The people and events of Wuthering Heights share a dramatic conflict. Thus, Bronte focuses on the evil eye of Heathcliff's obsessive and perpetual love with Catherine, and his enduring revenge to those who forced him and Catherine apart. The author expresses the conflict of Wuthering Heights with great intensity. Hence, she portrays a combination of crucial issues of romance and money, hate and power, and lastly