Wuthering Heights

English IV, AP/DC

The Form of the Novel

A tale of revenge, romance, and tragedy It exhibits many characteristics of the Gothic

novel which focuses on mysterious events Castles, supernatural events, Gothic architecture

(spires and gargoyles) The weather in Gothic literature is often foul

or fierce (note: the word “wuthering” means violent wind)

Publication

The novel was first published anonymously in December of 1847

Right away it offended Victorian sensibilities with its frank treatment of desire.

Emily Bronte dies a year later in December of 1848, and the following year her sister, Charlotte (author of Jane Eyre), publishes the second edition under Emily’s name.

Today, the book is given the praise it so rightfully deserves

So, who was Emily Bronte? There are many legends, biographies, and speculations

surrounding the Bronte sisters. Their upbringing on the Yorkshire moors was one marked by

isolation and eccentricity. There was an enormous curiosity regarding three sisters who

published works almost simultaneously, suggesting an extraordinary concentration of talent in one family.

Wuthering Heights initially shocked readers in 1847, but the twentieth century has enjoyed a renewed interest and passion for Bronte’s novel as, like Frankenstein, the novel transcends its literary origin to enjoy an important place in the literary canon.

Though Charlotte enjoyed far more notoriety, Emily is quite often considered the better writer.

Born in 1818, Emily was and English poet and novelist well remembered for her only novel--Wuthering Heights.

Early Life After a horrible boarding school experience during which she and

her sisters suffered abuse and an outbreak of typhus (which kills the eldest sister), Emily and her sisters and brother are educated at home by their father and aunt, Elizabeth Branwell. (These experiences are reflected in Charlotte’s novel Jane Eyre)

Their love for knowledge and the arts flourished in an atmosphere that whole-heartedly encouraged such pursuits.

Unfortunately, this close-knit environment also cultivated certain aspects of Emily’s character that would always plague her: homesickness.

She worked as a school teacher for a time, but the 17 hour workdays were overwhelming and she eventually returned home to recover from the stress.

Currer, Ellis, and Acton

In 1846, the sisters published a book of poetry together under the title Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte)

Charlotte wrote in the "Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell" that their "ambiguous choice" was "dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because... we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice[.]"

Untimely death

Emily's health, like her sisters', had been weakened by unsanitary conditions at home, the source of water being contaminated by runoff from the church's graveyard.

She became sick during her brother's funeral in September of 1848. Though her condition worsened steadily, she rejected medical help, saying that she would have "no poisoning doctor" near her.

She eventually died of tuberculosis on December 19, 1848

The Appeal of the Novel The central relationship of Cathy

and Heathcliff—love stories are always attractive!

One of the most celebrated love stories of all time, though Cathy and Heathcliff never marry and rarely show physical affection toward one another.

The novel seems to celebrate a transcendent love that surpasses the bounds of authority, mundanity, even death.

The novel both recognizes and explicitly appeals to a universal desire for the perfect “Other” (Lacanian theory).

“ My great miseries have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself.” ““He is more myself than I am”—Catherine Earnshaw

The Structure 34 relatively short chapters Lockwood serves as primary narrator, with Nelly

Dean offering some perspective At times, Lockwood is speaking with the present day

Heathcliff, at other times he is being told stories by the housekeeper

“Framed” story Review the family tree to help keep

characters/families straight While there is more than one Catherine, (Catherine

Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff, Catherine Linton are the same person).

Themes/Characterization

Bronte dives into the tumultuous nature of human relationships Her characterization is effective, in part, because we never

truly understand the motivations of the characters—they remain enigmas

Themes: Unrequited/Romantic/ill-fated love Social class Nature v. civilization (man) Family history/relationships Revenge

Literary Approaches

Psychoanalytic reading (Freud and Lacan) Historical reading (Victorian Age, social

issues pertaining to class, etc.) Feminist approach Formalist approach

We will attempt to cover as many of these approaches as possible!

The problem of Catherine Catherine breaks the mold for what many would see as the

stereotypical 19th century woman: she is independent, strong-willed, and makes her desires known to all those around her.

Later in the novel, her actions strongly reflect those that are expected of women in England of the time period.

She comes off as fickle. She wants Heathcliff, but her pursuit of the perfect suitor continually poses problems for them both. She eventually claims that marrying a more appropriate suitor will only help Heathcliff (we’ll talk about her childishness)

She attempts to balance personal desire with social expectation. (Gothic heroine?)

Lockwood

Reclusive narrator, claims to be misanthropic. The novel consists of his diary entries during a

period as Heathcliff’s tenant. Has come to Thrushcross Grange to be alone

(theme of isolation/alienation). Enamored with Heathcliff with whom he shares

certain tendencies, Lockwood wants to know more about his misanthropic landlord and the beautiful, widowed daughter-in-law.

Similar in nature to Walton and Victor—Lockwood is given the opportunity to learn a lesson.

Heathcliff: THE Byronic hero Passionate, vengeful His mysterious origins makes him a social outcast among the

landed gentry He is Cathy’s physical and spiritual equal, but he deserts the

Heights when she chooses Edgar over him He returns mysteriously rich, educated, destroying Cathy’s

marriage Eloping with Isabella to further distress Edgar (her brother), he

goes on to lure Hindley Earnshaw (Cathy’s older brother) into gambling away his rights to Wuthering Heights

His desire for revenge is only checked when he senses the imminence of his own death and his hopes of a final reunion with his ghostly beloved.

Famous Quotes from the novel "It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how

I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire."

“Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."

"You have left me so long to struggle against death, alone, that I feel and see only death! I feel like death!"

"He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would be drunk: I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not breathe in mine..."