2005:150

BACHELOR THESIS

Criticism of Social Conventions

and View of Nature and Civilization
as illustrated in Wuthering Heights

Anneli Wengelin

Luleå University of Technology

Bachelor thesis
English
Department of Language and Culture

2005:150 - ISSN: 1402-1773 - ISRN: LTU-CUPP--05/150--SE

Criticism of Social Conventions
and
View of Nature and Civilization
as illustrated in
Wuthering Heights

ANNELI WENGELIN

Department of Languages and Literature

ENGLISH C
Supervisor: Billy Gray
 1

Contents

Introduction 2

1. Criticism of Social Conventions in the 19th Century 4

1.1 Gender 4

1.2 The Class Issue 6

1.3 Symbols for different classes 7

1.4 The male class trip 8

1.5 The female class trip 9

1.6 Criteria for class identification 10

1.7 Thoughts about the class system 13

2. Nature – Civilization/Culture 17

2.1 Brontë’s description of nature 17

2.2 Brontë’s description of civilization 18

2.3 Is nature the same as freedom? 19

2.4 The development from nature to civilization 21

2.5 Is nature better than civilization? 23

3. Conclusion 27
 2

Introduction

Wuthering Heights, a novel written by Emily Brontë and published in 1847, is an early

contribution to the discussion about women’s situation that had arisen during the early 19th

century. During the Victorian Age some ideas about democratization of the parliamentary

representation for the people were discussed and at the same time it was a puritanical age.

Anthony Burgess describes the era as “an age of conventional morality, of large families with

the father as a godlike head, and the mother as a submissive creature like Milton’s Eve”.1

Emily Brontë illustrates different difficulties that women had to deal with during these times

by using her characters.

The first Catherine, who is born at Wuthering Heights, pictures the way a woman’s future

will depend on what kind of man she marries. The second Catherine, born at Thrushcross

Grange, is a woman whose personality has grown and whose self-esteem is leading her on her

way. Catherine II becomes an independent owner of two estates even though she gets married.

Brontë pictures both these characters as individuals who are masters of their own future,

which supports the idea of equality between the two sexes.

As well as being a novel about women’s situation in society, Wuthering Heights can be

interpreted as a criticism against the social class system. Brontë describes two families that

belong to the gentry, who have a constant struggle to keep their position. They did not have an

important name, like the aristocratic families, which could assure them of being considered

high class members of society. Brontë wants to show that a person’s character and behaviour

do not depend on class.

A third theme in Brontë’s novel describes a conflict between nature and civilization. Emily

Brontë lived her life on the Yorkshire moors which she loved with all her heart. Due to this,

1
A. Burgess, English Literature (Essex: Pearson Education, 1974) 181
 3

the novel can be seen as a tribute to her home and its surroundings. On the other hand

Brontë’s novel views a conflict between nature and civilization, which is illustrated by the

two families and their homes.

This essay is going to examine, how Brontë describes the social situation for women in the

middle of the 19th century, her view of social classes and the conflict between nature and

civilization which she pictures in her novel Wuthering Heights.

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1. Criticism of social conventions in the 19th century.

By writing Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë attacked the social conventions that existed in

her lifetime. She criticised both the social rules of how an ideal woman was supposed to be,

and the importance of which class a person belonged to. These ideas were considered “the

eccentricities of ‘woman’s fantasy’”2 by critics of her own time. As a way of getting her ideas

accepted she gives her male characters feminine features and the female characters have many

male traits and therefore, both sexes often act in a rather unconventional way. Brontë even

gives the two families female and male features. The marriage between Catherine Earnshaw

and Edgar Linton gives the reader a hint of how devastating it can be to let social class be

more important than love and happiness. By criticizing the Linton family, Brontë wanted to

question the prevailing prejudices that existed about lower social class members being weaker

and perhaps even more stupid and unfeeling people, than those belonging to a higher social

class.

1.1 Gender

In this novel, Catherine Earnshaw is described in a manner that made her contemporaries raise

objections to how she spoke and acted. Catherine was not the soft and tame woman she ought

to be, if she was to be accepted by society. At the beginning of Ellen Dean’s story, it is known

that Catherine, at the age of six, could “ride any horse in the stable, and she chose a whip”

(Brontë 44) when her father promised to bring her something from Liverpool. In the 18th

century this was unusual for a girl of Catherine’s age and it gives the reader a picture of a

tomboy with her own ideas, and of a rather unusual father, who taught his daughter such

things even if he had an older son. Throughout the story Catherine continues to be very eager

2
E.Moers, Literary Women (London: The women’s P: 1986) 100
 5

to have her way. She is described by Ellen as a girl whose “spirits where always at high-water

mark, her tongue always going – singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who would not

do the same. A wild wicket slip she was - …” (Brontë 49). When she was scolded she gave

her opponent “a bold, saucy look and her ready words” (Brontë 49).

Edgar Linton, who marries Catherine Earnshaw, has some traits which in contemporary

novels are usually connected with women. He is very constant and tender, especially to his

daughter Catherine, and he is indulgent towards his nephew, Linton. In the editor’s preface to

the novel it is explained that Brontë did not like the thought, that such feelings and qualities

were typical of women, only. To her, every human, created by God All Mighty, had these

features. Compared to Heathcliff, Linton’s manners appear to be even more pleasing.

Sometimes, the women are given features that place them in a higher position than the

men. One example is Catherine Linton (Catherine II) and her cousin Linton Heathcliff. These

two characters are described without any notice being taken of their sex at all. Catherine is a

very healthy and active girl with a positive way of looking at things, while Linton is weak and

dependent. The male cousin tries to get his way by crying and sulking, and he even acts like a

lady when he has Catherine come to him. The housekeeper at Wuthering Heights describes

him in the following way when she meets Ellen in Gimmerton:

“And I never knew such a faint-hearted creature,” added the

woman; “nor one so careful of hisseln. He will go on, if I leave the

window open a bit late in the evening. Oh! It’s killing! a breath of

night air! And he must have a fire in the middle of summer; and

Joseph’s bacca pipe is poison --- And if Hareton for pity comes to

amuse him, --- they’re sure to part, one swearing and the other

crying”. (Brontë 182)

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Linton is described as having feminine characteristics, and Brontë gives him delicate

features with blond flaxen hair. Brontë uses colours as a sign of male or female character;

therefore Catherine has darker hair than Linton. The author gives the two families different

gender. The Earnshaw’s are dark, strong and healthy, which in Bronte’s novel are male

features, while the Linton’s are more delicate and more sensitive to illnesses, which on the

other hand are feminine traits. This way of mixing the genders without following the norms of

society made critics in the 19th and the early 20th century unmasks the prejudices that existed

about women and their authorship. In Reviewing Sex, Nicola D Thompson cites Herbert

Read, who 1903 wrote an essay on the three Brontë sisters:

In the case of Emily, the same causes [as Charlotte] produced a

‘masculine protest’ of a more complex kind, showing indeed, the

typical features of what I think we must, with the psycho-analyst,

call psychical hermaphroditism….In her childhood the villagers

thought her more like a boy than a girl….much deeper and more

powerful must have been the masculine assumptions of her mind.

These found their fit expression…in Wuthering Heights.3

Herbert Read’s words about Brontë is an example of the reception Wuthering Heights

received after it was common knowledge that Ellis Bell was a woman.

1.2 The class issue.

In the 18th century, land and manner were of great importance regarding what social class a

person belonged to. A man had to own a lot of land and behave like a true gentleman to be

considered a man of high class. A woman, on the other hand, had to marry such a man in

order to get the favours of being a member of a high social class. Land was much more

3
N.D.Thompson, Reviewing Sex, Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels (London: MacMillan: 1996) 60
 7

important than money; earning money from business was not ranked as an acceptable way to

get a high position in society.

These rules and norms of class identification seem easy to understand and use, but in

reality they were not. The aristocracy had their titles and names but this was not the case of

the gentry which both the Earnshaws’ and the Lintons’ belonged to. Their everyday life

contained a lot of struggle to maintain their positions, by doing and saying the right thing at

the right time. In an article on the Internet George P Landow quotes J H C Newman when he

describes a true gentleman. Newman writes that a gentleman:

carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of

those with whom he is cast; -- all clashing of opinion, or collision

of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment; his

great concern being to make every one at their ease and at home.4

As a result of this, it was possible for them to be degraded at any moment. The decision of

degradation was to a great extent taken by the neighbours, who were very harsh in their

judgements.

1.3 Symbols for different classes

Emily Brontë uses symbols to show that the Lintons’ and the Earnshaws’ are not equal in

society. In the beginning of Ellen’s story, the Earnshaw children visit Thrushcross Grange out

of curiosity. They want to see how their neighbours are living their lives. The first symbol that

marks their different social class is the window, through which Heathcliff and Catherine peek

(Brontë 53). It functions as a barrier and makes it obvious that there are differences between

the two sides of the window-pane. On the outside where Heathcliff and Catherine stand it is

dark and it is raining and on the other side there are lights and a fire is burning. The next thing

4
G.P.Landow, http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor10.html
 8

that becomes a wall between the different classes is the dress, which Catherine wears when

she returns from Thrushcross Grange after she has been bitten by the dog. This dress makes it

impossible for her to act normally when she meets Heathcliff. She notices how dirty he is and

she is afraid that he will ruin her dress if they hug each other.

1.4 The male class-trip

The struggle and the neighbours’ judgements, mentioned above, are things that the character

Heathcliff, one of the protagonists, illustrates clearly. At the very beginning of the novel,

Heathcliff is an orphan who has nowhere to live and is adopted by the Earnshaws’ to become

a young gentleman, although this idea is questioned due to his dark skin. His life as a

gentleman is not easy, even if he is favoured by his adoptive father. His new brother, Hindley,

considers him a threat and does not like him. Hindley’s feelings spring from when he finds his

fiddle crushed in his father’s great-coat, and Heathcliff seems to be the one to blame. During

the time the two boys live under the same roof, Hindley never acknowledges Heathcliff to be

something other than a “lower” individual. This is obvious when the boys quarrel about a

horse:

Take my colt, gipsy, then! --- And I pray that he may break your

neck: take him, and be damned, your beggar interloper! and

wheedle my father out of all he has: only afterwards show him

what you are, imp of Satan.-And take that, I hope he’ll kick out

your brains! (Brontë 47)

Later, Hindley is sent to a boarding-school and when his father dies he returns to become the

master of Wuthering Heights. The journey between social classes continues when Heathcliff

is pushed off his high position to become a common worker at the farm. He is treated badly,

which gives him the motivation to make the class trip once more. Heathcliff leaves the house
 9

and his family to return three years later. Now he is totally changed. From a common worker

with a bad language and no money, he has turned into a well-mannered gentleman who

radiates dignity and respect, though Lockwood says that he is only a “gentleman in dress and

manners” (Brontë 21). The rules and norms of class distinction are noticeable several times,

for example when Heathcliff and Edgar Linton interact. Heathcliff and Edgar’s sister run

away and we get to know what Edgar thinks about it. The very fact that his sister has chosen

to leave with a man “without name” is bearable, but he is much more concerned about

Heathcliff being a villain disguised in nice clothes. He is certain of two things; Heathcliff is as

bad a person as he was before his disappearance and, that he is not a real gentleman, in spite

of his manners and money. This example illustrates the rules about social distinction; a man

cannot be a gentleman unless society approves.

1.5 The female class-trip

Brontë thinks it is possible for a person to change class through career, and what is happening

to Heathcliff reveals a male view of the phenomenon. Catherine Earnshaw’s tragic fate gives

another picture of this struggle; the female way of making a career. She is deeply devoted to

Heathcliff and the most natural thing would be that they shared their lives in marriage.

Catherine has however, a need to become someone else than a common housewife, serving

her working husband. She wants to be “the greatest woman of the neighbourhood” (Brontë

78). In order to reach her goal she decides to marry Edgar. She wants to be a part of both

worlds, which is a desire that totally ruins her world and brings unhappiness to the people at

Thrushcross Grange. Catherine thinks it is possible to continue her friendship with Heathcliff

to the same extent as usual, an idea which she discusses with Ellen:
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Every Linton on the face of the earth might melt into nothing,

before I could consent to forsake Heathcliff. Oh, that’s not what I

intend – that’s not what I mean! I shouldn’t be Mrs Linton were

such a price demanded! He’ll be as much to me as he has been all

his lifetime. Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate him,

at least. (Brontë 81)

But surprisingly for her both Heathcliff and Edgar oppose this idea. She cannot fully

understand the calm or almost cold way Edgar shows his feelings towards her. She feels that

she is treated badly and judged unjustly. At the end of her life, she does not recognize herself

in the mirror and says, “It’s behind there still!” she pursued anxiously. “And it stirred. Who is

it? I hope it will not come out when you are gone! Oh, Nelly, the room is haunted! I’m afraid

of being alone!”(Brontë 114) She cannot recognize herself as the lady of Thrushcross Grange.

In her confused mind she is still the little girl, running around on the moors, not longing for

the status that a marriage to Edgar would give her. Earlier, when Catherine and Heathcliff

stood outside the window, watching Edgar and Isabella, they laughed at those who were

inside and thought they where spoiled and weak. The Earnshaw children valued their freedom

higher than living in a beautiful house and wearing nice clothes. Lying in her bed, sick and

weak, Catherine wants to return to the life she lived before she married Edgar and became

“the greatest woman of the neighbourhood”. By letting Catherine experience these

difficulties, Brontë wants to show how hard it could be for a woman to move from one social

class to another.

1.6 Criteria for class identification

As mentioned above, land and manners were of great importance if a man, who did not

belong to the aristocracy, wanted to be considered as a gentleman. In Brontë’s novel both the
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Lintons’ and the Earnshaws’ have land, money and servants but in spite of that, they are

defined in different ways. The Earnshaws’ are survivors, living on the harsh moors of

Yorkshire with a kind of free atmosphere in the household. The children are allowed to run

around almost as they please, and from the beginning the reader gets to know them as

instigators who are very much led by their hearts. Heathcliff and Catherine spend almost

every minute on the moors, playing. Ellen explains when they “run away to the moors in the

morning and remain there all day, and the after punishment grew a mere thing to laugh at”

(Brontë 52). The Linton family live their life according to what is correct for people of their

dignity. It is very important that everything seems to be perfect on the surface, which means

that people tend to become rather cold in their relations. Edgar presents this quality when he

totally rejects his sister the minute she runs away with Heathcliff. His pride forbids him to

make any contact at all, firstly because Heathcliff is not considered as a real gentleman and

secondly because he feels that Isabella has neglected his position as the head of the family:

“Are we to try any measures for overtaking and bringing her

back?” I [Ellen] inquired, “How should we do?”

“She went of her own accord,” answered the master; “she had a

right to go if she pleased. Trouble me no more about her.

Hereafter she is only my sister in name: not because I disown her,

but because she has disowned me.”(Brontë 122)

Even when the first reaction of anger has subsided, Edgar cannot change his mind and forgive

his sister, because the norms of the society force him to act against his heart. Isabella writes a

letter to Ellen where she asks her to speak to Edgar. Her brother answers:

“Forgiveness!” said Linton. “I have nothing to forgive her, Ellen.

You may call at Wuthering Heights this afternoon, if you like, and

say that I am not angry, but I’m sorry to have lost her; especially
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as I can never think she’ll be happy. It is out of the question my

going to see her, however: we are eternally divided; and should

she really wish to oblige me, let her persuade the villain she has

married to leave the country”. (Brontë 132)

Edgar Linton’s reaction shows that feelings have no place, or at least very little place, in his

world. Even if he knows that his sister probably is not happy, he cannot let go of the

conventions that rule the lives in his social class. These examples present a view of class

distinctions which places the real gentleman as something external, not on the inside. Edgar

criticizes Heathcliff and says that he is gentlemanlike only in the sense that he has nice

clothes, but despite this he acts according to superficial values in order to please society.

Heathcliff is a very cruel and mean person who is easy to dislike. Linton and several of the

others in his family, act almost as badly as their opponent at Wuthering Heights when they are

put in situations which are trying. Isabella Linton becomes nasty when she stays with her new

family on the moors. They do not treat her as a lady and laugh at her foppish desires. When

Ellen comes to visit her, Isabella’s spirits have sunk and her good upbringing cannot help her:

There never was such a dreary, dismal scene as the formerly

cheerful house presented! I must confess that if I had been in the

young lady’s place, I would at least, have swept the hearth, and

wiped the tables with a duster. But she already partook of the

pervading spirit of neglect which encompassed her. Her pretty

face was wan and listless; her hair uncurled: some locks hanging

lankly down, and some carelessly twisted round her head.

(Brontë 132)

Brontë depicts people as being both good and bad. It is not ones social affiliation which

decides how you act in difficult situations, but your inner qualities. To show that a person’s
 13

social position is unimportant when defining a true gentleman Brontë has created the Hareton

character. He is badly educated and his language is undeveloped. He acts as cruel as his

master most of the time and it is just as easy to dislike him. As the story continues the reader

can see another side of him. Although he is treated badly both by Heathcliff and Catherine

Linton, he looks behind their outer personality and is able to value other things. Hareton is

humble and genuine as a person. He wants to learn and change, and he does so without

rejecting his past. Hareton still loves and honours his uncle Heathcliff even if he sometimes

thinks he is acting wrongly:

He said he wouldn’t suffer a word to be uttered in his

disparagement: if he were the devil, it didn’t signify: he would

stand by him; and he’d rather she would abuse himself, as she

used to, than begin on Mr. Heathcliff. Catherine was waxing cross

at this; but he found means to make her hold her tongue, by asking

how she would like him to speak ill of her father? (Brontë 266)

These words of Hareton’s show his ability to enter into other people’s feelings, which is very

important if you want to act like a true gentleman. His humble and thoughtful personality

makes him, in Brontë’s view, to a real gentleman.

1.7 Thoughts about the class system

Does Brontë like the class system she is describing in her novel? If the persons described are

investigated the answer must be, no. The Lintons’, who are in a higher position than the

Earnshaws’, show qualities that make them appear cold and scheming. Edgar Linton uses

Catherine’s illness for his own purpose, when he forbids Heathcliff to visit her at Thrushcross

Grange just because of his own jealousy; their communication “shall not exist”.(Brontë 132)

When Heathcliff is informed of this, he criticizes Mr Linton’s narrow-mindedness and almost

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egoistical view of the friendship between him and his sister. He says to Ellen that Edgar has

nothing to give to Catherine:

“That is quite possible,” remarked Heathcliff, forcing himself to

seem calm: “quite possible that your master should have nothing

but common humanity and a sense of duty to fall back upon. But

do you imagine that I shall leave Catherine to his duty and

humanity...” (Brontë 133)

Brontë presents a description of Edgar Linton as a person who is not very likable since he

treats persons who do not belong to his family badly. The author shows that both of the

families have faults. Heathcliff shows his feelings but nevertheless, he can be really cruel in

order to take revenge. Edgar Linton acts politely in every situation, but both he and his family

members are hurt by his behaviour. This supports the opinion about people that Brontë wants

to put forward. A human being has both good and bad qualities and those are not distributed

among people according to what social class they belong to.

Another thing that reveals Brontë’s view of the class society is how she describes Ellen

Dean, who has been a servant with both the Earnshaws’ and the Lintons’ for all her life. She

thinks for her self and does not allow other people to decide for her. Both Catherine I and

Catherine II try to benefit from Ellen’s lower position but she retains her dignity through the

novel. In chapter XI she does not agree with her mistress’s plans when Catherine wants to

frighten Edgar because he has “startled and distressed her shockingly” (Brontë 109) Ellen

receives Catherine’s instructions with a stolidity which vexes the intriguing lady very much.

Ellen tells Lockwood that “I did not wish to “frighten” her husband, as she said, and multiply

his annoyance for the purpose of serving her selfishness”. (Brontë 110) She has the self-

esteem that allows her to go against her employer and take sides with the one she thinks is

weaker or unjustly treated.

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Throughout the novel Ellen sees the people in an objective way, which means that she can

see both their positive and negative sides. This is something that neither Heathcliff nor Edgar

manage to do; they see either the good or the bad in a person. This quality of Ellen’s has the

function of showing the reader how badly the two other characters are acting in different

situations. Brontë uses Ellen as a yardstick and the men are to be compared to her. Because of

her social position and the fact that she is a woman, the author expresses her criticism of

social conventions. Ellen is a “gentleman” inside, even though she is of a lower social class

and a woman.

Emily Brontë’s opinion about the class society is also shown in Linton Heathcliff’s and

Hareton Earnshaw’s characters. Linton, who is considered a gentleman and belongs to

Thrushcross Grange from the beginning, is shown to be a weakling and a parasite, who takes

advantage of people around him. He has these qualities even though he is a man of very

extensive reading. Hareton, on the other hand, is an illiterate who has been taught to behave

rudely and to act like a villain. His language is limited and most of the time he seems to be

rather stupid. At the end of the novel, Brontë presents another picture of the man, in which he

is a sensitive individual who learns to read and treats other people with respect. Although he

knows that Heathcliff has been a cruel man during his lifetime, he does not want to talk badly

of him when he is dead; in fact, he is the only person who mourns his uncle:

But poor Hareton, the most wronged, was the only one who really

suffered much. He sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter

earnest. He pressed its hand, and kissed the sarcastic savage face

that every one else shrank from contemplating; and bemoaned him

with that strong grief which springs naturally from a generous

heart, though it be tough as tempered steel. (Brontë 278)

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Hareton gives the story a positive angle of approach. Through him the reader understands that

people can change and that the good in a person does not depend on how much land he owns,

or how educated he is.

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2. Nature – Civilization/Culture

Brontë has put the social classes in opposition to each other, in order to make a clear point.

She has used the same tool to put forward her thoughts about culture and nature as being parts

of life. Brontë lived most of her life on the moors and she loved the barren and wild landscape

which the infertile area offers its inhabitants. She lets the reader feel the sensation of freedom

which a long walk over the heather entails. In the preface of Wuthering Heights it can be read

that Brontë’s life as the daughter of a curate had given her experiences from a bleak

childhood, being looked after by her very strict aunt, which could be a reason for her

emotional descriptions of nature. The novel can be seen as a description of the two

phenomena, nature and civilization, where the author gives both positive and negative

criticism to both sides. There is a conflict going on between the two families. The Earnshaws’

symbolize Nature and the Lintons’ represent Culture and Civilization. This conflict can be

seen as an evolution from nature to civilization. This development is characterized by

Catherine I and Heathcliff on one side and Catherine II and Hareton on the other.

2.1 Brontë’s description of nature

In this text nature is described as harsh and dangerous. In the first chapter Lockwood becomes

aware of this when the snow stops him from going back home after his visit to his landlord.

Though the people at Wuthering Heights are very mean and short in their tone towards him,

they do not want him to leave because of the wild moor and the risks that come with walking

across it at night. Nature seems to be something pure and straightforward. It makes no

difference between rich or poor; everybody can be defeated by its force and it is important to

consider its changeable mood. Even if the snow and the wind make the environment

dangerous, Lockwood mentions it as being “certainly a beautiful country and very untouched

by society”. (Brontë 19)

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The moors are very close to Emily Brontë’s heart and she describes them as dangerous but

at the same time she depicts them with love. They are a place where Catherine and Heathcliff

find freedom, and where the wind blows constantly. When Catherine experiences her saddest

moments she longs for her old home on the moors and her own room, were she could breathe

the wind coming from the desolate wide open spaces:

“Oh, if I were but in my own bed in the old house!” she went on

bitterly, wringing her hands, “And that wind sounding in the firs

by the lattice. Do let me feel it! – it comes straight down the moor

– do let me have one breath!”

(Brontë 115)

Nature is both insensitive to its inhabitants and a force which inevitably punishes everyone

that does not have the strength needed to manage it, or the intelligence to compromise. The

power to endure nature’s force is visualized by Wuthering Heights, which is a stone building

with very small windows to cope with the strong winds. The intelligence is personified by the

few trees that grow on the moors. They are leaning in the same direction that the wind blows,

because the wind cannot break something or someone that bends; they know how to

compromise.

2.2 Brontë’s description of civilization

Civilization is pictured as a gentleman who is balanced and does not show his true feelings or

fight with his bare hands. Everything, in this sort of environment is in order and well

organized. The weather is good and inside a civilized house a fire is burning in order to warm

a frozen soul. In the novel, The Lintons’ and their home, Thrushcross Grange, stand for

culture and civilization. Their actions are not filled with passion and impulsiveness. They live

in their world of politeness and etiquette and are disturbed by people who do not play their
 19

game. This becomes clear in the beginning of the novel when the family meets Heathcliff for

the first time. He does not look like a gentleman and rather carries all the signs of being of a

lower class according to the standards that where prevailing at the time. Mr Linton described

him as follows:

---Don’t be afraid, it is but a boy - yet the villain scowls so plainly

in his face; would it not be a kindness to the country to hang him

at once, before he shows his nature in acts as well as features?

(Brontë 55)

Mr Linton remarks that he has heard that the children at Wuthering Heights are brought up in

“absolute heathenism” and he thinks that Catherine’s brother, Hindley, is very careless in his

way of looking after his little sister. Mrs Linton is terrified at the thought of the girl being

accompanied by “a gipsy” on the moors. Gipsies were looked upon as people who were close

to being animals and not able to act properly. They could also be seen as closer to nature and

intruders into the civilization of gentlemen. Scholars were totally sure that a man’s

intelligence could be seen in the colour of his skin or in the shape of his chin.5 This event

shows how prejudices concerning differences and poverty ruled the lives of people in higher

social classes and the effect which this kind of thinking had on the working class and people

with a darker skin than a native Englishman. Brontë pictures a civilization which condemns

and is cold, in which a man’s skills in keeping his face in different situations, are of great

importance for his future position in social life.

2.3 Is nature the same as freedom?

Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff consider nature to be the same as freedom. They do not

want to abide by any rules concerning social life. Heathcliff explains to Ellen that the children

5
A.S.Wohl, www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rc4.html
 20

at Thrushcross Grange seem to be spoiled and jealous of each other. When the children from

the Heights were looking through the window, the children inside were arguing over a dog.

Heathcliff thought it a weakness to be too fond of material things, and to him love for

Catherine was much more important. He did not have to consider any personal property in his

actions, which to him was a great freedom. Before Linton’s dog bit Catherine, she and

Heathcliff lived a free life and spent most of their time together. They shared the same bed

and stood by each other.

When Catherine returned from The Grange everything was different. She dismounted a

black horse like a “dignified person, with brown ringlets falling from the cover of a feathered

beaver, and a long cloth habit, which she was obliged to hold up with both hands that she

might sail in”. (Brontë 57) This new style made it impossible for her to treat her former best

friend like she used to. She does not dare to hug either Ellen or Heathcliff because she is

afraid to get dirt on her new dress. A reduction of freedom has occurred due to some curls in

her hair and an elegant dress. Civilization makes it impossible for Catherine to follow her

heart and marry Heathcliff. She has a wish to become “the greatest woman in the

neighbourhood” (Brontë 78), which forces her to marry Edgar even if she does not love him.

This marriage makes her feel trapped and she longs for the moors and Heathcliff until she

dies. Catherine’s actions make Heathcliff suffer too. He listens when she is having a

conversation with Ellen about marrying Edgar, and it is a terrible truth which is disclosed.

Heathcliff leaves the Heights for three years and during that time he plans a monstrous

revenge. His freedom disappears when he is bound to spend the remaining part of his life

trying to punish everybody else for his misfortune. Described in this way, Heathcliff’s and

Catherine’s view of life is not as free from following norms as they would like it to be.

Catherine marries Edgar due to the social conventions that are prevailing in society and

Heathcliff is a victim of his own passion and of the fact that he has to save face. In
 21

consideration of the occurrences mentioned above, nature seems to be the same as freedom.

Brontë describes both Catherine and Heathcliff as being victims of social norms; Catherine

marries against her heart and Heathcliff acts in order to save face.

2.4 The development from nature to civilization

The fiction writer and critic, Joyce Carol Oates has undertaken a study of Wuthering Heights

and she mentions an inevitable development of Nature into Society.6 This development can be

seen by making a comparison between Catherine Earnshaw and her daughter Catherine

Linton. Catherine Earnshaw was brought up at Wuthering Heights, where she and her

stepbrother could live out their passions running around in the wild landscape, which

surrounded the farm. Throughout her lifetime, she sticks to her ideas about life and cannot

identify herself with anyone else than the little girl who everybody has to love, and who

explores the mysteries on the Yorkshire moors. During her last couple of days she is back in

her room at Wuthering Heights and she is a little girl again. The weather is terrible, and she

gives birth to a daughter who is named Catherine. This little girl was born when it was

pouring down, the night was black as coal and the house which was to be her home was warm

and filled with candles. This shows that she has both nature and civilization in her soul; she

carries genes, both from her mother who symbolises nature, and father who signifies

civilization and culture.

While growing up, Catherine Linton is as bad tempered as her mother could be, for

example when she does not want to have anything to do with Hareton. In her eyes, he is just

an ill-mannered bumpkin. Her experiences in life, her acquaintance with Heathcliff and

Linton, change her as a person. She stops looking at the external things only, and begins to

notice the inside of a human being too. Hareton becomes interesting to her, and by the end of

6
J.C.Oates, http://storm.usfca.edu/~southerr/wuthering.html
 22

the novel the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton has moved into Wuthering

Heights and created a total revolution in the household. Heathcliff is dead and buried.

Lockwood visits the farm and describes the situation:

I had neither to climb the gate not to knock – it yielded to my

hand. --- a fragrance of stocks and wallflowers wafted on the air

from amongst the homely fruit-trees. Both doors and lattices were

open --- a fine, red fire illumined the chimney. (Brontë 255)

This sort of free, and at the same time organized, atmosphere was not the usual one. When

Heathcliff, who signified nature during his lifetime, ruled at the Heights the situation was

totally different. The doors were locked and there was no fire burning; darkness had power

over the inhabitants. Book reading was prohibited and everything that was beautiful was

forbidden too. It was ugly to show weakness and even politeness. Heathcliff was, like nature,

harsh in his judgements; those who did not have the strength or the intelligence to stand

against his force were doomed. His opinion of weak people comes forward when he is

uttering, “I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to

crush out their entrails! It is moral teething; and I grind with greater energy in proportion to

the increase of pain.” (Brontë 137) After this speech of Heathcliff, Ellen asks him if he knows

what the word pity means and this is a question he will not answer. He does not even want to

talk about it. Even though these forces of both Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are strong,

they cannot survive the new winds that begin to blow.

Both Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw have a seed of culture and civilization in

them which is allowed to grow. They learn to control their passion, and their will to grow as

human beings is significant to the change of order at Wuthering Heights. As mentioned

above, reading books was forbidden when Heathcliff was alive. That Brontë attach great value

to literature is clear, when Hareton’s personality changes and his will to learn how to read is
 23

obvious to the reader. The development from nature to civilization is complete when

Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw plan to marry, which will result in a new, more

civilized, Catherine Earnshaw. The couple are moving to Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering

Heights will be empty, except from Joseph who seems to be immortal.

2.5 Is nature better than civilization?

Emily Brontë was very found of the landscape that she lived in. She loved the open spaces

and the wind that always blew like God’s hand over those who lived there. This might give us

a hint that she favoured nature before culture and civilization. Wuthering Heights and the

people who lived there personify nature. The house is very strongly built, of stone and with

small windows, which make the inside dark and inhospitable. The surroundings are marked

by the harsh treatment it gets from the wind and the rain. The inhabitants of Wuthering

Heights have the same features as their home. They are as strong, healthy and passionate as

the environment they are living in. Their temper can be as bad as the weather. A look at

Thrushcross Grange gives the opposite impression. The garden which surrounds the wooden

house is beautiful with trees and flowers. Brontë lets the weather be as beautiful as the estate

when she writes about the Lintons’ who live in the house.

So far civilization seems to be much more attractive than nature. This feeling grows

weaker with a closer examination of the family members. They seem to be weak and sickly

and not as strong as the Earnshaws’ at the Heights. Due to social conventions they give a

somewhat cold first impression because the norms advocate moderation when it comes to

feelings. The pressure from society forces them to act against their heart on several occasions.

Even though Catherine loves nature and freedom, she falls into a trap when she thinks she has

to marry Edgar to become someone:

 24

I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in

heaven; and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff

so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to

marry Heathcliff now. --- 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. (Brontë 80)

Her action in this case is a result of several different things; Hindley’s treatment of Heathcliff

and the encounter with Edgar Linton. Brontë makes the reader believe that Catherine is

guided by pride and her wish to rise in rank, which puts her in a bad light. These actions are

signs of civilization and culture and in the novel nothing good comes out of it. Catherine

wishes for something else during the time she is at the Thrushcross Grange. The fact that she

now is “the greatest woman in the neighbourhood” (Brontë 78) does not help her much.

When the two families meet, the Lintons’ seem to be too mawkish and patronizing. This is

very clear when Heathcliff and the Lintons’ meet at Wuthering Heights to organize the return

of Catherine from Thrushcross Grange. Catherine has changed and she laughs at Heathcliff

and tells him that she thinks he looks “very black and cross --- and how funny and

grim!”(Brontë 58) Heathcliff feels offended and defends himself by saying, “You needn’t

have touched me! I shall be as dirty as I please; and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty.”

(Brontë 58) After Heathcliff’s outburst Mrs Linton accepts an invitation to the Heights for

Christmas dinner on the conditions that “her darlings might be kept apart from that naughty,

swearing boy”.

From the beginning the author leads the story to a point where nature is portrayed

positively. As the story develops an alteration of attitude is perceptible. Heathcliff’s

appearance is never depicted in flattering terms. The author shows him to be evil. Catherine

however, is changed. The first Catherine never stops dreaming of the moors and freedom but
 25

her daughter, Catherine Linton, has other features that are allowed to overtake the almost

egoistical ones that fill her mother. She is, just like the second generation at Wuthering

Heights, more humble and respectful to other people. In a way she is a perfect blending of

both nature and civilization. She can be sulky if she is stopped in her actions, but at the same

time she is burning with curiosity to learn about her neighbourhood and she wants other

people to be happy and always makes it her responsibility to help her friends when they feel

depressed. Her curiosity and her love of adventure, which she has inherited from her mother,

force her to go on an excursion to the hills and to a cave she has heard of. Near the cave she

happens to meet with Heathcliff and she becomes a frequent visitor to his home. This is an

acquaintance which her father has tried to keep her away from since she was born. When

Linton Heathcliff is sick and unhappy, lying at Wuthering Heights, Catherine II offers

defiance to the prohibition her father has set up for her. She sneaks out when nobody watches

her and rides to the Heights to talk and read to Linton. Her conscience makes her stand up

against her father, who she loves and honours very much.

The change that has occurred in favour of civilization by the birth of Catherine Linton can

be seen in this contact between the two elements, nature and civilization. When the first

Catherine came to know the Lintons’ everything became chaotic; Edgar’s and Isabella’s

parents died and Isabella’s life became a disaster when she ran off with Heathcliff. Even

Catherine I died of a broken heart, as she put it herself. This time when the two families

interact, a lot of things are different. When Catherine has married her cousin Linton and

moved in at Wuthering Heights she is treated very badly. She is locked up in a room at

Wuthering Heights to prevent her from seeing her father before he dies. She offers Linton

everything she has to make him unlock the door, but he informs her that he already owns it

since they are married. The very moment the change in direction occurs, is when she gets to

know that Heathcliff has planned the marriage between the youths in order to be able to take
 26

over the Grange. Linton’s true personality is suddenly obvious to her. She pushes Linton so he

hurts himself and shrieks, which frightens her and therefore she gives him a picture of her

mother which she has in a gold box round her neck. This is the moment when she breaks with

the past and begins to form a new life.

She gets to know Hareton and they start to make changes at the Heights. This is a real

challenge for them because both Heathcliff and Joseph are against what they are doing.

Joseph becomes mad when they plant some flowers in his garden and Heathcliff does not

approve when Hareton is taught how to read by Catherine. Heathcliff fades out and comes

closer to death; he does not participate in the family life as he used to by yelling and ordering

people to and fro. During his visits to the kitchen he just stares at the walls and talks to

himself. Suddenly one night he dies and with him dies the last existing element of nature.

Hareton and Catherine, who are left at Wuthering Heights, let warmth and light come into the

house again. This ending of the novel seems to favour civilization, but considering the fate of

Heathcliff and Catherine I, other thoughts are brought to the surface. These two persons, who

represent nature, also find happiness when they finally have their freedom together in death.

This makes it difficult to decide whether Brontë favours nature or civilization. A conclusion

might be that she thought that both elements were needed in order for society to work.
 27

3. Conclusion

Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights is complex in the sense that it is possible to interpret

it in several different ways. This essay has examined three themes which can be seen in the

novel: the social class angle, the gender approach and nature versus civilization.

Brontë gives the characters features that makes the reader reflect on the contents of her

story. The way she describes the characters without any thought of which sex he or she

belongs to, signifies her opinion about men and women being equal, at least in regards to their

feelings. Catherine II becomes the owner of two estates. As land was of great importance for a

person’s social situation this inheritance of Catherine’s placed her at the same level as many

men, which can show that Emily Brontë thought that a woman was capable to take on the

same responsibilities as a man, and therefore had the right to be economically equal as well.

Her contribution to the discussion about class is illustrated by the Earnshaws and the

Lintons. She discusses the matter from a human perspective more than from an economic one.

Her opinion is that a man’s or a woman’s actions are not the result of being born in the right

social class; it is a matter of inner qualities which no clothes or buildings at all can have an

influence on.

It is not easy to decide which of the elements triumphs; nature or civilization. Brontë does

not avoid the things that are bad when she writes about either nature or civilization. Nature

can be seen as beautiful but also too harsh and evil and civilization is beautiful too, but often

cold and weak. In my opinion Brontë favours a mixture of the two elements, which is

embodied in the characters of Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw. Each of the two

characters has developed; Catherine from being a prejudiced and bad mannered person, to

becoming a kind and understanding woman. Hareton has dared to show his nice and caring

personality. They are dependent on each other to make these changes which show that nature
 28

and civilization are both needed to build a functioning society or, for that matter, a good

human being.
 29

References

Main source

Brontë, Emily, Wuthering Heights, (Berkshire: Penguin: 1994) ISBN 0-14-062012-5

Secondary sources

Burgess, Anthony, English Literature, Essex: Pearson Education, 1974 ISBN 0-582-55224-9

Fraiman, Susan, “Unbecoming Women, British women writers and the novel of
development”, Gender and Culture, New York: Colombia U P: 1993 ISBN 0-231-08001-8

Moers, Ellen, Literary Women, London: The women’s P: 1986 ISBN 0-7043-3825-4

Thompson, Nicola Diane, Reviewing Sex, Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels,
London: Macmillan P: 1996 ISBN 0-333-62217-0

The World Wide Web

Landow, George P, Newman on the Gentleman,

http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor10.html

Oates, Joyce Carol, The Magnanimity of Wuthering Heights,

http://storm.usfca.edu/~southerr/wuthering.html

Wohl, Anthony S, The Function of Racism in Victorian England,

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/victor9.html

Wohl, Anthony S, Race and Class Prejudice and the Childlike;

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rc4.html

Wohl, Anthony S, Victorian Racism, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rc5.html