Wuthering Heights

sort of mysterious atmosphere sets the tone of the novel. As a Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights is
persistently dark. There is not a very wide range of tones: it's either grim or grimmer.the novel is filled
with all the elements of a tragic and macabre love story.

Gothic novel

Gothic features:like imprisonment, dark stairways, stormy weather, nightmares, extreme landscapes,
melancholy figures, moonlight and candles, torture and excessive cruelty, necrophilia, a supernatural
presence, madness, maniacal behavior, communication between the living and the dead.

Title:
the characters take a sort of masochistically dark approach to naming things. Dogs get names like
Gnasher and Skulker. Houses get names like... Wuthering Heights.

The author has used the element of supernatural to deepen the sinister effect. Not just romance, Wuthering
Heights is about hatred, revenge, class conflict, complicated relationships and several more complex
things. Starting from the point of innocence, the romance in the novel turns gothic, blooming into
obsessive revenge. The love between Catherine and Heathcliff blooms at a young age. As they grow up,
Catherine grows attracted towards things like social status and imagines a better life with Edgar Linton.
Leaving Heathcliff behind, she marries Edgar who can afford all luxuries of life. Heathcliff is forced to
leave the scene unable to bear the impact of Catherine leaving him for Edgar.

settings:
Apart from the characters, it is the settings which are an important strength of the novel. The entire plot of
the novel is set in a space far from the society and social conundrum. The reason behind the heavy
criticism was that its settings and tragic character make it look entirely unreal. However, the novel’a
attraction lies in the way it explores human emotions and various facets of the human personality and the
effect of circumstances on it. The profound change, Heathcliff’s personality has undergone throughout the
course of the story has its root in the insecurity that is born of his poor upbringing. He has nobody to rely
upon and no ally except the one who left him for Edgar Linton. The unpredictability associated with his
character right from the beginning is an important attraction of the novel.

The weather, the hills and the moors, all reflect the barren life inside Heights. The storm in the hills
reflects the emotional turmoil in the lives of the characters. The weather is just as unstable as life inside
Heights and Grange. At the Grange, life seems better from the outside, but inside things are again ghostly
and pale like Linton Kids.

The Earnshaw and Linton families represent two distant ends of life. Lintons lead a civilized and more
organized life, the Earnshaws are unruly and lack discipline. The use of the spiritual and the supernatural
while on the one hand makes events appear severe, it intensifies the pain and the appeal of the novel.

The central characters Heathcliff and Catherine are similar in various regards. Both are stubborn and
possessive. The love between the two is at the core of the novel and if anything is more dramatic than
their love then it is Heathcliff’s obsession for revenge

Catherine and Heathcliff could not unite in their lives but the union of Cathy and Hareton is an indication
that the two will be united after death.

At the end, the pain and gloom subsides and it appears like a new beginning in the novel but the haunting
 presence of Catherine remains till the end of the story because it is for her sake that everyone has born so
much punishment which ends only after Heathcliff’s death. The author proves that people create a hell of
their life because they cannot overcome their expectations from others. There is hardly a character in the
novel who finds what he expected from life. From Mr Earnshaw to Heathcliff, Catherine and even the
Linton kids, nobody gets the expected in his life. While the black gypsy kid is at the centre of this mess,
he has not caused it all alone. Apart from him, Catherine and Hindley are also responsible for the mess.
Seen in the light of the circumstances Heathcliff has faced in his life, his behaviour seems understandable
and to a limited extent pardonable.

The novel contains very high level of emotional and psychological drama where penetrating into the
psychology and emotions of some characters becomes difficult. It is however, due to the presence of
contradictory traits in them. Despite the high level of pain in it, the novel does let readers see things with
clarity and things start falling into place by the end. Emily Bronte’s style is attractive but even attractive is
her choice of settings and characters. The turn of events as set by the author is also appreciable and
things have come a full circle by the end. A storm that had set in with the arrival of the gypsy kid is gone
with his death. The only problem is that the author has explored a deeply sadistic side of love that critics
of her time found that difficult to digest. The kind of love and hatred in the novel are unexpected for most
readers.
Catherine Earnshaw
Mr. Earnshaw's daughter and Hindley's sister. She is also Heathcliff's foster sister and love interest. She
marries Edgar Linton and has a daughter, also named Catherine. Catherine is beautiful and charming, but she
is never as civilized as she pretends to be. In her heart she is always a wild girl playing on the moors with
Heathcliff. She regards it as her right to be loved by all, and has an unruly temper. Heathcliff usually calls
her Cathy; Edgar usually calls her Catherine.
Cathy Linton
The daughter of the older Catherine and Edgar Linton. She has all her mother's charm without her wildness,
although she is by no means submissive and spiritless. Edgar calls her Cathy. She marries Linton Heathcliff
to become Catherine Heathcliff, and then marries Hareton to be Catherine Earnshaw.
Mr. Earnshaw
A plain, fairly well-off farmer with few pretensions but a kind heart. He is a stern father to Catherine. He
takes in Heathcliff despite his family's protests.
Edgar Linton
Isabella's older brother, who marries Catherine Earnshaw and fathers Catherine Linton. In contrast to
Heathcliff, he is a gently bred, refined man, a patient husband and a loving father. His faults are a certain
effeminacy, and a tendency to be cold and unforgiving when his dignity is hurt.
Ellen Dean
One of the main narrators. She has been a servant with the Earnshaws and the Lintons for all her life, and
knows them better than anyone else. She is independent and high-spirited, and retains an objective viewpoint
on those she serves. She is called Nelly by those who are on the most egalitarian terms with her: Mr.
Earnshaw, the older Catherine, and Heathcliff.
Frances Earnshaw
Hindley's wife, a young woman of unknown background. She seems rather flighty and giddy to Ellen, and
displays an irrational fear of death, which is explained when she dies of tuberculosis.
Hareton Earnshaw
The son of Hindley and Frances; he marries the younger Catherine. For most of the novel, he is rough, rustic,
and uncultured, having been carefully kept from all civilizing influences by Heathcliff. He grows up to be
superficially like Heathcliff, but is really much more sweet-tempered and forgiving. He never blames
Heathcliff for having disinherited him, for example, and remains his oppressor's staunchest ally.
Hindley Earnshaw
The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw, and Catherine's older brother. He is a bullying, discontented boy
who grows up to be a violent alcoholic when his beloved wife, Frances, dies. He hates Heathcliff because he
felt supplanted in his father's affections by the other boy, and Heathcliff hates him even more in return.
Heathcliff
A foundling taken in by Mr. Earnshaw and raised with his children. Of unknown descent, he represents wild
and natural forces which often seem amoral and dangerous for society. His almost inhuman devotion to
Catherine is the moving force in his life, seconded by his vindictive hatred for all those who stand between
him and his beloved. He is cruel but magnificent in his consistency, and the reader can never forget that at
the heart of the grown man lies the abandoned, hungry child of the streets of Liverpool.
Isabella Linton
Edgar's younger sister, who marries Heathcliff to become Isabella Heathcliff. Her son is named Linton
Heathcliff. Before she marries Heathcliff, she is a rather shallow-minded young lady, pretty and quick-witted
but a little foolish (as can be seen by her choice of husbands). Her unhappy marriage brings out an element
of cruelty in her character: when her husband treats her brutally, she rapidly grows to hate him with all her
heart.
Joseph
A household servant at Wuthering Heights who outlives all his masters. His brand of religion is unforgiving
for others and self-serving for himself. His heavy Yorkshire accent gives flavor to the novel.
Dr. Kenneth
The local doctor who appears when people are sick or dying. He is a sympathetic and intelligent man, whose
main concern is the health of his patients.
Mr. and Mrs. Linton
Edgar and Isabella's parents. They spoil their children and turn the older Catherine into a little lady, being
above all concerned about good manners and behavior. They are unsympathetic to Heathcliff when he is a
child.
Linton Heathcliff
The son of Heathcliff and Isabella. He combines the worst characteristics of both parents, and is effeminate,
weakly, and cruel. He uses his status as an invalid to manipulate the tender-hearted younger Catherine. His
father despises him. Linton marries Catherine and dies soon after.
Lockwood
The narrator of the novel. He is a gentleman from London, in distinct contrast to the other rural characters.
He is not particularly sympathetic and tends to patronize his subjects.
Zillah
The housekeeper at Wuthering Heights after Hindley's death and before Heathcliff's. She doesn't particularly
understand the people she lives with, and stands in marked contrast to Ellen, who is deeply invested in them.
She is an impatient but capable woman.
Juno
Heathcliff's dog.
Skulker
The Lintons' bulldog. Skulker attacks Cathy Earnshaw on her first visit to Thrushcross Grange.
Michael
The Lintons' stable boy.
Mr. Green
A lawyer in Gimmerton who briefly becomes involved with executing Edgar Linton's estate.

Themes
Nature and civilization
Pitting nature against civilization, Emily Brontë promotes the Romantic idea that the sublime—the awe-
inspiring, almost frightening, beauty of nature—is superior to man-made culture. She makes this point by
correlating many of the characters with one side or the other and then squaring them off against each
other. For instance, Heathcliff, whose origins are unknown and who roams the moors, is definitely on the
nature side, while his rival, the studious Edgar Linton, is in the civilized camp. Other pairings include
Hareton Earnshaw vs. Linton Earnshaw; Catherine vs. Isabella; and Hareton vs. Cathy. In all of these
cases, Brontë makes one character a bit wild (perhaps by showing them in tune with animals and/or the
outdoors and/or their emotions), while portraying the other as somewhat reserved and often prissy or
fussy.
But nothing is black and white in Wuthering Heights. Many of the characters exhibit traits from both
sides. While Brontë argues that nature is somehow purer, she also lauds civilization, particularly in terms
of education. Hareton Earnshaw personifies this combination of nature and civilization: Brontë associates
the young orphan with nature (he is a coarse, awkward farm boy) as well as civilization (inspired by his
desire for young Cathy, he learns how to read). This mixture of down-to-earth passion and book-centered
education make him, arguably, the most sympathetic character in the book.
Love and pasion
Wuthering Heights explores a variety of kinds of love. Loves on display in the novel include Heathcliff
and Catherine's all-consuming passion for each other, which while noble in its purity is also terribly
destructive. In contract, the love between Catherine and Edgar is proper and civilized rather than
passionate. Theirs is a love of peace and comfort, a socially acceptable love, but it can't stand in the way
of Heathcliff and Catherine's more profound (and more violent) connection.
The love between Cathy and Linton is a grotesque exaggeration of that between Catherine and Edgar.
While Catherine always seems just a bit too strong for Edgar, Cathy and Linton's love is founded on
Linton's weakness—Linton gets Cathy to love him by playing on her desire to protect and mother him.
Finally, there's the love between Cathy and Hareton, which seems to balance the traits of the other loves
on display. They have the passion of Catherine and Heathcliff without the destructiveness, and the
gentleness shared by Edgar and Catherine without the dullness or inequality in power.
Class
Understanding the importance of class in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain is essential to
understanding Wuthering Heights. Generally, at the time, people were born into a class and stayed there:
if your parents were rich and respected (like Edgar's), you would be, too; if your parents were servants
(like Nelly Dean's), you probably would be too. Social mobility—the idea that you can change your class
status (usually for the better)—was not commonplace.
In Brontë's novel, however, class distinctions are constantly changing, much to the confusion of the
characters. There are two primary examples of this: Heathcliff and Hareton. Because no one knows
anything about Heathcliff's background, they all treat him differently. Mr. Earnshaw adopts him and treats
him like a son, but the snobby Lintons refuse to socialize with him. When he disappears for a few years
and comes back rich, the characters struggle even more over how to approach him—he now has money
and land, but many of them still consider him a farm boy. Likewise, Hareton has a hard time gaining
respect. The son of Hindley, Hareton should be the heir to Wuthering Heights. With land and standing, he
ought to be a gentleman. However, Heathcliff refuses to educate him, and everyone else mostly ignores
him, so his manners (a very important indicator of class status) are rough and gruff. Only when young
Cathy helps educate him does he achieve the class standing to which he was born.
revenge
Nearly all of the action in Wuthering Heights results from one or another character's desire for revenge.
The result are cycles of revenge that seem to endlessly repeat. Hindley takes revenge on Heathcliff for
taking his place at Wuthering Heights by denying him an education, and in the process separates
Heathcliff and Catherine. Heathcliff then takes revenge upon Hindley by, first, dispossessing Hindley of
Wuthering Heights and by denying an education to Hareton, Hindley's son. Heathcliff also seeks revenge
on Edgar for marrying Catherine by marrying Cathy to Linton.
Yet while Heathcliff's revenge is effective, it seems to bring him little joy. Late in the novel, Cathy sees
this, and tells Heathcliff that her revenge on him, no matter how miserable he makes her, is to know that
he, Heathcliff, is more miserable. And it is instructive that only when Heathcliff loses his desire for
revenge is he able to finally reconnect with Catherine in death, and to allow Cathy and Hareton, who are
so similar to Heathcliff and Catherine, to find love and marry.