Wuthering Heights

Elements of the Gothic

 Gothic Elements in Wuthering Heights

Setting - houses Confinement Transgression

Setting - The past
Metonymy
landscape Violence & death
Hero-villain The Sublime
Dreams
Gothic heroine Extreme weather
Supernatural
Intense emotion Vivid language
Mirroring
Unnatural desires
Social upheaval
Liminality
 Setting - landscape
• Rugged, potentially perilous moors in Wuthering Heights embody wild
natural setting found in many gothic texts

• Offer young Catherine and Heathcliff an escape from Hindley’s abuse and
Joseph’s sour sermonising; symbolise the free, uninhibited side of human
nature liberated from social constraints

• Can also be seen as example of ‘Romantic sublime’, whereby typically

unpleasant physical situations (e.g. being caught in a storm) inspire not fear,
but an almost transcendental exhilaration

• Moors also act as natural and figurative barrier between Thrushcross Grange
and the Heights, emphasising the difference and distance between the two
houses, yet also their connection

• Moors inspires almost Romantic lyricism in Bronte: e.g. in last paragraph: “I

lingered around them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering
among the heath and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing trough
the grass…”
 Setting - houses
• There are no castles in Wuthering Heights, but two imposing
ancestral homes – Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights take
their place

• Wuthering Heights is the Earnshaws’ residence, an ancient, wind-

swept farmhouse appearing to defend itself from both elements and
outsiders

• Thrushcross Grange, with its pleasant connotations of birdsong and

prosperity is the residence of the Lintons, a genteel local family with
magisterial connections

• Its luxurious, harmonious ambience contrasts starkly with the

Heights’ crude functionality, frequent violence and lower social
status

• The ‘cross’ part of its name may hint at Edgar Linton’s Christian
faith, that allows him to bear life’s disappointments better than his
 The hero-villain

• Heathcliff is the archetypal gothic hero-villain: mysterious,

passionate, attractive – and bad
• Whilst Romantic heroes may be flawed, they inevitably reform in
time to reconcile with the heroine by the end; any pain they cause
is usually unintended
• Conversely, Heathcliff causes deliberate suffering for the women
he becomes involved with, showing himself capable of using and
discarding women
• Isabella is cruelly used, and despite his passion for Catherine,
Heathcliff’s sudden re-appearance in her life ultimately leads to
her death
• Heathcliff dies unrepentant, unloved and unable to appeal or gain
comfort from spiritual contemplation, unlike Edgar, whose
Christian faith sustains him in crisis and eases his passing
 The gothic heroine
• Typical gothic heroine is emotionally and physically dominated by a
powerful male and subsequently rescued by another, more kindly
patriarchal figure
• Additionally, gothic heroine is given to flights of fancy, fainting fits and
overwrought emotions which combine with above to confine her
physically, psychologically or both
• Wuthering Heights’ female characters do not conform to stereotypes:
Catherine’s unladylike conduct is unconventional, though her excessive
emotions may be; arguably she is trapped in a prison of her own making
and causes her own self-destruction
• Nor is she rescued by any male protector – nor is Isabella, who despite
her apparent conformity to the heroine role, dies alone, unhappy and
unsaved – though she does escape Heathcliff to live independently in
London
• Young Cathy likewise frees herself from Heathcliff without being
“rescued”, though this is achieved via his death and he does imprison
and force her to marry Linton
 Intense emotion
• Wuthering Heights’ protagonists demonstrate and inspire
extreme emotions, a typical gothic feature
• Most notable are Heathcliff and Catherine, whose passionate
and impulsive outbursts lend the novel much of its energy
• However, intense emotions such as Heathcliff’s vindictiveness
drive him to almost sadistic cruelty meted out to his perceived
enemies
• Conversely, Catherine’s emotional intensity is self-destructive:
her decision to marry Edgar and allow Heathcliff back into her
life lead to her demise, both emotionally and physically: e.g. she
self-harms, refuses to eat, becomes distraught
• Ultimate destructiveness of such emotions has led some critics
to suggest that the novel is a negation of Romantic ideal of
emotional expression
 Unnatural desires
• Heathcliff and Catherine, though not blood relations, are raised
like siblings and subsequent romance may be seen as incestuous

• Catherine’s unladylike penchant for running free on the moors is

arguably unconventional and unbefitting of a Victorian woman

• In Chapter 29, Heathcliff asks the sexton to open Catherine’s

coffin, creating suspicion of necrophilia despite no explicit
reference

• Also, it may be argued that Catherine and Heathcliff’s passion is

in itself ‘unnatural’, both in terms of its intensity and social
incongruity

• Heathcliff’s cruel conduct likewise hints at an unnatural delight

in the suffering of others, prompting numerous references to him
as a fiend, monster or other non-human (and therefore not
natural)
 Power & confinement

• Theme of imprisonment occurs early in Chapter 1: Lockwood

finds entrance to Heights locked and Heathcliff barring the way

• Forced by a blizzard to spend the night, he endures a harrowing

night in a tomb-like casement once belonging to Catherine, whose
ghost attempts to enter through locked window

• Heathcliff wields power over his enemies by restricting their

freedom or that of their loved ones, briefly imprisoning Cathy
before forcing her to marry his sickly son, Linton

• Heathcliff himself is a prisoner of his obsession for Catherine,

even resorting to digging up her grave

• Arguably, opaque and confusing narration, uncertain time frames

and complex family tree ‘entraps’ readers, adding to gothic sense
of confinement and unease
 The past
• The past lurks around every corner in Wuthering Heights, from
the legend ‘Hareton Earnshaw 1500’ above the doorway to old
toys, ‘primitive furniture’ and “villainous old guns”

• Characters such as Heathcliff are directly shaped and driven by

past experiences, from difficult childhoods and early adulthood
to more recent traumatic events, e.g. Catherine’s perceived
betrayal

• Catherine’s ghost, in itself a manifestation of the past, terrorises

Lockwood and unhinges Heathcliff, highlighting the past’s
ability to disrupt the present – a feature of many gothic texts

• The novel’s two-part structure is also testament to the past’s

significance, with the protagonists of Volume 1 directly
influencing the lives and personalities of their offspring
 Violence & death
• Violence, both real and threatened, is an intrinsic aspect of
Wuthering Heights and contains many disturbing depictions of
violence
• Animals as well as humans commit acts of aggression, from the
unfriendly dogs in Chapter 3 to the attack on Catherine in Chapter
16 by a Linton dog named Skulker
• Throughout the novel, references are made to beating, pinching,
prodding, pushing, pulling, slapping, shaking and whipping, with
objects such as and knives and stones used to cause injury
• Other violent events include Hindley almost killing his son,
Heathcliff hanging Isabella’s spaniel, throwing hot sauce on Edgar,
assaulting young Cathy and opening her mother’s coffin. Heathcliff
in turn is repeatedly beaten by Hindley in his youth.
• Many minor characters, especially women, suffer painful and
violent deaths as a result of childbirth – both Frances and Catherine
die giving birth, with the latter’s ordeal being particularly
 Dreams
• Like many gothic texts, Wuthering Heights has its fair share of
dreams and visions
• Rather than promoting tranquility, dreams tend to disrupt and
unbalance both those who experience them and those to whom
they are related
• Lockwood’s convoluted dream about clergyman Branderham in
Chapter 3, whose congregation violently turns against him, gives
way to appearance of Catherine’s ghost – or was it a nightmare?
• Either way, it produces terror in Lockwood, near insanity in
Heathcliff and builds a gothic sense of confusion and fear.

• Other characters’ dreams point, perhaps, to Bronte’s personal

interest in the phenomenon: Catherine’s dreams tend to frighten
Nelly, who views them with superstitious awe, seeing in them an
almost prophetic power
 Supernatural
• Bronte includes supernatural episodes throughout to add a
pleasurable frisson of fear to her narrative, which overall is rooted
in real people who experience inexplicable events

• Nevertheless, examples of supernatural abound: Catherine’s ghost

in Chapter 3, Heathcliff’s visions of his dead lover, local reports
of the ghostly lovers roaming the moors

• There are also multiple references to haunting and allusion is

made to apparitions, goblins, imps, vampires, monsters and Satan

• Their inclusion seems clearly intended to thrill and terrify the

reader, contributing to an atmosphere of unease typical of gothic
fiction

• Nelly makes explicit reference to having read or heard about

supernatural creatures, suggesting a contemporary interest in topic
 Mirroring and doubles
• Mirroring serves a number of purposes and is used in both subtle and
explicit ways throughout

• Clear examples include using similar or identical names for her

protagonists and their children, suggesting the past’s enduring power and
the influence of heritage

• Other related characters share initials or at least similar-sounding names;

many names begin with the letter ‘H’

• Minor characters may also be seen as mirroring more potent protagonists;

for example, Isabella mirrors Edgar, Hindley mirrors Heathcliff

• Mirroring also defines difference; for example, contrast between

Thrushcross Grange’s erudite, harmonious ambience versus the Height’s
crude, frequently violent environment

• Towards the end of her life, Catherine is unable to recognise herself in a

mirror, perhaps hinting at the complexity of reality and mental
deterioration
 Liminality
• Liminality refers an “in between” state or a boundary between two
things

• Moors are liminal in that they occupy the middle ground between
the two houses and possess strong links to childhood, the
boundary or prequel to adulthood

• Bronte´s use of locked windows and doors can also be seen as

liminal, as they define the difference between the inside and
outside, which is often frightening (e.g. Chapter 3)

• Towards end of novel, Heathcliff appears liminal, his visions of

Catherine being more real to him than everyday life, causing him
to enter a strange trance-like state

• Catherine also vacillates between life and death before she finally
succumbs to traumas of childbirth and consumption; after death,
she continues to linger as a ghost or vision
 Transgression
• Defying convention is an intrinsic element of gothic texts, allowing
writers to explore and challenge society’s preconceptions
• Heathcliff is described as a “cuckoo”, usurping Hindley in his father´s
affections, arguably causing the death of both Earnshaw siblings and
cheating their heirs of their property
• Heathcliff can also be seen as transgressing social class: he goes from
a nameless waif to being adopted by a farmer, before returning as a
prosperous, powerful man who marries the daughter of a genteel
family

• To some extent he also transgresses Victorian society’s expectations

about manliness: he weeps, allows himself to be subjugated by a
woman and demonstrates an un-masculine lack of self-control
• Catherine also transgresses her own social class by befriending and
consorting with Heathcliff, a man of unknown birth and suspiciously
different appearance
 Metonymy
• Metonymy is a literary device whereby one thing is used to
represent another
• A clear example of metonymy are the countless references to
poor weather, usually presaging or accompanying dramatic or
important event
• For example, Lockwood is trapped at the Heights by a blizzard
in Chapter 3 before Catherine’s ghost appears
• Repeated references to unfriendly animals, locked doors and
windows, old weapons further contribute to a gothic sense of
gloom and foreboding
• Poor weather such as howling winds, storms and blizzards, apart
from confining and inconveniencing characters also stand in for
agitated nerves, unease, confusion and terror
 The Sublime
• The sublime refers to a complex 18th C. theory of aesthetics that
challenged conventional ideas of the nature of pleasure
• Some scholars posited that typically unpleasant physical
situations, e.g. the middle of a storm, a shipwreck, could lead to
pleasure as well as, or because of, the element of fear
• In Wuthering Heights, the moors – a dangerous, even deadly
place – nevertheless lead or are linked to intense, almost
transcendental emotions in characters such as Catherine and
Heathcliff.

• The moors also give rise to extreme weather; in chapter 9,

following Heathcliff’s departure, a storm descends and Catherine,
rather than sheltering indoors, gains perverse pleasure from
becoming drenched
• In addition, the moors do not conform to typical Romantic ideas
of nature: wild winds blow, trees are stunted and storms break out
 Extreme weather
• Extreme or poor weather is an elemental part of
gothic texts: Frankenstein’s creature is brought to
life in the middle of a rainy November night
• In Wuthering Heights, storms and blizzards break
out before, during and after momentous events,
mirroring and augmenting characters’ emotions
• Poor weather also entraps and influences characters:
Lockwood endures a night in Catherine’s old room
as a result of heavy snowfall
• Catherine falls ill after allowing herself to become
drenched in the storm following Heathcliff’s
departure in Chapter 9, a decision that hastens her
death
• Extreme weather also highlights potentially
destructive power of nature unlike the Romantic
view of it as benign and restorative
 Vivid language

• Bronte uses powerfully explicit language to describe characters,

events and settings in order to build a gothic mood of fear and
foreboding
• Noteworthy techniques include adjectives, verbs and adverbs, as
well as alliteration and striking imagery such as similes and
metaphors
• Descriptions of violence are particularly (and unpleasantly)
effective, e.g. Lockwood´s interaction with Catherine’s ghost and
the devastating effect his account produces on Heathcliff
• Dialogue is also used to convey the texture of characters’
relationships and their fiery, often passionate exchanges
• Significantly, Bronte’s writing becomes lyrical when describing
the moors, revealing her strong Romantic influences and, perhaps,
her own prowess as a poet (Bronte, along with her sisters,
published a poetry collection before turning to novels).
 Social upheaval
• Although Bronte seems to have had little interest in the outside
world, events such as the French Revolution in 1789 overturned
social norms and encouraged many artists to question and
challenge status quo

• Characters such as Heathcliff may be seen as transgressing social

class, a post-Revolution reality; others such as Hareton, whose
illiteracy is so easily reversed, may suggest that working classes
were restricted by lack of opportunity, rather than inherent
stupidity

• Horrific violence perpetrated during this upheaval may also have

found its way into the novel, which contains scenes of astonishing
violence

• Few options available to Victorian women – marriage or domestic

servitude – are laid bare, as are era’s class and racial prejudices
and malaises, as explored through Hindley’s alcoholism and