WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Last year, I read (OK, I had to read) one of the British classics by the famous English writer, Emily Bronte. The book is entitled ‘Wuthering Heights’, and it was first published in 1847. The novel is more than a love story; it is about hatred, cruelty, delusion, frustrated yearning, obsession, deep despair and vengeance. Furthermore, ‘Wuthering heights’ contains certain elements from the Gothic tradition.

The action of the book is focused on two Yorkshire families who live in the remote Pennine Hills of England's North Country. ‘Wuthering Heights’ opens with Lockwood, a tenant of Heathcliff’s, visiting the home of his landlord in 1802. Back at Thrushcross Grange, Lockwood asks Nelly Dean, a servant who grew up in Wuthering Heights and now cares for Grange, to tell him about the history of Heathcliff. Nelly is the main narrator in the book. Mr. Earnshaw, a Yorkshire farmer and owner of Wuthering Heights, brings home an orphan, Heathcliff, from Liverpool. The boy grows up with the Earnshaw children, Hindley and Catherine. Catherine loves Heathcliff but Hindley hates and despises him. Catherine and Heathcliff are inseparable until the girl moves to the Lintons’ Grange. Heathcliff cannot stand the fact that Cathrine spends more time with Edgar so he leaves Wuthering Heights. Catherine marries Edgar, however, their happiness is short-lived because they are from two different worlds. After three years, Heathcliff returns and marries Isabella, Edgar’s sister, which is a part of his revenge. Soon after Heathcliff’s marriage, Catherine gives birth to Edgar’s daughter, Cathy, and dies. Heathcliff desires to gain control of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, and destroy everything Edgar Linton loves. He forces Cathy to marry his son, Linton. By this time he rules the Heights and with Edgar’s death, he has control of the Grange. The ghost of Catherine haunts Heathcliff and they are united in death at the end of the novel. At the same time Cathy is going to marry Hareton, Hindley’s son.
‘Wuthering heights’ is teeming with symbols, themes and motifs, nevertheless, the conflict between nature and culture is a leading subject. Bronte plays these two things against each other all the time. Nature is represented by Catherine and Heathcliff (the Earnshaw). The characters are full of passion and wildness just like Wuthering Heights. On the other hand, the Linton family and Trushcross Grange symbolize culture, sophistication, tradition and development. The destructiveness of love is a very important theme, too. Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship is the source of the conflicts in the novel. Furthermore, their passion is stronger and more lasting than any other emotion because it is based on a conviction that they are similar. Their hearts and souls are made of the same materials.
‘Wuthering Heights’ is an intense story of love, hate, and passion. There is no real happy ending but the book does take along an interesting path that deals with race, class, and religious issues. Moreover, it can take into a world of the most eloquent emotions, and the deepest ties between the characters. The novel is compelling and displays the best and the worst of our own human nature. I think the ending is appropriate because the younger characters do not repeat the mistake of their elders. Surely, the book is a masterpiece with unforgettable characters despite the fact that I found it confusing at the beginning.