wuthering heights essay on social class

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The Issue of Social Class and Race in "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte

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Wuthering Heights

Emily brontë, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

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.

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Mores on the Moors: Social Class and Power in Wuthering Heights

by Morgan Herbener April 2017

In nineteenth century England, social class determined the amount of power people had. The aristocrats in the upper class had all of the power and the poor working class served them. Society strictly abided by these rigid social classes and changing one’s social standing proved incredibly difficult to accomplish. Wuthering Heights shows readers that determination to better one’s station can sometimes cost one’s happiness or result in failure. The characters in the novel feel the need to raise their social status and in most cases they either fail at doing so or end up depressed and alone. In this essay, I discuss important characters within the novel and how their desire for power motivates or hinders them to change their social status.

Heathcliff changes his social status the most and seeks to dominate everything and everyone throughout the novel. He starts as a nameless orphan on the streets of Liverpool. Fortunately, a respected gentleman Mr. Earnshaw takes Heathcliff away from Liverpool to the countryside in northern England and raises him as his own. Thus, Mr. Earnshaw elevates Heathcliff from the lower class to the aristocratic class as a country gentleman. Garofalo claims that critics understand Heathcliff as, “radically opposed to the world he inhabits, yet compelled to participate in it” (Garofalo 823). He is opposed to the new world he lives in because he comes from a completely different background than the Earnshaws. Heathcliff is compelled to participate because of his desire to impress Mr. Earnshaw and to remain his favorite. The residents of Wuthering Heights immediately reject Heathcliff, but his child-like desire to be accepted makes him want to participate in their lives even though he receives a profusion of physical and emotional abuse. However, the abuses that he endures create a desire in him to upgrade his social position.

Heathcliff soon realizes that he needs to improve his station. When Catherine rejects Heathcliff because he cannot advance her socially, he leaves Wuthering Heights to change into a wealthy gentleman. He returns to prove to Catherine that he can be a powerful and respected member of society. His love for her consumes him and he obsesses over her to prove himself to her. His obsession with Catherine represents his desire for power and status. Garofalo argues that Heathcliff sees Catherine as a possession: “Although he imagines that Catherine is lost to him, he finds that she can, nonetheless, be partially obtained through collection” (Garofalo 824). Garfalo’s interpretation suggests that Heathcliff’s desire to own Catherine demonstrates his appetite for power and to heighten his social status because she embodies everything he wants: wealth, power, and recognition from society. Catherine’s death furthers his infatuation with power because the desire for power motivates him exceedingly when she dies. Her death causes him to spin out of control and become even more obsessed with power. Now that he has nothing left, he feels a need to be wealthier and more powerful. When Catherine was alive, he had two things to focus on: Catherine and power. After she dies one half of his reason for living is gone, which motivates him to be as powerful as he can. This need for money and power causes him to acquire a need to exercise control over everyone in his life.

Heathcliff wants to dominate everything and everyone around him. T.K. Meier calls him a “capitalist villain” and not a “Marxist hero” because he does not want to destroy the social classes, he wants to control them. Because of these desires, Heathcliff does anything to acquire more power, including using and abusing those closest to him. He has a large amount of animosity towards the Lintons and, “his aim is to secure the traditional prerequisites of economic power and social elevation for his posterity” (Meier 309). He uses the Lintons to accomplish this. Heathcliff’s union with Isabella further establishes him in the community as a gentleman, which elevates his social status. He exploits Isabella Linton to gain more money and land. He believes that by marrying her, he will collect the Linton inheritance when Edgar dies. He sees her as an asset to use at his disposal because of her youth and naivety when they marry. He manipulates his son Linton by forcing him to marry Catherine Linton when his inheritance plans with Isabella backfire. The union between the two children causes Heathcliff’s acquisition of Thrushcross Grange and Catherine Linton’s fortune. The inheritance and land increase Heathcliff’s power in the community. Obtaining all this land and money becomes the pinnacle of Heathcliff’s social status and power, something that he desires from a young age.

Catherine’s desire for power differs tremendously from Heathcliff’s because instead of gaining social status, she desires to maintain hers. Her high born status means that she does not have to work for her social class like Heathcliff. Catherine’s desire for power stems from her greed to maintain a high social status. She is an incredibly narcissistic character because she only thinks of herself and does everything to better her station regardless of the feelings of others. When she debates with Nelly on which man she should marry, she justifies marrying Edgar because, “he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighbourhood” (Brontë 76). She does not think of why she loves Edgar and only cares about being the lady in the neighborhood with the highest social status. She makes a selfish decision and leaves Heathcliff, who represents a non-society based relationship that would lower her social status, and marries Edgar because she knows he can elevate her on the social ladder because the Linton family has a higher level of respect in society than the Earnshaw family. According to Eagleton , Catherine’s decision between the two men is, “the decisive catalyst of tragedy; and if this is so, then the crux of Wuthering Heights must be…a social one” (Eagleton 101). In this turning point of the novel Catherine, “rejects Heathcliff as a suitor because he is socially inferior to Linton; and it is from this that the train of destruction follows” (Eagleton 101). At this juncture the reader first comprehends Catherine’s true nature. Her greed and desire to be more powerful expedites the tragedy in her life after her decision to marry Edgar because after their marriage she maintains her social power, but she marries someone she does not truly love. Catherine knows that she has made a disadvantageous decision marrying Edgar and loses her hope.

Catherine destroys her aspirations because of her selfish nature and mistakes and she eventually goes mad. Meier claims that this desire and selfishness also shows a moral decline in Catherine, “His [Earnshaw’s] daughter and foster son become amoral […]evidence of overt evil is too apparent to mistake” (Meier 311). As she descends into madness, Catherine raves and exclaims whatever comes to her mind: “I thought, though everybody hated and despised each other, they could not avoid loving me” (Brontë 119). She shows off her vanity and truly selfish personality in her final days and concludes her life as less of a person than when she starts. Catherine’s refinement plummets and she wholly contradicts her original desire to establish herself at the highest social status possible.

However, some characters in the novel experience a huge social downfall, like Hindley. Hindley is a respected gentleman’s son and when he comes home to Wuthering Heights after college, he has a new bride and importance in the community. Although he continues to relentlessly abuse Heathcliff, he still has a great deal of power and a high social standing in the neighborhood. When his wife dies, he starts to lose his sanity and “degenerates into an animal” (Meier 311). He abuses his only son and fears Heathcliff immeasurably. Hindley falls from grace because he has no desire for power and no drive to live his life how he should. He and Heathcliff oppose each other in this way because Heathcliff obsesses over power to the point of madness and Hindley has no ambition, which leads to his alcoholism and his eventual demise. Hindley is known at the end of his life as a disrespected gambling drunk that Heathcliff looks after and cares for. Hindley cannot even take care of his own son and Joseph raises him while Hindley drinks himself to death. Although Hindley still technically holds his social station during his life, he becomes completely powerless and lives in constant fear of Heathcliff and his rising social status. He is destitute and no longer respected in the community. Hindley contrasts with characters such as Catherine and Heathcliff because his total lack of desire ends up ruining him just as much and their obsession with power ruins them. The only saving grace he leaves behind is his son Hareton, the last Earnshaw by name.

The only normal and socially correct relationship occurs between Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw. Catherine II and Hareton are the only children in the novel born of pure aristocratic blood. Meier informs the reader that “tradition is victorious over innovation” because of Catherine II and Hareton’s relationship (Meier 311). Catherine II and Hareton are a proper couple according to society. They restore the social classes back to the way society defines them in the resolution of the novel, “ They are afraid of nothing…Together, they would brave Satan and all his legions” (Brontë 322). Catherine II and Hareton’s social classes never change throughout the novel because they do not desire power like other characters, such as Heathcliff and Catherine. Young Catherine and Hareton exude pure happiness because they do not have a maniacal obsession with power that would cause their relationship to implode. They finish their lives content and prosperous thus restoring the social order.

In conclusion, Wuthering Heights informs the reader about the principal theme of social structures and power struggles in a small community. Most characters break through the unyielding social structures of the nineteenth century. Their desire for power and respect in their community drive the characters to change their station and practically every character in the novel changes their social status in either a negative or positive way. Wuthering Heights shows the effects of power and how power affects social classes.

Works Cited

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004.

Eagleton, Terry. “Wuthering Heights.” Myths of Power: A Marxist Study of the Brontës. 2 nd . Ed. London: The Macmillan Press, 1988: 98-123.

Garofalo, Daniela. “Impossible Love and Commodity Culture in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights .” ELH 75.4 (2008): 819-840. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Meier, T. K. “ Wuthering Heights And A Violation Of Class.” Brontë Studies 38.4 (2013): 309-312. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

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'Wuthering Heights' Themes, Symbols, Literary Devices

A Novel About Love, Hate, Class, and Revenge

Hate and Revenge

Social class, literary device: multiple narrators within a frame story, literary device: doubles and opposites, literary device: using nature to describe a character, symbols: the ragged wuthering heights vs. the pristine thrushcross grange.

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While love seems to be the prevailing theme of Wuthering Heights, the novel is much more than a romantic love story. Intertwined with the (non-consummated) passion of Heathcliff and Cathy are hatred, revenge, and social class, the ever-prevailing issue in Victorian literature.

A meditation on the nature of love permeates the entirety of Wuthering Heights. Of course, the most important relationship is the one between Cathy and Heathcliff, which is all-consuming and brings Cathy to fully identify with Heathcliff, to the point that she says “I am Heathcliff.” Their love is everything but simple, though. They betray one another and themselves in order to marry a person for whom they feel a tamer—but convenient—kind of love. Interestingly, despite its intensity, the love between Cathy and Heathcliff is never consummated. Even when Heathcliff and Cathy are reunited in their afterlife, they do not rest peacefully. Instead, they haunt the moorland as ghosts.

The love that develops between young Catherine and Hindley’s son, Hareton, is a paler and gentler version of the love between Cathy and Heathcliff, and it’s poised for a happy ending.

Heathcliff hates as fiercely as he used to love Cathy, and most of his actions are motivated by a desire of vengeance. Throughout the novel, he resorts to exact some form of retribution from all those who, in his mind, had wronged him: Hindley (and his progeny) for mistreating him, and the Lintons (Edgar and Isabella) for taking Cathy away from him.

Oddly, despite his all-consuming love for Cathy, he is not particularly nice towards her daughter, Catherine. Instead, while assuming the role of the stereotypical villain, he kidnaps her, forces her to marry his sickly son, and generally mistreats her. 

Wuthering Heights is fully immersed in the class-related issues of the Victorian era, which were not just a matter of affluence. The characters show that birth, the source of income, and family connections played a relevant role in determining someone’s place in society, and people usually accepted that place.

Wuthering Heights portrays a class-structured society. The Lintons were part of the professional middle class, and the Earnshaws were a little below the Lintons. Nelly Dean was lower-middle class, as she worked non-manual labor (servants were superior to manual laborers). Heathcliff, an orphan, used to occupy the lowest rung in society in the Wuthering Heights universe, but when Mr. Earnshaw openly favored him, he went against societal norms.

Class is also why Cathy decides to marry Edgar and not Heathcliff. When Heathcliff returns to the heath a well-dressed, moneyed, and educated man, he still remains an outcast from society. Class also explains Heathcliff’s attitude towards Hindley’s son, Hareton. He debases Hareton the way Hindley had debased him, thereby enacting a reverse class-motivated revenge. 

Wuthering Heights is mainly told by two narrators, Lockwood and his own narrator, Nelly, who tells him about the events that took place in Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. However, other narrators are interspersed throughout the novel. For example, when Lockwood finds Cathy’s diary, we are able to read important details about her childhood spent with Heathcliff in the moors. In addition, Isabella’s letter to Nelly shows us firsthand the abuse she suffered at the hands of Heathcliff. All of the voices in the novel create a choral narrative by offering multiple points of view of the lives of the inhabitants of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.

It's worth noting that no storyteller is fully objective. Although Lockwood might appear removed, once he meets the masters of Wuthering Heights, he becomes involved with them and loses his objectivity. Likewise, Nelly Dean, while at first appearing to be an outsider, is actually a flawed narrator, at least morally. She often picks sides between characters and changes allegiances—sometimes she works with Cathy, other times she betrays her. 

Brontë arranges several elements of her novel into pairs that both differ and have similarities with one another. For example, Catherine and Heathcliff perceive themselves as being identical. Cathy and her daughter, Catherine, look much alike, but their personalities differ. When it comes to love, Cathy is split between her socially appropriate marriage to Edgar and her bond with Heathcliff.

Similarly, the estates Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange represent opposing forces and values, yet the two houses are bonded through marriage and tragedy in both generations. Even Nelly and Lockwood, the two narrators, embody this dualism. Background-wise, they could not be more different, yet, with Nelly being too involved in the events and Lockwood being too far removed, they are both unreliable narrators. 

Nature plays an important role in Wuthering Heights as both an empathetic participant in the setting of the novel—a moorland is prone to winds and storms—, and as a way to describe the characters’ personalities. Cathy and Heathcliff are usually associated with images of wilderness, while the Lintons are associated with pictures of cultivated land. Cathy likens Heathcliff’s soul to the arid wilderness of the moors, while Nelly describes the Lintons as honeysuckles, cultivated and fragile. When Heathcliff speaks about Edgar’s love for Cathy, he says, “He might as well plant an oak in a flower-pot and expect it to thrive, as imagine he can restore her to vigor in the soil of his shallow cares!” 

As an estate, Wuthering Heights is a farmhouse in the moorlands ruled by the cruel and ruthless Hindley. It symbolizes the wildness of both Cathy and Heathcliff. By contrast, Thrushcross Grange, all adorned in crimson, represents cultural and societal norms. When Cathy is bitten by the guard dogs of Thrushcross Grange and she’s brought into the Lintons’ orbit, the two realities begin to clash. The “chaos” of Wuthering Heights wreaks havoc in the Lintons’ peaceful and seemingly idyllic existence, as Cathy’s marriage to Edgar precipitates Heathcliff’s vengeful actions. 

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Social Class in Emily Brontë's “Wuthering Heights”

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literature › Analysis of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

Analysis of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on March 25, 2019 • ( 3 )

Wuthering Heights is constructed around a series of dialectic motifs that interconnect and unify the elements of setting, character, and plot. An examination of these motifs will give the reader the clearest insight into the central meaning of the novel. Although Wuthering Heights is a “classic,” as Frank Kermode has noted, precisely because it is open to many different critical methods and conducive to many levels of interpretation, the novel grows from a coherent imaginative vision that underlies all the motifs. That vision demonstrates that all human perception is limited and failed. The fullest approach to Emily Brontë’s novel is through the basic patterns that support this vision.

Wuthering Heights concerns the interactions of two families, the Earnshaws and Lintons, over three generations. The novel is set in the desolate moors of Yorkshire and covers the years from 1771 to 1803. The Earnshaws and Lintons are in harmony with their environment, but their lives are disrupted by an outsider and catalyst of change, the orphan Heathcliff. Heathcliff is, first of all, an emblem of the social problems of a nation entering the age of industrial expansion and urban growth. Although Brontë sets the action of the novel entirely within the locale familiar to her, she reminds the reader continually of the contrast between that world and the larger world outside.

Aside from Heathcliff’s background as a child of the streets and the description of urban Liverpool, from which he is brought, the novel contains other reminders that Yorkshire, long insulated from change and susceptible only to the forces of nature, is no longer as remote as it once was. The servant Joseph’s religious cant, the class distinctions obvious in the treatment of Nelly Dean as well as of Heathcliff, and Lockwood’s pseudosophisticated urban values are all reminders that Wuthering Heights cannot remain as it has been, that religious, social, and economic change is rampant. Brontë clearly signifies in the courtship and marriage of young Cathy and Hareton that progress and enlightenment will come and the wilderness will be tamed. Heathcliff is both an embodiment of the force of this change and its victim. He brings about a change but cannot change himself. What he leaves behind, as Lockwood attests and the relationship of Cathy and Hareton verifies, is a new society, at peace with itself and its environment.

It is not necessary, however, to examine in depth the Victorian context of Wuthering Height s to sense the dialectic contrast of environments. Within the limited setting that the novel itself describes, society is divided between two opposing worlds: Wuthering Heights, ancestral home of the Earnshaws, and Thrushcross Grange, the Linton estate. Wuthering Heights is rustic and wild; it is open to the elements of nature and takes its name from “atmospheric tumult.” The house is strong, built with narrow windows and jutting cornerstones, fortified to withstand the battering of external forces. It is identified with the outdoors and nature and with strong, “masculine” values. Its appearance, both inside and out, is wild, untamed, disordered, and hard. The Grange expresses a more civilized, controlled atmosphere. The house is neat and orderly, and there is always an abundance of light—to Brontë’s mind, “feminine” values. It is not surprising that Lockwood is more comfortable at the Grange, since he takes pleasure in “feminine” behavior (gossip, vanity of appearance, adherence to social decorum, romantic self-delusion), while Heathcliff, entirely “masculine,” is always out of place there.

Even Cathy’s passionate cry for Heathcliff, “Nelly, I am Heathcliff,” is less love for him as an individual than the deepest form of self-love. Cathy cannot exist without him, but a meaningful relationship is not possible because Cathy sees Heathcliff only as a reflection of herself. Heathcliff, too, has denied an important aspect of his personality. Archetypally masculine, Heathcliff acts out only the aggressive, violent parts of himself.

The settings and the characters are patterned against each other, and explosions are the only possible results. Only Hareton and young Cathy, each of whom embodies the psychological characteristics of both Heights and Grange, can successfully sustain a mutual relationship.

This dialectic structure extends into the roles of the narrators as well. The story is reflected through the words of Nelly Dean—an inmate of both houses, a participant in the events of the narrative, and a confidant of the major characters—and Lockwood, an outsider who witnesses only the results of the characters’ interactions. Nelly is a companion and servant in the Earnshaw and Linton households, and she shares many of the values and perceptions of the families. Lockwood, an urban sophisticate on retreat, misunderstands his own character as well as the characters of others. His brief romantic “adventure” in Bath and his awkwardness when he arrives at the Heights (he thinks Cathy will fall in love with him; he mistakes the dead rabbits for puppies) exemplify his obtuseness. His perceptions are always to be questioned. Occasionally, however, even a denizen of the conventional world may gain a glimpse of the forces at work beneath the surface of reality. Lockwood’s dream of the dead Cathy, which sets off his curiosity and Heathcliff’s final plans, is a reminder that even the placid, normal world may be disrupted by the psychic violence of a willful personality.

The presentation of two family units and parallel brother-sister, husband-wife relationships in each also emphasizes the dialectic. That two such opposing modes of behavior could arise in the same environment prevents the reader from easy condemnation of either pair. The use of flashback for the major part of the narration—it begins in medias res—reminds the reader that he or she is seeing events out of their natural order, recounted by two individuals whose reliability must be questioned. The working out of the plot over three generations further suggests that no one group, much less one individual, can perceive the complexity of the human personality.

Taken together, the setting, plot, characters, and structure combine into a whole when they are seen as parts of the dialectic nature of existence. In a world where opposing forces are continually arrayed against each other in the environment, in society, in families, and in relationships, as well as within the individual, there can be no easy route to perception of another human soul. Wuthering Heights convincingly demonstrates the complexity of this dialectic and portrays the limitations of human perception.

Bibliography Barnard, Robert. Emily Brontë. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Benvenuto, Richard. Emily Brontë. Boston: Twayne, 1982. Berg, Maggie. “Wuthering Heights”: The Writing in the Margin. New York: Twayne, 1996. Davies, Stevie. Emily Brontë: Heretic. London: Women’s Press, 1994. Frank, Katherine. A Chainless Soul: A Life of Emily Brontë. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Glen, Heather, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Brontës. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Liddell, Robert. Twin Spirits: The Novels of Emily and Anne Brontë. London: Peter Owen, 1990. Miller, Lucasta. The Brontë Myth. London: Jonathan Cape, 2001. Pykett, Lyn. Emily Brontë. Savage, Md.: Barnes & Noble, 1989. Rollyson, Carl, and Lisa Paddock. The Brontës A to Z: The Essential Reference to Their Lives and Work. New York: Facts On File, 2003. Vine, Steve. Emily Brontë. New York: Twayne, 1998. Winnifrith, Tom, ed. Critical Essays on Emily Brontë. NewYork: G. K. Hall, 1997.

Major works Poetry: Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, 1846 (with Charlotte Brontë and Anne Brontë); The Complete Poems of Emily Jane Brontë, 1941 (C. W. Hatfield, editor); Gondal’s Queen: A Novel in Verse by Emily Jane Brontë, 1955 (Fannie E. Ratchford, editor). Nonfiction : Five Essays Written in French, 1948 (Lorine White Nagel, translator); The Brontë Letters, 1954 (Muriel Spark, editor).

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I found it very informative. Representation of the two worlds is amazing. Thanks a lot.

VERY NICE;I LIKED THE WAY OF ANALYSIS OF WHOLE NOVEL AND DESCRIBE EVERY THING,

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte | Summary, Setting & Analysis

“Wuthering Heights” is a classic novel written by Emily Bronte. It is renowned for its intense portrayal of love, revenge, and the complexities of human nature. In this article, we will delve into the various aspects of this timeless piece of literature, including its summary, setting, and analysis.

Table of Contents

Emily Bronte, born in 1818, was an English novelist and poet. She, along with her sisters Charlotte and Anne Bronte, is best known for her contribution to English literature. Emily’s only novel, “Wuthering Heights,” was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell.

Overview of the Plot

The narrative of “Wuthering Heights” revolves around the passionate yet destructive love story between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. The novel is set in the harsh Yorkshire moors and spans several decades, depicting the lives of the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.

Introduction to Characters

Key characters include Heathcliff, an orphan taken in by the Earnshaw family; Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff’s childhood friend and love interest; Edgar Linton, Catherine’s husband; and Nelly Dean, the housekeeper and narrator of the story.

Physical Setting

The novel is primarily set in two neighboring houses: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The former is depicted as a dark, gloomy mansion on the Yorkshire moors, while the latter represents a more refined and civilized environment.

Historical Setting

“Wuthering Heights” is set against the backdrop of early 19th-century England, a time marked by social and economic upheaval. The novel reflects the rigid class structure and societal norms of the period.

Themes Explored

Love and revenge.

At its core, “Wuthering Heights” explores the destructive power of love and the desire for revenge. The tumultuous relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine drives much of the plot, as their love becomes entangled with themes of jealousy, betrayal, and vengeance.

Social Class

The novel also delves into the theme of social class, highlighting the divisions and tensions between the characters from different backgrounds. Heathcliff’s rise from poverty to wealth underscores the fluidity of class distinctions and the complexities of social hierarchy.

Nature vs. Culture

The rugged landscape of the Yorkshire moors serves as a powerful backdrop for the story, emphasizing the contrast between the untamed forces of nature and the constraints of human civilization.

Analysis of Characters

Heathcliff is a complex and enigmatic character whose dark and brooding nature captivates readers. His intense love for Catherine is overshadowed by his thirst for revenge, making him one of literature’s most compelling antiheroes.

Catherine Earnshaw

Catherine Earnshaw is portrayed as a spirited and passionate young woman torn between her love for Heathcliff and her desire for social status. Her tragic fate reflects the novel’s exploration of the destructive effects of societal expectations on individual happiness.

Edgar Linton

Edgar Linton represents the opposite of Heathcliff, embodying the refined manners and social status prized by Victorian society. Despite his gentleness and kindness, he is ultimately unable to compete with Heathcliff for Catherine’s affections.

Nelly Dean serves as the primary narrator of the story, providing insight into the lives of the characters and the events that unfold at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Her perspective offers a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships within the novel.

Narrative Structure

Framing device.

“Wuthering Heights” is structured as a series of nested narratives, with the story being recounted by multiple characters. This framing device adds depth and complexity to the narrative, allowing readers to see events from different perspectives.

Multiple Perspectives

The use of multiple narrators in the novel allows for a rich and multifaceted exploration of the characters and their motivations. Each narrator brings their own biases and interpretations to the story, adding layers of complexity to the overall narrative.

Symbolism in “Wuthering Heights”

The weather in “Wuthering Heights” often mirrors the emotional states of the characters, with storms and tempests reflecting their inner turmoil. The harsh and unforgiving landscape of the moors serves as a metaphor for the tumultuous relationships depicted in the novel.

The houses of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are symbolic of the characters who inhabit them. Wuthering Heights represents passion, wildness, and untamed nature, while Thrushcross Grange symbolizes civility, refinement, and social order.

Writing Style and Language

Gothic elements.

“Wuthering Heights” is characterized by its Gothic elements, including themes of madness, the supernatural, and the macabre. The novel’s dark and atmospheric prose creates a sense of unease and foreboding, adding to its haunting appeal.

Psychological Depth

Bronte’s exploration of the inner workings of the human psyche adds a layer of psychological depth to the novel. The characters’ inner thoughts and emotions are laid bare, allowing readers to empathize with their struggles and motivations.

Critical Reception

Despite receiving mixed reviews upon its publication, “Wuthering Heights” has since been recognized as a literary masterpiece. Its unconventional narrative structure, complex characters, and powerful themes have cemented its place in the canon of English literature.

Influence and Legacy

“Wuthering Heights” has had a profound influence on subsequent generations of writers and artists. Its themes of love, revenge, and redemption continue to resonate with readers around the world, ensuring its enduring legacy.

Comparisons with Other Works

“Wuthering Heights” is often compared to other works of Gothic literature, such as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Its exploration of dark and taboo subjects sets it apart from more conventional Victorian novels.

Film Adaptations

Numerous film adaptations of “Wuthering Heights” have been produced over the years, with directors seeking to capture the novel’s haunting atmosphere and complex characters on screen. Notable adaptations include the 1939 film starring Laurence Olivier and the 2011 version directed by Andrea Arnold.

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“Wuthering Heights” continues to captivate readers with its timeless tale of love, revenge, and redemption. Emily Bronte’s masterful storytelling and richly drawn characters ensure that the novel remains a classic of English literature.

Is “Wuthering Heights” based on a true story?

No, “Wuthering Heights” is a work of fiction, although it may have been inspired by elements of Emily Bronte’s own life and experiences.

Why is “Wuthering Heights” considered a Gothic novel?

The novel features many elements typical of Gothic literature, including a dark and foreboding atmosphere, supernatural occurrences, and themes of madness and obsession.

What is the significance of the title “Wuthering Heights”?

The term “wuthering” refers to the fierce winds that often blow across the Yorkshire moors, emphasizing the wild and untamed nature of the setting.

Why did Emily Bronte use a male pseudonym for “Wuthering Heights”?

During the 19th century, it was common for female authors to use male or gender-neutral pen names to avoid gender bias and discrimination in the publishing industry.

What is the legacy of “Wuthering Heights” in popular culture?

“Wuthering Heights” has inspired countless adaptations in various media, including film, television, and music. Its themes and characters continue to resonate with audiences worldwide.

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Social Classes in Wuthering Heights.

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Wuthering Heights

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Essay: Wuthering Heights (1847) and The Great Gatsby (1925): social class

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Wuthering Heights (1847) and The Great Gatsby (1925) both examine the difficulties introduced when a member of a lower social class approaches the dominant social class. Fitzgerald introduces Daisy Fay (a girl from a rich upper class family) and Jay Gatsby (an ex soldier who was raised in an impoverished neighbourhood in North Dakota), following a brief romantic encounter, Gatsby dedicates his life to re-establishing this relationship by progressing towards the upper class. A problem he faces is that his perception of the upper class is defined largely by their wealth rather than any other factors which separate the classes: such as family connections or the distinction between old money and new money— whether your wealth was passed through inheritance or made during your lifetime. This problem is equally relevant in Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff (a poor orphan from Liverpool) is adopted into the Earnshaw family and immediately the subject of abuse from Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw (his foster siblings). This is in part due to their father’s shift in attention towards Heathcliff but equally due to his class and background; even when Catherine recognises her undying love towards him, she cannot marry him because it “would degrade her” (71), despite his attempt to re-imagine himself in a higher class by briefly leaving the area to become wealthy. The flaw which both Gatsby and Heathcliff encounter, in that they find difficulty recognising aspects of class other than wealth, is why their quest for complete acceptance is innately flawed. A shared characteristic in both Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby is the role of money when the outsider approaches a new social division; both Gatsby and Heathcliff, after first approaching the higher classes without any money, re-approach in a new lifestyle (as Gatsby becomes very rich following his illegal activities and Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights as an educated gentleman). A flawed understanding which is held by both characters is that they find difficulty in looking past the monetary aspect of the higher classes and thus fail to understand what actually separates the class into the structures that existed in the Victorian and Jazz ages. Class is often largely determined by one’s source of income, birth and family connections; Heathcliff would therefore find difficulty in aligning himself with these attributes as they are out of his control (as he is unable to change his family connections or his birth). This is, in part, recognised by Nelly Dean (the main narrator of the story) who notes that a “half-civilised ferocity lurked [in] the depressed brows and eyes full of black fire, but it was subdued” (84-85) which indicates that, despite the attempt to change his persona, there were still aspects of his previous character that are recognisable. Bronte’s use of “ferocity” describes an animalistic aspect of Heathcliff as he returns to Wuthering Heights and the idea that he is “half-civilised” implies that his birth and upbringing has led to an inability to completely fit into society; both of these factors are not immediately relevant in describing Gatsby’s character and he encounters different problems as he approaches the dominant social class— the upper class. Rather than seeking revenge as his main objective, Gatsby’s idealised view of the world leads him to the idea that he will eventually be able to enter the upper class and thus re-establish a romantic with Daisy. The main problem with his idealism is that he has implanted an idea of perfection within Daisy which is separate from the truth and this leads to doubt over whether his quest for acceptance was ever worthwhile. Even during their best times together, narrator Nick Carraway recognises that “there must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams – not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of the illusion” (p. 95) which shows that even if Daisy had been completely perfect then she would not have been able to fulfil his fantasy. The American Dream during the 1920s began to be seen through a similar lens as the ultimate goal, pleasure and wealth, is unfitting relative to the journey which one embarks to achieve it; this implies that one does not only embark on The American Dream in order to acquire a final goal, which they established when they began, but also to learn about oneself and thus determine what they actually need. Unlike Gatsby, Heathcliff does not value the journey towards Catherine as much as the actual attainment as he looks forward to death after seeing her ghost: “he had a strange joyful glitter in his eyes that altered the aspect of his whole face” (291). This is another contrast between the idealism of Gatsby and the realism of Heathcliff as Gatsby spends the majority of his life chasing Daisy— even though he will never actually achieve this goal— whereas Heathcliff quickly recognises that he will only be able to be with Catherine in the afterlife and so he quickens this process by refusing to eat. The path towards the dominant social class can also expose areas of one’s character which were either previously hidden or unrecognisable. This is relevant to Gatsby as Nick states that he “gathered that [Gatsby] wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy” (110) which would suggest that Gatsby is not only attempting to re-imagine Daisy in the present day, but that he is also trying to re-imagine an aspect of his character which was lost as he gained wealth. Moreover this loss represents the difficulty when approaching the dominant social class because one must vastly change elements of their character in order to fit the certain characteristics that dictate class and a problem that this can create is an inability to face any of life’s problems as there is a detachment from reality. This is evident in Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) where Blanche DuBois (a woman raised on a southern plantation named “Belle Reve”— beautiful dream) constantly hides away from reality and has constructed a view of life within her mind which she believes as the truth. In Christopher Bigsby’s essay ‘Tennessee Williams: the theatricalising self’ he observes that she has a desire to “aestheticise experience” (46) which is relevant as she approaches the dominant social class in New Orleans— the working class— because she values her image over the integrity of her lifestyle. This is also true with Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan who, following their partial fault in Gatsby’s death, “had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (164) which means they have removed themselves from the incident both physically and mentally— thus valuing their reputation higher than their conscience. The difference between Gatsby and Heathcliff in this context is that, rather than a continued search for self-definition, Heathcliff is able to assess his situation before he returns to his home and thus holds a concrete view over his childhood friends. This is particularly evident when he approaches Catherine and wants her “to be aware that I know you have treated me infernally—infernally!” (99) which is very different to Gatsby as he finds difficulty in recognising Daisy’s flaws. Moreover Heathcliff is able to micro-manage the children on the residency which, to an extent, acts as a pseudo-fantasy for his desires; rather than Blanche who is forced to create her perfect view of reality within her mind, Heathcliff is able to actually create this in reality using the respective children of the residents on the moor. Heathcliff’s rejection from Thrushcross Grange (the estate which welcomed his siblings rather than him) sparked a lifelong desire to reverse the positions of class— so he would instead hold dominion over the estate— which he is able to create using the forced marriage between Linton (Heathcliff’s son) and Cathy (Catherine’s son). Heathcliff wants “the triumph of seeing my descendant fairly lord of their estates” (184) and talks of Linton as “mine”; this objectification of his son is relevant because it shows the fixation on class which can be developed after spending the majority of one’s life focusing on approaching a new class, such as fixation proving more important than the wellbeing of one’s own children. Clarissa Dalloway’s perception of Ellie Henderson (her poor cousin) reinforces this idea as she approaches the lower classes with a degree of reluctancy: “[Ellie’s] invitation to Clarissa’s party had come at the last moment. She was not quite happy about it. She had a sort of feeling that Clarissa had not meant to ask her this year” (169). This distaste of family is slightly different from Heathcliff as they exist at two different levels of progression; Clarissa is an upper class woman and— as determinants of class are lifelong— she has been in the upper class since she was born and will remain there until her death. This means any dislike of the lower classes is on a more personal level with no actual contact that has provoked such a negative perception; however, Heathcliff endured the hardship of Hindley after their father died and, until he has power over Thrushcross Grange, his quest towards the upper classes is incomplete and this actively provokes the harsh treatment of Linton. An outsider approaching the dominant social class implies that there is an active attempt to move from one class to another; this notion can in fact be flawed when someone is placed into a class different from their own due to factors which were out of their control. Heathcliff was “starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb, in the streets of Liverpool” (31) and subsequently “[Mr Earnshaw] thought it better to take it home with him at once, than run into vain expenses there: because he was determined he would not leave it as he found it”. Moreover the progression from poverty to riches (after he takes residence in Wuthering Heights) was completely out of his control, as was his descent to effective poverty after Hindley gained ownership of the estate; Gatsby’s approach was also out of his control to an extent as his meeting with Dan Cody— a rich millionaire— was established by chance. This meeting was important in his approach towards the upper class as it

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Wuthering Heights

Emily brontë.

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