The Narrative Techniques in Wuthering Heights

Although Wuthering Heights was Emily Bronte’s only novel, it is notable for the narrative technique she employed and the level of craftsmanship involved in it. Although there are only two obvious narrators, Lockwood and Nelly Dean, a variety of other narratives are interspersed throughout the novel. The reasons for this are that the whole action of Wuthering Heights is presented in the form of eyewitness narrations by people who have played some part in the narration they describe. Unlike other novels where parallel narratives exist i.e. same event, within the same time frame being narrated from different perspectives, Wuthering Heights has a multi-layered narration, each individual narrative opening out from its parent to reveal a new stratum (level) of the story. This intricate technique helps to maintain a continuos narrative despite of the difficulties posed by the huge time-shifts involved in the novel.

Lockwood’s narrative is the outer framework of the story. He is then present as the recipient of Nelly’s story and she in turn is the recipient of tertiary narratives.

A.) Heathcliff: Chapter 6, 29

B.) Isabella: Chapter 13, 17

C.) Cathy: Chapter 24

D.) Zilla: Chapter 30.

Nelly’s narrative is so dramatised that we could argue that much of it is in the form of a tertiary narration, e.g. the conversation involving Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar on Heathcliff’s return is recorded in the words of the participants. The effect of this is to present the story directly to the reader so that our perception is constantly changing as if we were witnessing a drama.

The difficulty facing the author at the beginning if the novel was to find a method by which the reader could be introduced into the household of the Heights, so that its characters and its ambience could be understood. The purpose of Bronte’s narrative is to draw the reader into a position where he can only judge its events from within. Lockwood presents the normal outsider or the reader, by drawing him into the penetralium, the reader is cleverly introduced to the realities of this hostile and bewildering environment. The narrative form poses severe limitations for the author in that she cannot use her own voice, the story must speak entirely for itself, its values must be self-generated, created for us by the language which must be emotive and strong, particularly in moments of self revelation and strong feeling. In Wuthering Heights each narrative takes place within the action occupying an important place in the dramatic structure so that the reader never stands completely outside the story. We, like Lockwood, find ourselves as the direct recipients of Nelly’s narrative, we are immediately inside the world of Wuthering Heights and therefore the events loom large and have a more dramatic impact, because they are not prefaced for us by editorial comment or introduction provided in the first person by the author.

While the larger frameworks of Lockwood and Nelly’s narratives, provide the necessary objectivity, the smaller more condensed narratives like Catherine’s diary give us direct glimpses into the imaginary lives of the main protagonists, these together form the core of the story and are joined in subtle ways with each other. They suddenly appear without warning and the memory of them remains vibrant in the background. The modify over veins of all the outward events that Nelly or Lockwood describe, allowing for an individual response or appreciation to the core developments of the story. Bronte seeks to engage the reader directly through the reactions of her narrators, the technique is abrupt and dramatic allowing little time for insight but confronting us with a sharply focused scene where the characters are realised first as physical presences, they are set in motion at once and the chain if events begins to occur, the reader is immediately caught up in the overall experience of the story without having time to consider its meaning. The background, the setting, the climate, the houses and the animals all take on a life of their own, images of past and present are flashed together "a glare of white letters startled from the dark as vivid as spectres - the air swarming with Catherines".

Thus the novel itself begins at a point where the action is almost completed. The questions which Lockwood asks of Nelly Dean, promote answers which give him little insight but it is Lockwood’s fascination with the character of Mr. Heathcliff which causes his mind to become "tiresomely active", thus requiring a full circumstantial narrative. The kind of curiosity aroused by Bronte in Lockwood and therefore in the reader, demands a complete imaginative reliving of the past. It is only through experiencing the events as Lockwood did from Heathcliff’s arrival to that point in time that he can be in a position to understand the complex set of relationships he witnessed in the household of Wuthering Heights, that is why the apparently artificial narrative structure is both necessary and convincing and we accept its conventions without questions. Past and present interact on one another forming a single close knit drama without division into parts.

The year 1801 is the story’s starting and finishing point up to the time of Lockwood’s arrival at Wuthering Heights, as is September 1802 the start and finish of the events dealt with in the final chapters. Nelly’s story is studded with dates which allows us to work out the precise dates of major events, the ages of the characters and often even the day of the week when an event occurs.

The only sudden jumps from present to distant past:

Catherine’s Diary: Chapter 3.

Beginning of Nelly’s Narrative: Chapter 4.

Heathcliff’s 2nd narrative: Chapter 29.

As the novel contains a history of 2 families whose fates are worked out over three generations, it is important that a reasonable exact timescale is adhered to. Without cluttering the narrative with dates, Bronte achieves this by the precise plotting of the lives of Catherine and Heathcliff. Their life stories provide the time framework for the

novel and other events and the births, lives and deaths of other characters are related to us in conjunction with developments in the lives of the two main characters.

Lockwood as Narrator

Lockwood is the outsider, coming into a world in which he finds bewildering and hostile, he’s a city gentleman who has stumbled on a primitive uncivilised world which he doesn’t understand, but which fascinates him. He arrives at the end of November 1801 as a tenant of Thrushcross Grange. After his initial meetings with his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, he is laid up for two months during which time his fascination with Wuthering Heights leads to the beginning of Nelly’s narrative. By January 1802, he is sufficiently recovered to return to the Heights where he informs Heathcliff of his intention to return to London for 6 months. He returns briefly in September 1802, when he hears the conclusion of Nelly’s narrative and the final events of the novel take place.

In the novel Lockwood presents the situation as he sees it, the reader is thus brought closer to the action, seeing it through the eyes of the narrator himself. The presence of Lockwood in the book allows the author the author to begin the story near the end and work backwards and forwards in time with little difficulty. The opening chapters of the book are narrated by Lockwood and provide the reader with their introduction to this early 19th century world. The format of Lockwood’s narrative is that of a personal diary, which allows the development for the reader of an easy intimacy with an impartial character whose style - self-conscious, a little affected and facetious is nicely calculated to engage sympathy, while allowing ground for the reader to be amused at the narrators expense.

With all his limitations, Lockwood is intelligent and perceptive and his precise detailed descriptions are used by his creator to create subtle changes in situation and character, an example of this is that when Lockwood first visited Wuthering Heights, he commented on the chained gate, while at the end of the novel when he returns to find Heathcliff dead, he noticed "Both doors and lattices were open". Changes in character are also hinted at by Lockwood’s eye for detail, he has noticed changes in both Cathy and Hareton - Cathy once described by Lockwood as "the little witch", now has "a voice as sweet as a silver bell". Hareton described in the opening chapters as a boor and a clown and has by the end of the novel become "a young man respectably dressed" with "handsome features", therefore Lockwood, by fulfilling the role as the detached outsider and observer, brings a dimension to the novel which is quite different from the perception provided by Nelly.

Lockwood’s Style as Narrator

Lockwood uses an educated literacy language marked by detailed factual description and perceptive observation and comment, both on situation and character. An example of this is his description of Hareton "Meanwhile, the young man had slung onto his person a decidedly shabby upper garment, and, erecting himself before the blaze, looked down on me from the corner of his eyes, for all the world as if there was some mortal feud unavenged still between us. I began to doubt whether he was a

servant or not... his bearing was free, almost haughty and he showed none of a domestic’s assiduity in attending to the lady of the house."

Lockwood’s sentences are often complex consisting of a number of clauses or long phrases, frequently separated by dashes or semi-colons, examples, "he probably swayed by the presidential considerations of the folly of offending a good tenant - released a little in the laconic style of chipping of his pronouns and auxiliary and introducing what he supposed would be a subject of interest to me." A noticeable aspect of Lockwood’s style is his use of words of Latin origin, e.g. prudential, laconic, auxiliary. By the end of Chapter 3, Lockwood’s style has become more complex in that his sentence structure is complicated, large numbers of adjectival and adverbial clause, a liberal use of the semi-colon and comma, to give the impression of a narrator whose command of language is sophisticated. "My human fixture and her satellites, rushed to welcome me; explaining tumultuously, they had completely given me up; everybody conjectured (guessed) that I perished last night; and they were wondering how they must set about the search for my remains.

Nelly Dean as Narrator

Nelly Dean’s narrative, though copious and detailed, has an extraordinary, sometimes breathless energy as if she were describing events that she had witnessed an hour ago, every moment of which is vividly present to her. Nelly’s narrative is an art of stark immediacy - of making the past live for us in the present. As much of Nelly’s narrative is unfolded in the words of the actual characters, we the readers, feel that the narrative is moulded by the pressure of events, not that the shape and interpretation of events is being fashioned by the narrator. The sense of actuality is conveyed by a series of concrete details that fall artlessly into place. Nelly’s sureness in relating her narrative seems to arise out of an astonishing clear memory, the impression of rapid excitement is achieved by concentrating our attention on movement and gesture, action and reaction, intermixed with vehement dialogue which convinces by its emphatic speech rhythms and plain language. The dialogue has no trace of a conscious stylist, it is noticeable for the brief rapidity of the sentence, an example of this is Nelly’s recollection of the time leading up to Catherine’s death, when Catherine emplored her to open the window of her room - "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!"

Nelly’s value as a narrator is clear from this example, she brings us very close to the action and is in one way deeply engaged in it. The intimate affairs of the Grange and the Heights have taken up her whole life, however, her position as a professional housekeeper means that her interests in events is largely practical. She provides the inner frame of the narrative and we see this world of the successive generations of Earnshaw’s and Linton’s through her eye’s, although much of the dialogue, in the interests of objectivity, is that of the characters themselves. As a narrator reporting the past from the present, she has the benefit of hindsight and can therefore depart from the straight chronological narrative to hint at the future.

A major contrast between Nelly and Lockwood is that she, to an extent, is a character within her own narrative, which causes her several problems. At times she is involved in the action, she is now describing and therefore she treads a difficult path between romantic indulgence and moral rectitude, she both encourages and discourages relationships. Her attitude to theme sways between approval and disapproval, depending on her mood. This is primarily evident in the role she plays in the love triangle between Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar; at times taking Edgar’s side while yet arranging the last meeting between Heathcliff and Catherine by leaving the window open for him. She adopted a similar position between the relationship between Cathy and Linton, at time colluding with Cathy and at other times judging and betraying her for writing against her father’s wishes. There is an ambivalence in Nelly’s attitude and this combined with her meddling nature renders her moral stance inconsistent and even hypocritical. Despite these shortcomings, she is vigorous, lively narrator with a formidable memory whose energy and unflagging interests allow the reader an insight into the lives of characters.

As a narrator, Nelly’s style differs substantially from that of Lockwood, much of her narrative consists of verbatim dialogue and as such is the language of the characters in Wuthering Heights. When she herself is speaking as a narrator, her language is lively, colloquial and imaginative, this has the effect of bringing characters to life and providing the reader with many vivid and precise images, an example of this is her reference to Heathcliff’s life "It’s a cuckoo’s, sir - I know all about it, except where he was born, and who were his parents, and how he got his money at first. And that Hareton, has been cast out like a unfledged dunnock." In this example the tagging on of the phrase "at first" suggests that Nelly knows how he got his money later and therefore arouses our interest in Heathcliff. Nelly is limited because of her conventional, religious and moral sentiments, which often prevent her from a greater understanding of the emotions or motives of the characters. This is important in Bronte’s technique as it allows the reader to believe that they have a better understanding of the characters and the developments, than either of her narrators. The inclusion of so much dialogue and the tertiary narratives of the central characters provide a direct communication between the reader and character allowing for greater immediacy and for an individual response on behalf of the reader. In this respect both Nelly and Lockwood are merely facilitators providing a mechanism through which the reader can enter a world of Wuthering Heights and react in an individual fashion to the events which transpire

Background

Wuthering Heights was published 1847, the only novel written by Emily Bronte. It was published under the 'pen name' of Ellis Bell. Her life had been largely confined to the village of Haworth, Yorkshire, where her father was a local vicar. Mrs. Bronte died when the children were quite young and were reared by maiden aunts and housekeepers. Very little formal education was experienced by the Brontes until they decided on careers. All three sisters became published writers. Charlotte; "Jane Eyre", Anne; "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" and Emily; "Wuthering Heights". The novel was written between 1845 and 1847 and its first edition succeeded in selling only 7 copies.

The death of Emily in 1949 prompted Charlotte to write a preface to the second edition, published in 1951. As Charlotte was a well known author in this height, the book gained popularity and by the 20th century, the love story of Heathcliff and Catherine became a classic of literature. The novel was influenced by the two styles of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The late 18th century was dominated by the Gothic novel, in which the supernatural played the role. This reached its highest point with the publication of "Dracula" by Brahm Stoker. This also influenced Mary Shelly to write "Frankenstein". The early 19th century was dominated by the novels of Sir Walter Scott and Jane Austin. These novelists were influenced by the romantic movement of Wordsworth and Colderidge. Both of these influences are seen in "Wuthering Heights", where the house itself and its inhabitants, the servants and the dogs are typical of the Gothic novel, where Thrushcross Grange by contrast is more typical of the world of Jane Austin. Therefore Wuthering Heights can be interpreted as a compendium as both the Gothic and romantic novels of the periods immediately proceeding 1847. Emily Bronte herself was the youngest of six children. Her father was born Patrick Prunty on the 17 March 1777 in Co. Down. He was ambitious and won a place at Cambridge, a magnificent achievement for the son of a story-teller. He changed the spelling of his name to Bronte in about 1799, after Nelson was created Duke of Bronte. When he left Cambridge he became a Church of England clergyman and he married Marie Branwell in 1812. She was from Penzance in Cornwall, they had 6 children, 5 girls and 1 boy, Branwell. In 1820, the family moved to Haworth Parsonage in Yorkshire, which was located on the edge of the Yorkshire moors, the family lived there until he died in 1861. In 1821, tragedy struck the family with the death of Marie, and the task of raising the family was then taken on by the mother's sister. Her personality is reproduced in the character of Joseph in Wuthering Heights. In 1824, 4 of the girls were sent to Cowanbridge Boarding School, to begin their education, within a month 2 were dead due to the inhumane regime. The others, Emily and Charlotte, returned home to be educated by their father. He had inherited his fathers story-telling talents and he entertained his children in the Parsonage. In 1826, Branwell received a present of a box of toy soldiers, the children gave each soldier a name, invented a land where these characters would live, called Angria, while Emily and Anne in turn invented another place called, Gondal, a practice then began of the children writing chronicles of their own fabled country. In 1835, Emily was again sent to the school of RoeHead, where Charlotte was a teacher, however she returned home after 3 months. In 1837, she spent 6 months as a teacher in Halifax. Charlotte was of the opinion that the sisters should open their own school, so in 1842, they went to Brussels to approve their proficiencies in European languages, however they soon had to return home for the funeral of their aunt and Emily never left Haworth again. Charlotte then published a collection of their poems which sold only two copies. The sisters then each decided to write a novel, Emily's Wuthering Heights seemed to be both a commercial and literature failure when it was published in 1847. Meanwhile , their brother Branwell died in September 1848 and while attending his funeral, Emily caught a chill and it developed into consumption, she refused all medical aid and died on 19 December 1848. In 1850, Charlotte published a second edition of Wuthering Heights to which she had written a preface, on this occasion it met with both critical and commercial success, and by the end of the century it was regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written.

Wuthering Heights’s Narrative Structure

Wuthering Heights has a fairly unorthodox narrative structure. Although there are only two obvious narrators, Lockwood and Nelly Dean, a variety of other narratives appear throughout the novel. The whole action is presented in the form of eyewitness narrations by people who have played some part in the narration they describe. Lockwood’s narrative is the outer framework of the story. He is the recipient of Nelly’s story and she in turn is the recipient of other narratives. Nelly and Lockwood are fundamentally different personalities and, therefore, each contribute to the reader’s understanding of events and characters differently.

Lockwood is the outsider, coming into a world that he finds intimidating. He’s a city gentleman who has stumbled on a primitive, uncivilized world that he doesn’t understand, but which fascinates him. His fascination with Wuthering Heights leads to the beginning of Nelly’s narrative. In the novel Lockwood presents the situation as he sees it, the reader is thus brought closer to the action, seeing it through the eyes of the narrator himself. The format of Lockwood’s narrative is that of a personal diary, which allows an easy intimacy with an impartial character whose personality (self-conscious, a little amusing) raises sympathy. Lockwood is intelligent and perceptive, and his precise detailed descriptions are used to create subtle changes in situation and character. Changes in character are hinted at by Lockwood’s sense for detail. He has noticed changes in both Cathy and Hareton - Cathy once described by Lockwood as "the little witch", now has "a voice as sweet as a silver bell". Hareton, described in the opening chapters as a boor and a clown, has by the end of the novel become "a young man respectably dressed" with "handsome features". Therefore, Lockwood plays the role of a detached outsider and observer whose objective personality gives the reader a trustworthy source. This brings a dimension to the novel that is quite different from the perception provided by Nelly.

Nelly Dean’s narrative, although detailed, has a certain childish energy. She narrates as if she were describing events that she had witnessed an hour ago. She sounds excited, like everything she speaks of is vividly present to her. Nelly’s narrative makes the past alive in the present. Because much of Nelly’s narrative is unfolded in the words of the actual characters, the reader feels that the narrative is shaped by the events that happened, not that the interpretation of events were shaped by the narrator. Nelly’s sureness in relating her narrative seems to arise out of an astonishingly clear memory. Nelly’s value is that she brings us very close to the action and is in one way deeply engaged in it. The intimate affairs of the Grange and the Heights have taken up her whole life. However, a value that she lacks is objectivity. Her position as a professional housekeeper means that her interest in events is largely practical and that she is often biased. She provides the inner frame of the narrative and we see this world of the successive generations of Earnshaw’s and Linton’s through her eyes, although much of the dialogue is that of the characters themselves. As a narrator reporting the past from the present, she has the benefit of hindsight and can therefore depart from the straight chronological narrative to hint at the future.

A major contrast between Nelly and Lockwood is that she, to an extent, is a character within her own narrative, which causes several problems. At times she is involved in the action she is now describing and therefore cannot be trusted to be objective. She

both encourages and discourages relationships. Her attitudes sometimes sway between approval and disapproval, depending on her mood. This is primarily evident in the role she plays in the love triangle between Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar. There is an ambivalence in Nelly’s attitude and this, combined with her nosy nature, render her moral reputation inconsistent and even hypocritical. Despite these shortcomings, she is a vigorous, lively narrator with a formidable memory whose energy and tireless interests allow the reader an insight into the lives of characters.

In conclusion, the novel’s two main narrators provide disparate styles of narrating. Lockwood is objective, reliable, and trustworthy, but lacks the “insider’s touch” that is necessary for a lively narration. Nelly, on the other hand, has perhaps too much of the “insider’s touch”, often being involved in the stories she recounts and rarely remaining neutral. Together, the two narrators allow the reader to choose from the two sources to gain the most accurate information. In doing so, one must keep in mind that a certain narrator (particularly Nelly) is not trustworthy concerning certain people or events that she has a personal interest in.

CONFLICT

The conflict of Wuthering Heights must be viewed on two levels:

Level 1 - Heathcliff's story

Protagonist

The main protagonist of the novel is Heathcliff, who was an orphan brought home to live at Wuthering Heights. From the beginning, he was a "sullen, patient child; hardened perhaps to ill-treatment." As he grew, he became even more dark, morose, and gypsy-like, introducing strife into the peaceful lives of the Earnshaws and the Lintons.

During the novel, Heathcliff is described as "rough as a saw- edge and hard as a whinstone." His presence, like some brooding spirit of evil, darkly overshadows the events of the whole story.

Antagonists

Heathcliff's antagonists are all the evil and demonic forces within him, especially his vengefulness. Throughout the book, he is always plotting to get revenge for the poor treatment he has received from various characters, such as the jealous and brutalizing Hindley, the sulking Edgar Linton, the ambitious and ferociously intense Catherine, and the infatuation-driven and foolish Isabella Linton.

Climax

The climax for Heathcliff is reached in the novel with the death of Catherine. She has been the driving force of his life and his reason for living. After her death, he only wants vengeance for all the wrongs done to him.

Outcome

Heathcliff's story ends in tragedy. At the end of the book, he dies a pathetic, lonely, and bitter man.

Level 2 - The tale as a love story

Protagonist

Viewed as a tale that is bigger that Heathcliff, the protagonist of the novel becomes the idea of love, in its true and purest form.

Antagonists

The antagonists to true love are all the things in the novel that stand between two lovers committing themselves to one another. Although Heathcliff and Catherine passionately profess their love to one another, they are separated because Catherine has chosen to marry Edgar, a man who is more polished and civilized than Heathcliff. The younger Cathy is forced by Heathcliff to marry Linton, whom she does not love. By the end of the novel, however, she falls in love with and marries Hareton.

Climax

The climax occurs when Cathy and Hareton pledge their love to one another, proving that true love can conquer many obstacles.

Outcome

At this level, the novel ends in comedy, for it is shown that love can overcome its antagonists in life. The novel ends happily when Hareton and the young Cathy marry, vacate the grim house on the Heights, and move to the Grange. Through their love, many of the novel's painful conflicts are resolved. At the end of the novel, Catherine and Heathcliff also are eternally united through death.

THEMES

Major Theme

The major theme of the novel is love, especially that of Catherine and Heathcliff. It is the product of their rebellion against Hindley and Joseph and the natural result of their compatibility. Their love is realized only after death, but carried on symbolically by young Cathy and Hareton.

Minor Themes

Heathcliff's revenge forms a minor theme of the novel. He works out a plan of vengeance on both Hindley and Edgar. However, the spirit of Catherine prevents him from bringing his plan to its conclusion.

The supernatural is another minor theme of the novel. Heathcliff, Cathy, Nelly, and Lockwood are all subject to supernatural visions.

MOOD

The overall mood of Wuthering Heights is best described as somber and tragic. The author says the plot is like a storm. On the last page of the novel, the reader sees the phantoms of Heathcliff and the elder Cathy restlessly walking the Heights in rain and thunder. However, there is a semblance of calm in Brontë's presentation of the second-generation's story. It appears that the author is trying to resolve the basic stormy conflict of the novel through the love of Cathy and Hareton. In contrast to the restless Heathcliff and Cathy walking in the storm, Hareton and Cathy are seen on the moors, peaceful and in love. They decide to leave Wuthering Heights, abandoning it to the still restless spirits of Heathcliff and his Catherine.

LITERARY / HISTORICAL INFORMATION

All Emily Brontë's girlhood was an unconscious preparation for the writing of Wuthering Heights. In her preface to Wuthering Heights, Charlotte describes her sister's feeling for the moors: "her native hills were far more to her than a spectacle; they were what she lived in, and by, as much as the wild birds, their tenants, or as the heather, their produce." Wandering over the moors in all seasons and weathers, Emily Brontë loved them with as passionate and intimate a knowledge as that with which she endowed her heroines of Wuthering Heights, the two Catherines. Those heathery wastes around her home fed her imagination as vitally as they nourished her physical well being. Emily Brontë's love and knowledge of her native place undoubtedly played a powerful part in the writing of the novel, which Charlotte described as "moorish, and wild, and knotty as a root of heath."

Emily might have taken the idea of Heathcliff's revenge from the Tales of Hoffman and other German romances she read while at school in Brussels in 1842. The sources of her characterization and incidents were various. As a child she had listened to the tales of her father over the breakfast table. Some of these were weird Irish legends from his youth. Others were lurid true stories of their own neighborhood in the recent past. Emily's lively imagination eagerly absorbed all of his descriptions and changed some of them into characters and events in Wuthering Heights.

In addition to all the tales she had heard, Emily Brontë had first- hand experience with the wretched spectacle of masculine depravity. Branwell, the brother of Emily, had high literary and artistic ambitions that were doomed to disappointment. Always in

trouble, and slowly destroying himself with drink and drugs, he was an unending source of worry to his family. Emily's portrait of the disintegration of Hindley in Wuthering Heights reflects Branwell's own disintegration

PLOT (STRUCTURE)

The structure of Wuthering Heights is not typical, for it is told as a flashback out of chronological order. Emily Brontë, however, strives to tie all of the loose ends of the story together by the last chapter. What was not understood by Lockwood or the reader in the beginning chapter has been fully explained by the last one. In spite of the broad span of time that passes in the book, the author also strives to weave the tale into a unified whole by a repetition of theme, a small setting, and the constancy of character in the person of Heathcliff, who dominates also the entire plot.

In actuality, the plot of the novel is divided into five different phases, which correspond to the five stages in the plot of a classical drama. The brilliantly conceived first section of the novel forms its exposition. It establishes the nature of the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights, their relationships to each other, and the strange atmosphere that surrounds them. Events in the novel are set in motion by the arrival of Heathcliff, picked up as a waif of unknown parentage on the streets of Liverpool by Mr. Earnshaw, who brings him home to raise as one of his own children. This opening narrative, told by Nelly, deals mainly with the childhood and personalities of Heathcliff, Catherine, and Hindley.

The real rising action of the novel's plot begins when Mr. Earnshaw passes away; his death brings forth a quick succession of events that complicate the plot. Bullied and humiliated by Hindley, Heathcliff develops a passionate and ferocious nature that finds its complement in Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine. Their childhood affection develops into an increasingly intense, though troubled, attachment to one another. Catherine, however, decides to marry Edgar Linton, for he is wealthy and more polished than Heathcliff, her true love. Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights before the marriage of Catherine and Edgar takes place.

There are several key incidents that lead to the climactic moment of the novel. Heathcliff returns three years later and finds the married Catherine is still attracted to him, a fact that devastates her husband, Edgar. Heathcliff is allowed to stay at Wuthering Heights with Hindley, who is now widowed with a son, Hareton; he has become a hardened gambler and loses everything to Heathcliff. As a result, Heathcliff becomes the master of Wuthering Heights and brings Hindley and Hareton completely under his power. Ruled by a desire for vengeance, Heathcliff makes the two of them suffer as he has previously suffered under Hindley's cruelty. As part of his revenge, Heathcliff also marries Edgar Linton's sister, Isabella, and cruelly mistreats her. He also unintentionally hastens Catherine's death, which is the point of climax for Heathcliff.

The unraveling of Heathcliff's revenge forms the falling action. He lures the young Cathy, the daughter of Catherine and Edgar, to his house and forces a marriage

between her and his son, Linton. Since Linton is a sickly young man, Heathcliff knows he will soon die, putting Heathcliff in a position to control both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. After Linton's death, he forces Cathy to stay on at the Heights, a situation that allows an affection to spring forth between her and Hareton. She does her best to educate him and eventually falls in love with him. Heathcliff's desire for revenge eventually wears out, and he allows Cathy and Hareton to pursue their relationship. All Heathcliff longs for now is death, which will at last reunite him with Catherine.

The denouement, or conclusion, of the novel is reached with the death of Heathcliff. In and through Heathcliff's death there is the promise that the two contrasting worlds and moral orders represented by the Heights and the Grange will be united in the next generation in the union of Cathy and Hareton.

AUTHOR'S STYLE

Wuthering Heights is unique for many reasons. It is told by several different narrators, including Nelly Dean and Lockwood. It is also told as a flashback, not entirely in chronological order. It is also an interesting study in the Yorkshire dialect, even though the dialogue can sometimes be a little stiff and artificial. The language used by Nelly seems particularly improbable, coming as it does from a housekeeper, no matter how well read she may be. It seems improbable, too, that Nelly should recall so many conversations verbatim after a period of many years.

The images in the novel, which are vivid and powerful, contribute to its style. The figures of speech are effective. Nelly describes Edgar's reluctance to leave the Heights after his quarrel with Catherine through a powerful metaphor: "He possessed the power to depart, as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten." Heathcliff says of Edgar: "I'll crush his ribs like a rotten hazel nut." Edgar's growing interest in Cathy after the death of his wife is described in the following manner: "for a few days . . . he seemed regardless of the puny successor to the departed: that coldness melted as fast as snow in April." These are but a few examples of Emily Brontë's picturesque style.

One of the most striking features of Emily Brontë's style is its lyrical quality. Among the most celebrated in the novel is the young Cathy's description of her ideal way of spending a summer day, contrasted with that of her cousin Linton. "He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee." The prose rhythms of Cathy's description almost cry out to be sung. All the 'm' sounds in Linton's description, such as "morning," "middle of the moors," and "bees humming dreamily among the bloom" convey exactly the desired impression of lazy drowsiness. With Cathy's description the prose at once becomes brisker and full of movement. She uses verbs like "rocking," "blowing," "flitting," and "undulating (in waves to the breeze)." They help to build a picture of sparkling, dancing vitality. The last sentence in the novel is a good example of Emily Brontë's unfailing sense of rhythm: "I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth."

The language of the novel also characterizes human beings, establishing the cultural differences between man and the social world he enters. Lockwood's speech is pompous, mannered, bookish, and delightfully free from dialect. In spite of his lack of education, Heathcliff is able to address Lockwood, the stranger, with elaborate politeness. Joseph's language is different from the language Catherine uses. His is the typical dialect spoken by a servant, while Catherine's speech is typical of a well-to-do young lady who grew up in the country. Nelly Dean's language is a fine specimen of standard English with a slight regional flavor. The language successfully reveals part of each character's background.

SYMBOLISM AND IMAGERY

Emily Bronte uses both symbolism and imagery in her novel. The two houses, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, are highly symbolic. The Heights represents a "storm," whereas the Grange stands for "calm." Lockwood explains the meaning of "wuthering" as "descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather." Brontë takes pains to stress the house's ordinary, unfinished, and provincial nature. But its chief characteristic is exposure to the power of the wind, which makes it appear fortress-like. It is an appropriate house for the Earnshaw family: they are the fiery, untamed children of the storm, especially Heathcliff, the foundling. On the other hand, Thrushcross Grange is set in a civilized valley and stands in a sheltered park. Here, the effects of weather are always gentler, filtered, and diluted. The Grange is a house of soft, clinging luxury, and its inhabitants are guarded by servants and bulldogs. It is "a splendid place," rich, carpeted and cushioned with crimson. In contrast to the Heights, it belongs to "civilization," which values comfort more than life itself. Thus, it is a natural home for the children of calm: the gentle, passive and timid Lintons.

Animal imagery is used by Emily Brontë to project her insights into human character. Catherine describes Heathcliff as a wolfish man. Isabella Linton, after she becomes his wife, compares him to "a tiger, or a venomous serpent." Nelly Dean sees his despair after Catherine's death as not like that of a man, but of a savage beast. Heathcliff himself, when he wishes to insult his enemies, compares them to animals. However, these are not wild creatures he respects for their strength, but gentler animals that he despises. Edgar Linton is "a lamb" that "threatens like a bull." Linton, Heathcliff's son, is a "puling chicken." Heathcliff hates Hindley Earnshaw because he sees him as the author of all his misfortunes. When he dies before the arrival of the doctor, Heathcliff brutally says that "the beast has changed into carrion."

Symbolism is implicit also in various events of the novel. For example, on the fateful night of Heathcliff's departure from the Heights, the storm comes "rattling over the Heights in full fury." It symbolizes the storm that eventually destroys the lives of Cathy and Heathcliff. Then again, after three years, on Heathcliff's return, he and Cathy meet by the light of fire and candlelight, symbolizing the warmth of their affection for one another. In these ways, and many others, images and symbols in Wuthering Heights add meaning to characters, theme, tone, and mood.

THEMES

Major Theme

The major theme of the novel is love. This theme is developed with constant references to the special affinity that exists between Heathcliff and Catherine. It is the product of a mutual rebellion against the harsh regime of Hindley and Joseph. From another point of view, it is also the product of their rebellion against the kind of adult tyranny exercised against children in the period in which they lived. Their own strong personalities, coupled with their various mistakes and failures, compound their problems. Consequently, life keeps them apart, even though they both pledge their love and devotion to one another.

Catherine is a prisoner of her own class and upbringing. The situation is further complicated by the fact that one part of her genuinely loves Edgar and genuinely desires the kind of life he represents. But she is telling an undeniable truth when she says that her love for Heathcliff "resembles the eternal rocks beneath." She knows that the love that she has for Heathcliff is something very special and beyond comparison. Nevertheless, she accepts Edgar's proposal of marriage even though she feels guilty for betraying Heathcliff. For some time she hopes to have the best of both worlds by marrying Edgar and retaining Heathcliff as a friend. But such compromises are inevitably doomed to fail. She is in an impossible situation, caught between irreconcilable forces.

Heathcliff also begins to undergo degeneration in the process. He too tramples on the special bond that ties him and Catherine so closely together. Their feelings become distorted into bitterness and hatred. As a result, Catherine dies an early death, and Heathcliff becomes a bitter, vengeful man. The reunion with Catherine, for which Heathcliff so longs, is denied to him by her parting. It is only through death that they can be eternally united. Appropriately, after Heathcliff's death their spirits are seen wandering together on the moors.

In order to give a more positive view of love than the troubled relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff, Emily Bronte brings together a younger generation that can pursue true love. Even though young Cathy, Catherine's daughter, is forced by Heathcliff to marry Edgar, his son, she rises above her problems. When her husband dies, Cathy develops an attachment for Hareton and eventually marries him out of true love. At the end of the novel, they plan to leave Wuthering Heights forever to begin a fresh, new life together at Thrushcross Grange. In the end, Wuthering Heights emerges as a truly great novel that affirms love's glory, both in life and death.

Minor Themes

The theme of revenge is also very important to the entire novel. As an "orphan" child growing up at Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is abused by Hindley, who is jealous about

his father's affection for this gypsy outsider. When old Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley's treatment of Heathcliff grows more brutal. The only thing that makes his life bearable is the attention paid to him by Catherine, Hindley's sister. Then she betrays him and marries Edgar Linton. Heathcliff is devastated and promises to get revenge on both the Lintons and the Earnshaws. He goes away for three years and amasses some wealth so that he can put his plan of revenge into motion.

Upon his return to the Heights, Heathcliff becomes a cruel and unfeeling demon as he carries out his plan. In vengeance, he marries, Isabella, the simple and infatuated sister of Edgar Linton. He mistreats Hareton, Hindley's son, in much the same way he has been mistreated. He takes advantage of the drunken, gambling Hindley, winning Wuthering Heights from him as the collateral for his gambling losses. In fact, it is revenge that dominates Heathcliff's life and the second half of the novel.

In the end, Heathcliff is unable to fully carry out his plan of revenge against Hareton and Cathy because they remind Heathcliff so much of Catherine and himself. He, therefore, finally abandons his vengeful plans and waits for death to reunite him with his beloved Catherine.

The Supernatural as a theme

The supernatural element in the novel issues from Brontë's intense awareness of an unseen world beyond the tangible, visible earth. A connection with this other world is vitally important to many of the characters of the novel. Heathcliff declares, "I have a strong faith in ghosts. . .I have a conviction that they can, and do, exist among us!" Even the practical Nelly believes that Heathcliff himself may be a fiend, a visitor from another world. Catherine, too, relates her dream of having been flung out of heaven to Wuthering Heights. When she is delirious, she vows that she will not lie in the churchyard alone without Heathcliff; and she keeps her word, for her sprit haunts him for the remainder of his mortal life. When Heathcliff finally dies, Joseph and many other local people swear that they have seen his and Cathy's ghosts wandering in the night together on the moors. This pervasive presence of and references to ghosts contribute to the supernatural element in Wuthering Heights.

STYLE

Emily Bronte's language is both spare and dense, which is why it's often compared to poetry. When you finish the novel, you have a firm sense of the bleak beauty of the moors, for instance, yet there are remarkably few descriptions of the landscape. What is there is immediately evocative.

Her prose is also unusually rhythmic, often violent and abrupt. The verbs themselves are almost hysterical, until the final paragraph, in which the moths "flutter" and the soft winds "breathe."

Her two sources of imagery are nature (animals, plants, fire, the land, the weather) and the supernatural (angel/devil, heaven/hell). These are evident in the words she uses and the mental pictures she evokes.

POINT OF VIEW

There is no single point of view in this novel. The story is told by Lockwood, by Catherine, by Ellen Dean, by Heathcliff, by Isabella, by the younger Cathy, and by Zillah, the other housekeeper. Since the author never explicitly tells you what to think, you must evaluate the story in the same way that you evaluate each of the characters telling it.

Lockwood and Ellen, who tell most of the story, appear more "normal" than most of the people they talk about (Lockwood is a conventional man about town, despite his brief sojourn to Yorkshire, and Ellen displays a practical, homespun wisdom), but you can't overlook their biases. Neither of them can appreciate the passion between Heathcliff and Catherine. You as a reader, can, however. You can see much more than any single character can tell you. Evaluating what each character says helps to draw you into the book.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Part of what makes Wuthering Heights such an extraordinary novel is its complicated narrative structure. Although telling a story from different, limited points of view has become common in this century, when Emily Bronte was writing, most novels featured an omniscient narrator-someone (often, but not always the author) who was not a character in the book, but who could address the reader, comment on the action, and describe the thoughts and feelings of any of the people in the story. Wuthering Heights broke the mold; it is told solely by characters in the book, most notably Mr. Lockwood and Ellen Dean, although portions of Ellen's narrative include stories told to her by others.

The narrative itself consists of stories-within-stories-within- stories. Take a look, for instance, at Joseph's description of the dissipation at Wuthering Heights after Heathcliff's return. It is quoted in Ellen's warning to Isabella against Heathcliff, which is in her story to Lockwood, which is in Lockwood's story to you. Early readers were put off by this, seeing it as

unnecessarily complicated and confusing; but most readers today view it as one of the novel's great strengths.

This book is full of doubles. There are two generations, each occupying half the chapters. There are two households, each with distinctive qualities. And the actions revolve around pairs of children (Heathcliff and Cathy, the younger Cathy and Linton, the younger Cathy and Hareton).

Heathcliff and Cathy die without making a fact of the oneness they both feel is theirs. To Emily Bronte, their marriage is unthinkable. It can happen only as distant parody: the marriage of Hareton and Cathy the younger at the end of the book. Hareton is a watered-down Heathcliff; Cathy is a pale, though still vivacious, replica of her mother. [Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre] end similarly: a relatively mild and ordinary marriage is made after the spirit of the masculine universe is controlled or extinguished.

Richard Chase, in Twentieth Century Interpretations, 1947

Heathcliff's revenge may involve a pathological condition of hatred, but it is not at bottom merely neurotic. It has a moral force. For what Heathcliff does is to use against his enemies with complete ruthlessness their own weapons, to turn on them (stripped of their romantic veils) their own standards, to beat them at their own game. The weapons he uses against the Earnshaws and Lintons are their own weapons of money and arranged marriages. He gets power over them by the classic methods of the ruling class, expropriation and property deals.

Arnold Kettle, An Introduction to the English Novel, 1951

Any choice between "the Heights" and "the Grange," any writing up and writing down, will be the manufacture of the critic, not the novelist. Emily Bronte's places of the heart are not stages in the development of the highest self, but totally different ideas of love, speaking different languages. What we do in reading the book is learn to understand the two architectures, and begin to measure the full and complex implications of their opposition, revealed to us with scrupulous objectivity.

Mark Kinkead-Weekes, in Twentieth Century Interpretations, 1970

None of the other Victorians can successfully describe a death scene. Awestruck at so tremendous a task, they lose their

creative nerve; their imaginations boggle and fail, and they fill up the gaps left by its absence with conventional formulas. A stagey light of false tragic emotion floods the scene; the figures become puppets, squeaking out appropriately touching or noble sentiments. But Emily Bronte's eagle imagination gazed with as undaunted an eye on death, as on everything else. The light she sheds on it is the same light that pervades her whole scene, and it is the light of day.

David Cecil, Early Victorian Novelists,

Figures of Speech

Following are examples of figures of speech in the novel:

Alliteration Repetition of a consonant sound

Chapter 2:......the first feathery flakes of a snow-shower. Chapter 5:......suspected slights of his authority nearly threw him into fits. Chapter 5:......heaping the heaviest blame on the latter. Chapter 7:......fingers wonderfully whitened with doing nothing and staying indoors. Chapter 17:... you may fancy my first fright was not much allayed. . . .

Hyperbole Exaggeration not intended to be taken literallyChapter 27:....every breath from the hills so full of life, that it seemed whoever respired it, though dying, might revive.Metaphor Comparison of unlike things without using like, as, or thanChapter 7:......Joseph and I joined at an unsociable meal, seasoned with reproofs. . . . (Comparison of reproofs to condiments) Chapter 10:....the stab of a knife could not inflict a worse pang than he suffered at seeing his lady vexed. (Comparison of the effect of vexation to a knife) Chapter 17:... ignoble as it seems to insult a fallen enemy, I couldn't miss this chance of sticking in a dart (Comparison of an insult to a dart) Chapter 32:....one thin, blue wreath, curling from the kitchen chimney (Comparison of a wreath to a curl of smoke)Onomatopoeia Word that imitates a soundChapter 9:......huge bough fell across the roof, and knocked down a portion of the east chimney-stack, sending a clatter of stones and soot into the kitchen-fire. Chapter 32:....she heard the slight rustle of the covering being removed. . . . Paradox Contradictory statement that may actually be trueChapter 5:......she was never so happy as when we were all scolding her at once. . . . Chapter 17:... a melancholy sweeter than common joy.

Personification Comparison of thing to a person

"But where did he come from, the little dark thing, harboured by a good man to his bane?" muttered Superstition, as I dozed into unconsciousness. (Comparison of superstition to a person)

Simile Comparison of unlike things using like, as, or than

Chapter 3:......a glare of white letters started from the dark, as vivid as spectres. (Comparison of the glare to ghosts) Chapter 5:......We all kept as mute as mice a full half-hour. . . . (Comparison of people to mice) Chapter 15.....he gnashed at me, and foamed like a mad dog. . . . (Comparison of a man to a dog) Chapter 18.....after the first six months, she grew like a larch. . . . (Comparison of a baby to a pine tree)

Setting

The story begins in 1801, then flashes back to the 1770's and eventually returns to the early 1800's. The locale is the Yorkshire moors in northern England. A moor is tract of mostly treeless wasteland where heather thrives and water saturates the earth. The action takes place at two estates, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, about four miles apart. When the story begins, Mr. Lockwood—a visitor to the moors—establishes the remoteness and isolation of the setting: "This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's heaven: and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us."

Type of Work

Wuthering Heights is a novel of romance, revenge, and tragedy. It exhibits many characteristics of the so-called Gothic novel, which focuses on dark, mysterious events. The typical Gothic novel unfolds at one or more creepy sites, such as a dimly lit castle, an old mansion on a hilltop, a misty cemetery, a forlorn countryside, or the laboratory of a scientist conducting frightful experiments. In some Gothic novels, characters imagine that they see ghosts and monsters. In others, the ghosts and monsters are real. The weather in a Gothic novel is often dreary or foul: There may be high winds that rattle windowpanes, electrical storms with lightning strikes, and gray skies that brood over landscapes. (The word wuthering refers to violent wind.) The Gothic novel derives its name from the Gothic architectural style popular in Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries. Gothic structures—such as cathedrals—featured cavernous interiors with deep shadows, stone walls that echoed the footsteps of worshippers, gargoyles looming on exterior ledges, and soaring spires suggestive of a supernatural presence.

Publication

Wuthering Heights was published in December 1847 by Thomas Newby under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. The novel—assumed to be the work of a man—did not receive immediate critical claim because it offended Victorian moral sensibilities. About a year after Emily Brontë's death in December 1848, her sister, Charlotte (author of Jane Eyre), revealed Emily as the author of Wuthering Heights in a second edition of the novel, and the novel eventually received the praise it deserved.

Themes

Theme 1: Love gone wrong. Relationships in Wuthering Heights are like the moors: dark, stormy, twisted. Cathy loves Heathcliff but marries Edgar Linton. Heathcliff loves Cathy but marries Isabella Linton. Mr. Earnshaw loves his adopted son, Heathcliff, better than his biological son, Hindley, causing Hindley to despise Heathcliff. Linton and young Cathy are forced to marry. Theme 2: Cruelty begets cruelty. Hindley’s maltreatment of Heathcliff helps turn the latter into a vengeful monster. In developing this theme, Emily Brontë is ahead of her time, demonstrating that suffering abuse as a child can lead to inflicting abuse as an adult. Theme 3: Revenge. Heathcliff’s desire to get even against all who wronged him is at times so strong that it subverts his other emotions, including love. Theme 4: Lure of Success and Social Standing. Cathy marries Edgar after becoming infatuated with his image as a cultured gentleman with wealth enough to meet her every need. Isabella marries Heathcliff after becoming infatuated with an idealized, romantic image of him. Theme 5: Class distinctions. Heathcliff’s fury erupts after Cathy decides to marry “up” into the world of the Lintons, and not down into the world of Heathcliff. Theme 6: Fate. The entire novel depends on the forces unleashed when Mr. Earnshaw happens upon an orphan child, Heathcliff, on a street in Liverpool and returns with him to Wuthering Heights. Theme 7: Prejudice. The upper crust, the Lintons, look down upon the lower crust, Heathcliff and his kind. Theme 8: The moors as a reflection of life around them (or vice versa) and life beyond. The dark, stormy moors—where only low-growing plants such as heather thrive—symbolize the passionate and sometimes perverted emotional lives of the residents of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. In the gloomy wasteland, the Yorkshire folk, including Heathcliff himself, sometimes report seeing ghosts of people buried in the moors.