Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte
Outline: To cut a two volume-long story spanning forty years short, Wuthering Heights is about the intertwining of two families. Away from civilisation, in the untarnished Yorkshire moors, Mr Lockwood, the tenant of Thrushcross Grange, asks Nelly Dean, the housekeeper, to tell him the recent history of the people he met at Wuthering Heights – the respectable but emotionally tumultuous Heathcliff, the beautiful but discourteous Catherine, and the seemingly vulgar Hareton. This follows his forced stay at the Heights due to bad weather and an encounter with the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw, asking to be let into the Heights.
Nelly explains the unsteady relationships between the Earnshaws at Wuthering Heights and the Lintons at Thrushcross Grange, starting from when the first generation are young. After having been attacked by a dog outside the Grange, and having spent some time there recovering, the brutal and wild Catherine Earnshaw becomes spoiled and well-mannered, much to the anger of Heathcliff, whom her father adopted from the streets of Liverpool years before.
Years later, Catherine must decide whether to marry Edgar Linton, the perfect gentleman whom she does not love, or Heathcliff. In a passionate ramble to Nelly, Catherine infamously declares: “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now, so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am.” Upon overhearing this declaration Heathcliff flees the Heights, leaving Catherine to marry Edgar; he returns a few years later a rich and brutal man. In an act of revenge, he marries Edgar’s sister Isabella; following their violent relationship, she escapes the Heights and moves to London.
The second volume features Catherine’s death, which occurred shortly after she gave birth to her daughter, also named Catherine. Hindley, Catherine Earnshaw’s brother, also dies, leaving the Heights to his son, Hareton, whom Heathcliff essentially raised to be a brutal little boy. Isabella also dies, leaving Linton to return to his uncle, Edgar, at the Grange. Heathcliff quickly makes his son live with him at the Heights, and, upon the knowledge that he could come to own both the Heights and the Grange, Heathcliff forces Linton and Catherine to marry. He imprisons Linton, Catherine and Nelly at the Grange to ensure this.
Mr Lockwood leaves the Grange after hearing this story, and returns eighteen months later to find the situation has changed dramatically.
Highlights: This is the third time I have read this novel and, up until this point, my favourite part was probably shared with many others: the chapter wherein Catherine tells Nelly that Heathcliff is more herself than she is potentially the most emotional section of the book, and for that I adored it.
However, the part that stood out most prominently this time is more to do with the characterisation of Heathcliff. I, like many, believed that Heathcliff was to be read as a romantic hero; only this time did I fully understand the vulgar, violent nature of his character. The rapid deterioration of his authority towards the end of the novel was the part I enjoyed the most.
Why I Read It: I bought this book after realising that though it is one of my favourite novels I did not have a physical copy – both of the times I read it previously were in school. Reading the book became a means to allow full and meaningful breaks between revision. I needed something I enjoyed to allow myself to relax at certain points in the day, and this worked well.
Rating: 9/10. Though this was my least favourite time reading Wuthering Heights, I can’t help but adore the story. It’s one of my favourite books of all time, and I would highly recommend a read.
Words by Caitlin O’Connor