Emily Bronte's Great Story Of Hate (Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte)

Name: MattRoberts

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Product:	Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Date:	15/08/03 (503 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best novel in literature, Brilliant story, brilliant descriptive language, , Brilliant story, brilliant descriptive language, excellently detailed vocabulary, brilliant descriptive language

Disadvantages: Joseph's speech and the the confusing parts with the first-person narrative, and the the confusing parts with the first-person narrative

Wuthering Heights is a tragic love story, and has even been labelled “Emily Bronte’s great story of hate.” And in a way, that’s true. Almost every character hates each other, and rarely loves, I mean real love, and affection is shown.

Emily was brought up in the moors, and this is the setting for this novel. She was brought up with her two sisters - Charlotte (The Professor, Jane Eyre) and Anne – (The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Agnes Grey) and her brother Branwell. Her two other sisters had died young, and her Mother a year after Anne’s birth.

Her Father immediately chose Branwell as the star of the family, and gave him every opportunity he could to become a famous writer.

After no success, the whole family were in debt, so Charlotte suggested all three sisters wrote a novel. Anne began on Agnes Grey, and Charlotte on The Professor. And Emily began writing the most memorable book in history – Wuthering Heights.


**The Plot**

Giving a summary of the plot of Wuthering Height is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do with writing a review. Not only is the plot difficult and very hard to understand, but also Wuthering Heights is set over 30 years, therefore the plot is rather lengthy.

The book is written in first person, yet the speech of that first person changes a few times in the novel. Sometimes it’s Mr Lockwood, and others it’s Ellen Dean. That’s just a bit of the confusing part of the novel!

The novel begins with Mr Lockwood telling us about his visit to Wuthering Heights. He is lodging in Thrushcross Grange, and he is going to see Mr Heathcliff; Mr Heathcliff owns The Grange.

Straight away it is pretty obvious that Mr Heathcliff is an odd person. He’s extremely rude to Mr Lockwood, and he also doesn’t seem to apologise for it. He seems only to care about himself.

Mr Heathcliff isn’t the only odd
thing about Wuthering Heights. It seems all of the people in the house are rather odd. It seems they all hold a grudge on one another, and always seem to argue.

There’s Joseph, who is the butler of Wuthering Heights. He, the same as Mr Heathcliff, is rather rude towards Mr Lockwood, and he doesn’t seem very friendly.

There’s also Linton, who is Mr Heathcliff’s son. He is married to the quiet Mrs Heathcliff who says nothing when Mr Lockwood is present, and when she finally does, she also shouts, and acts rudely.

The whole house seems to hold rude people. People who have no care for other people, but their own. Are they selfish? Or, do they have a reason to be how they are? Has something so fatal happened to them in their lives that it’s scarred them for life?

With more snow building up outside, Mr Lockwood is scared to walk his four miles home to the Grange, therefore begs for a bed for the night. After a lot of trouble, he is allowed, and he goes off to bed.

That night he reads a woman called Catherine’s dairy that he stumbles upon in the room. Catherine has different surnames written on the dairy. She has Catherine Earnshaw, Linton and Heathcliff. After a few hours of reading the books, he sets off to sleep.

Then, we the readers, reach a part were Mr Lockwood is in a dream. He is dreaming that someone is calling him from the window.


‘The intense horror of nightmare came over me; I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and most melancholy voice sobbed,
“Let me in – let me in!”
“Who are you?” I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself.
“Catherine Linton,” it replied shiveringly (Why did I think of Linton? I had read Earnshaw twenty times for Linton). “I’m come home, I’d lost my way on the moor!”’

n Volume I, Chapter III, page 21


>After that Mr Heathcliff awakes him, as he has been screaming over the house. Very scared, Mr Lockwood returns home to the Grange.

At the Grange, he asks his maid, Ellen Dean, to tell him the story of Catherine Earnshaw, and the fight between the two households – Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. And also, how Catherine Linton was at one time the lady of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.

Mrs Dean then tells us the story of two children who fell in love, how both of their hearts were broken, and what extreme some people will go to for love…


**Characters**


Most books I review, I will compare the book to Wuthering Heights, because I feel that Emily Bronte has written so marvellously, that she’s covered most things in literature, and in this one novel she’s accomplished so much.

The characters in Wuthering Heights are all pretty cold. Very little have experienced true love, and if they have, this love has turned them cold. Each character in their time does something wicked, that you really notice is evil.


Catherine

Catherine is a very spoilt. When she’s younger (Ellen Dean takes us back to when she’s a girl) she isn’t selfish, or attention seeking, but as the novel goes on, and her age rises she changes, and she turns spoilt and attention-seeking.

Catherine is a very lucky person. She, unlike many other people, had found her soul mate, but she can’t seem to live with the fact that her soul mate isn’t wealthy, and is very poor.

Even though Catherine loves Heathcliff very much, she is forever thinking about herself. She tries to persuade people that she’s thinking about others, but in actual fact, she’s forever worrying about herself.

Catherine is probably the character I like least. She’s selfish, and I really don’t like the way she treats people. Saying that, Emily wri
tes her character wonderfully, and hating a character in a book, is something that rarely happens for me, and Emily’s talent is shown, as she’s made me hate her!


Heathcliff

Heathcliff’s parents are unknown. Catherine’s Father, Mr Earnshaw, went on a trip to Liverpool. He returned with a little boy he had found on the streets with no family. Being the good man he was, he brought him back, and cared for him.

Heathcliff was once a lovely person, and he loved Catherine so. But, when Catherine broke his heart, it was as if he could never forgive her, and never feel the same way about her, as he did before.

Even though his life for Catherine always remained, and always stayed strong, he could never really love her probably, because too many things were stopping the two of them; most of the things being Catherine’s own fault.

Heathcliff was a character that I liked. Most people dislike him. Because he does do a few horrible things in the novel, but deep down, Heathcliff is a true person, and he only wanted to love the woman he loved.


Ellen Dean

Ellen is the maid for Mr Earnshaw, Catherine’s father, in Wuthering Heights, at the early stages of Catherine’s life. Lots of people like Ellen Dean, and think she’s the nicest and most honest person in the book, but I don’t feel that Emily Bronte intended us to think she was so nice.

Ellen Dean always seems to judge people, where it is not her business. Catherine, at one time was very rude with Ellen, and because Ellen didn’t obey her orders, Catherine hit her.

After that Ellen was forever cold with her Mistress, and she never forgave her. Although that hit was never mentioned, it was very obvious she still held that grudge over twenty years later.

Ellen is the one who tells the whole story, so we get to know very little bad things about her, as she’s obviously not goi
ng to tell us and things about herself, is she?

That makes me come to the conclusion that we didn’t really get to know the real Ellen Dean. Even though she told us about her feelings throughout her speech, I don’t feel she told us anything about herself, that I feel, could’ve been relevant.



These three aren’t the only characters; in actual fact Wuthering Heights has over fifteen characters in all. But I feel these three are the only ones that are relevant for you to know about.

Not only that, but also more character analyses would give away the ending of the novel, and that wouldn’t be proper.


**My Opinion**

As Wuthering Heights is my favourite novel, I have many views. Even though it is my favourite novel, I do have much criticism about it. Maybe that’s why I like it so; as it can be good, yet I can fault it.

After reading the novel twice, in only three months, I picked the book up again to study it more carefully, and to see it’s faults, and it’s good parts to write this review.

The first thing I found excellent in the novel was when Catherine appeared to Mr Lockwood, supposedly in his dream. I’ve already added the passage, but I’ll add one sentence again, to remind you, of what I am talking.


‘“Catherine Linton,” it replied shiveringly (Why did I think of Linton? I had read Earnshaw twenty times for Linton). “I’m come home, I’d lost my way on the moor!”’

The question at the end of that passage is – Why did I think of Linton? Even though Mr Lockwood saw that she’d written Catherine Linton on her diary, she only mentioned it once, and I very much doubt that he’d remember that.

In my opinion, that was not a dream. I feel that Emily Bronte was trying to tell us with that question, that Catherine had actually come to Mr Lockwood in his
sleep, and actually said those things.

I think this was only the beginning of the haunting feeling of Wuthering Heights, and that Emily Bronte was preparing us for a very cold and haunting novel that would scare us in parts.

The introducing of characters in Wuthering Heights is dealt with marvellously. Emily Bronte always describes the character, which always seems to give him or her that distinctiveness that remains with them for the rest of the novel.

Not only does she use good similes etc, but she also used distinctive words that are related to that character, that I just find, shockingly brilliant, and which shows so much talent.

Emily Bronte does what a book is supposed to do, which is creating a picture in your mind. Before the time of film, we didn’t have adaptations of books on television, especially in 1847 when Wuthering Heights was published, so we had to make our own pictures in our heads.

In that time, descriptive narrative was absolutely crucial for a picture in someone’s mind that would stick there, and keep him or her entertained, and also, keep them hooked on the book.

What I found bad in this book was the fact it went from Mr Lockwood being the first person to Ellen Dean, and even though this happened rarely, I still got a bit confused when it did happen.

I feel that Emily Bronte should have made all of the story third person, and just make Ellen Dean the storyteller for the past. Even though this is only making around 50 pages of the book third person I feel it would help.

Then it would also be able to give more information on Ellen Dean, and what she was really like back then, I feel that would change the novel for the better.

Another thing, I feel, that would make the book that bit better is Joseph’s speech. Still in the modern versions it’s used how Emily wrote it – in slang. This is just an example of the Cornish butler’s speec
h:
“Aw niver did thaink tauh say t’day ur Aw mud lave th’owld place – but aw daht it’s night at hend!”

As you can easily see it’s almost impossible to work it out, and if you do, it takes a while to work it out, and that just wastes time. In my opinion, it would be far better, if they showed the original speech (above) and then in brackets say what it is without slang.

Other than these two little nit pickings the novel is superb. Not only does it tell a story that is interesting, and entertaining to be heard, it tells it superbly written, focusing on every aspect of literature, and absolutely catching the reader’s imagination.

But, not everyone was praising it as much as I, when it first came out in 1847. Whilst Anne and Charlotte got brilliant press, Emily got awful press, and she was very depressed after it.

After Emily’s death in 1848, Charlotte burnt her second novel; worried the press would bad mouth her sister once again. So, Wuthering Heights could’ve had a follow up, or Emily could’ve written a completely different story. The fact is, we will never know. It is one of the biggest mysteries in literature.

Wuthering Heights is a book that will never again be called bad. It, in my opinion, is far, far better than any of Anne or Charlotte’s novels, and any other to be truthful. I will never be sick of reading it, because you catch some of Emily’s magic each time.

Wuthering Heights can be enjoyed by anyone, and I’ve never meant that as much before in a review as I do now. It should be loved and adored, and certainly appreciated, because it is literature genius, and the best book in history.



**Where Can I Buy Wuthering Heights?**

I bought Wuthering Heights from Amazon for £3.50. I bought the Oxford World’s Classics version, which features a 46 page Introduction, and also Explanatory Notes at
the end.

But, if you only want a simple introduction and novel, then you can buy the Penguins Classic Version for £1.50. Also, the audiotape is available. WHEREVER YOU GET IT FROM, READ IT!



**Final Thoughts**

A book has never affected me, but Wuthering Heights, along with the Hours, by Michael Cunningham, is something that made me cry, and also laugh with. But, laugh in a dark way.

Wuthering Heights is like two books in one. It has loads of stories in it, and it's how two generations cope with Love.

Wuthering Heights is a must read for everyone, I feel, and if you haven’t read it, please do, because it really will change your views on life.


Written By: Matt Roberts.

Summary: