Upload
ansonyeung
View
219
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 1/31
2005:150
B A C H E L O R T H E S I S
Criticism of Social Conventionsand View of Nature and Civilizationas illustrated in Wuthering Heights
Anneli Wengelin
Luleå University of Technology
Bachelor thesis
English
Department of Language and Culture
2005:150 - ISSN: 1402-1773 - ISRN: LTU-CUPP--05/150--SE
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 2/31
Criticism of Social Conventionsand
View of Nature and Civilization
as illustrated in
Wuthering Heights
ANNELI WENGELIN
Department of Languages and Literature
ENGLISH C
Supervisor: Billy Gray
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 3/31
1
Contents
Introduction 2
1. Criticism of Social Conventions in the 19th
Century 4
1.1 Gender 4
1.2 The Class Issue 6
1.3 Symbols for different classes 7
1.4 The male class trip 8
1.5 The female class trip 9
1.6 Criteria for class identification 10
1.7 Thoughts about the class system 13
2. Nature – Civilization/Culture 17
2.1 Brontë’s description of nature 17
2.2 Brontë’s description of civilization 18
2.3 Is nature the same as freedom? 19
2.4 The development from nature to civilization 21
2.5 Is nature better than civilization? 23
3. Conclusion 27
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 4/31
2
Introduction
Wuthering Heights, a novel written by Emily Brontë and published in 1847, is an early
contribution to the discussion about women’s situation that had arisen during the early 19 th
century. During the Victorian Age some ideas about democratization of the parliamentary
representation for the people were discussed and at the same time it was a puritanical age .
Anthony Burgess describes the era as “an age of conventional morality, of large families with
the father as a godlike head, and the mother as a submissive creature like Milton’s Eve”. 1
Emily Brontë illustrates different difficulties that women had to deal with during these times
by using her characters.
The first Catherine, who is born at Wuthering Heights, pictures the way a woman’s future
will depend on what kind of man she marries. The second Catherine, born at Thrushcross
Grange, is a woman whose personality has grown and whose self-esteem is leading her on her
way. Catherine II becomes an independent owner of two estates even though she gets married.
Brontë pictures both these characters as individuals who are masters of their own future,
which supports the idea of equality between the two sexes.
As well as being a novel about women’s situation in society, Wuthering Heights can be
interpreted as a criticism against the social class system. Brontë describes two families that
belong to the gentry, who have a constant struggle to keep their position. They did not have an
important name, like the aristocratic families, which could assure them of being considered
high class members of society. Brontë wants to show that a person’s character and behaviour
do not depend on class.
A third theme in Brontë’s novel describes a conflict between nature and civilization. Emily
Brontë lived her life on the Yorkshire moors which she loved with all her heart. Due to this,
1A. Burgess, English Literature (Essex: Pearson Education, 1974) 181
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 5/31
3
the novel can be seen as a tribute to her home and its surroundings. On the other hand
Brontë’s novel views a conflict between nature and civilization, which is illustrated by the
two families and their homes.
This essay is going to examine, how Brontë describes the social situation for women in the
middle of the 19th century, her view of social classes and the conflict between nature and
civilization which she pictures in her novel Wuthering Heights.
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 6/31
4
1. Criticism of social conventions in the 19th
century.
By writing Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë attacked the social conventions that existed in
her lifetime. She criticised both the social rules of how an ideal woman was supposed to be,
and the importance of which class a person belonged to. These ideas were considered “the
eccentricities of ‘woman’s fantasy’”2 by critics of her own time. As a way of getting her ideas
accepted she gives her male characters feminine features and the female characters have many
male traits and therefore, both sexes often act in a rather unconventional way. Brontë even
gives the two families female and male features. The marriage between Catherine Earnshaw
and Edgar Linton gives the reader a hint of how devastating it can be to let social class be
more important than love and happiness. By criticizing the Linton family, Brontë wanted to
question the prevailing prejudices that existed about lower social class members being weaker
and perhaps even more stupid and unfeeling people, than those belonging to a higher social
class.
1.1 Gender
In this novel, Catherine Earnshaw is described in a manner that made her contemporaries raise
objections to how she spoke and acted. Catherine was not the soft and tame woman she ought
to be, if she was to be accepted by society. At the beginning of Ellen Dean’s story, it is known
that Catherine, at the age of six, could “ride any horse in the stable, and she chose a whip”
(Brontë 44) when her father promised to bring her something from Liverpool. In the 18 th
century this was unusual for a girl of Catherine’s age and it gives the reader a picture of a
tomboy with her own ideas, and of a rather unusual father, who taught his daughter such
things even if he had an older son. Throughout the story Catherine continues to be very eager
2E.Moers, Literary Women (London: The women’s P: 1986) 100
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 7/31
5
to have her way. She is described by Ellen as a girl whose “spirits where always at high-water
mark, her tongue always going – singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who would not
do the same. A wild wicket slip she was - …” (Brontë 49). When she was scolded she gave
her opponent “a bold, saucy look and her ready words” (Brontë 49).
Edgar Linton, who marries Catherine Earnshaw, has some traits which in contemporary
novels are usually connected with women. He is very constant and tender, especially to his
daughter Catherine, and he is indulgent towards his nephew, Linton. In the editor’s preface to
the novel it is explained that Brontë did not like the thought, that such feelings and qualities
were typical of women, only. To her, every human, created by God All Mighty, had these
features. Compared to Heathcliff, Linton’s manners appear to be even more pleasing.
Sometimes, the women are given features that place them in a higher position than the
men. One example is Catherine Linton (Catherine II) and her cousin Linton Heathcliff. These
two characters are described without any notice being taken of their sex at all. Catherine is a
very healthy and active girl with a positive way of looking at things, while Linton is weak and
dependent. The male cousin tries to get his way by crying and sulking, and he even acts like a
lady when he has Catherine come to him. The housekeeper at Wuthering Heights describes
him in the following way when she meets Ellen in Gimmerton:
“And I never knew such a faint-hearted creature,” added the
woman; “nor one so careful of hisseln. He will go on, if I leave the
window open a bit late in the evening. Oh! It’s killing! a breath of
night air! And he must have a fire in the middle of summer; and
Joseph’s bacca pipe is poison --- And if Hareton for pity comes to
amuse him, --- they’re sure to part, one swearing and the other
crying”. (Brontë 182)
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 8/31
6
Linton is described as having feminine characteristics, and Brontë gives him delicate
features with blond flaxen hair. Brontë uses colours as a sign of male or female character;
therefore Catherine has darker hair than Linton. The author gives the two families different
gender. The Earnshaw’s are dark, strong and healthy, which in Bronte’s novel are male
features, while the Linton’s are more delicate and more sensitive to illnesses, which on the
other hand are feminine traits. This way of mixing the genders without following the norms of
society made critics in the 19th and the early 20th century unmasks the prejudices that existed
about women and their authorship. In Reviewing Sex, Nicola D Thompson cites Herbert
Read, who 1903 wrote an essay on the three Brontë sisters:
In the case of Emily, the same causes [as Charlotte] produced a
‘masculine protest’ of a more complex kind, showing indeed, the
typical features of what I think we must, with the psycho-analyst,
call psychical hermaphroditism….In her childhood the villagers
thought her more like a boy than a girl….much deeper and more
powerful must have been the masculine assumptions of her mind.
These found their fit expression…in Wuthering Heights.3
Herbert Read’s words about Brontë is an example of the reception Wuthering Heights
received after it was common knowledge that Ellis Bell was a woman.
1.2 The class issue.
In the 18th century, land and manner were of great importance regarding what social class a
person belonged to. A man had to own a lot of land and behave like a true gentleman to be
considered a man of high class. A woman, on the other hand, had to marry such a man in
order to get the favours of being a member of a high social class. Land was much more
3 N.D.Thompson, Reviewing Sex, Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels (London: MacMillan: 1996) 60
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 9/31
7
important than money; earning money from business was not ranked as an acceptable way to
get a high position in society.
These rules and norms of class identification seem easy to understand and use, but in
reality they were not. The aristocracy had their titles and names but this was not the case of
the gentry which both the Earnshaws’ and the Lintons’ belonged to. Their everyday life
contained a lot of struggle to maintain their positions, by doing and saying the right thing at
the right time. In an article on the Internet George P Landow quotes J H C Newman when he
describes a true gentleman. Newman writes that a gentleman:
carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of
those with whom he is cast; -- all clashing of opinion, or collision
of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment; his
great concern being to make every one at their ease and at home. 4
As a result of this, it was possible for them to be degraded at any moment. The decision of
degradation was to a great extent taken by the neighbours, who were very harsh in their
judgements.
1.3 Symbols for different classes
Emily Brontë uses symbols to show that the Lintons’ and the Earnshaws’ are not equal in
society. In the beginning of Ellen’s story, the Earnshaw children visit Thrushcross Grange out
of curiosity. They want to see how their neighbours are living their lives. The first symbol that
marks their different social class is the window, through which Heathcliff and Catherine peek
(Brontë 53). It functions as a barrier and makes it obvious that there are differences between
the two sides of the window-pane. On the outside where Heathcliff and Catherine stand it is
dark and it is raining and on the other side there are lights and a fire is burning. The next thing
4 G.P.Landow, http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor10.html
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 10/31
8
that becomes a wall between the different classes is the dress, which Catherine wears when
she returns from Thrushcross Grange after she has been bitten by the dog. This dress makes it
impossible for her to act normally when she meets Heathcliff. She notices how dirty he is and
she is afraid that he will ruin her dress if they hug each other.
1.4 The male class-trip
The struggle and the neighbours’ judgements, mentioned above, are things that the character
Heathcliff, one of the protagonists, illustrates clearly. At the very beginning of the novel,
Heathcliff is an orphan who has nowhere to live and is adopted by the Earnshaws’ to become
a young gentleman, although this idea is questioned due to his dark skin. His life as a
gentleman is not easy, even if he is favoured by his adoptive father. His new brother, Hindley,
considers him a threat and does not like him. Hindley’s feelings spring from when he finds his
fiddle crushed in his father’s great-coat, and Heathcliff seems to be the one to blame. During
the time the two boys live under the same roof, Hindley never acknowledges Heathcliff to be
something other than a “lower” individual. This is obvious when the boys quarrel about a
horse:
Take my colt, gipsy, then! --- And I pray that he may break your
neck: take him, and be damned, your beggar interloper! and
wheedle my father out of all he has: only afterwards show him
what you are, imp of Satan.-And take that, I hope he’ll kick out
your brains! (Brontë 47)
Later, Hindley is sent to a boarding-school and when his father dies he returns to become the
master of Wuthering Heights. The journey between social classes continues when Heathcliff
is pushed off his high position to become a common worker at the farm. He is treated badly,
which gives him the motivation to make the class trip once more. Heathcliff leaves the house
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 11/31
9
and his family to return three years later. Now he is totally changed. From a common worker
with a bad language and no money, he has turned into a well-mannered gentleman who
radiates dignity and respect, though Lockwood says that he is only a “gentleman in dress and
manners” (Brontë 21). The rules and norms of class distinction are noticeable several times,
for example when Heathcliff and Edgar Linton interact. Heathcliff and Edgar’s sister run
away and we get to know what Edgar thinks about it. The very fact that his sister has chosen
to leave with a man “without name” is bearable, but he is much more concerned about
Heathcliff being a villain disguised in nice clothes. He is certain of two things; Heathcliff is as
bad a person as he was before his disappearance and, that he is not a real gentleman, in spite
of his manners and money. This example illustrates the rules about social distinction; a man
cannot be a gentleman unless society approves.
1.5 The female class-trip
Brontë thinks it is possible for a person to change class through career, and what is happening
to Heathcliff reveals a male view of the phenomenon. Catherine Earnshaw’s tragic fate gives
another picture of this struggle; the female way of making a career. She is deeply devoted to
Heathcliff and the most natural thing would be that they shared their lives in marriage.
Catherine has however, a need to become someone else than a common housewife, serving
her working husband. She wants to be “the greatest woman of the neighbourhood” (Brontë
78). In order to reach her goal she decides to marry Edgar. She wants to be a part of both
worlds, which is a desire that totally ruins her world and brings unhappiness to the people at
Thrushcross Grange. Catherine thinks it is possible to continue her friendship with Heathcliff
to the same extent as usual, an idea which she discusses with Ellen:
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 12/31
10
Every Linton on the face of the earth might melt into nothing,
before I could consent to forsake Heathcliff. Oh, that’s not what I
intend – that’s not what I mean! I shouldn’t be Mrs Linton were
such a price demanded! He’ll be as much to me as he has been all
his lifetime. Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate him,
at least. (Brontë 81)
But surprisingly for her both Heathcliff and Edgar oppose this idea. She cannot fully
understand the calm or almost cold way Edgar shows his feelings towards her. She feels that
she is treated badly and judged unjustly. At the end of her life, she does not recognize herself
in the mirror and says, “It’s behind there still!” she pursued anxiously. “And it stirred. Who is
it? I hope it will not come out when you are gone! Oh, Nelly, the room is haunted! I’m afraid
of being alone!”(Brontë 114) She cannot recognize herself as the lady of Thrushcross Grange.
In her confused mind she is still the little girl, running around on the moors, not longing for
the status that a marriage to Edgar would give her. Earlier, when Catherine and Heathcliff
stood outside the window, watching Edgar and Isabella, they laughed at those who were
inside and thought they where spoiled and weak. The Earnshaw children valued their freedom
higher than living in a beautiful house and wearing nice clothes. Lying in her bed, sick and
weak, Catherine wants to return to the life she lived before she married Edgar and became
“the greatest woman of the neighbourhood”. By letting Catherine experience these
difficulties, Brontë wants to show how hard it could be for a woman to move from one social
class to another.
1.6 Criteria for class identification
As mentioned above, land and manners were of great importance if a man, who did not
belong to the aristocracy, wanted to be considered as a gentleman. In Brontë’s novel both the
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 13/31
11
Lintons’ and the Earnshaws’ have land, money and servants but in spite of that, they are
defined in different ways. The Earnshaws’ are survivors, living on the harsh moors of
Yorkshire with a kind of free atmosphere in the household. The children are allowed to run
around almost as they please, and from the beginning the reader gets to know them as
instigators who are very much led by their hearts. Heathcliff and Catherine spend almost
every minute on the moors, playing. Ellen explains when they “run away to the moors in the
morning and remain there all day, and the after punishment grew a mere thing to laugh at”
(Brontë 52). The Linton family live their life according to what is correct for people of their
dignity. It is very important that everything seems to be perfect on the surface, which means
that people tend to become rather cold in their relations. Edgar presents this quality when he
totally rejects his sister the minute she runs away with Heathcliff. His pride forbids him to
make any contact at all, firstly because Heathcliff is not considered as a real gentleman and
secondly because he feels that Isabella has neglected his position as the head of the family:
“Are we to try any measures for overtaking and bringing her
back?” I [Ellen] inquired, “How should we do?”
“She went of her own accord,” answered the master; “she had a
right to go if she pleased. Trouble me no more about her.
Hereafter she is only my sister in name: not because I disown her,
but because she has disowned me.”(Brontë 122)
Even when the first reaction of anger has subsided, Edgar cannot change his mind and forgive
his sister, because the norms of the society force him to act against his heart. Isabella writes a
letter to Ellen where she asks her to speak to Edgar. Her brother answers:
“Forgiveness!” said Linton. “I have nothing to forgive her, Ellen.
You may call at Wuthering Heights this afternoon, if you like, and
say that I am not angry, but I’m sorry to have lost her; especially
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 14/31
12
as I can never think she’ll be happy. It is out of the question my
going to see her, however: we are eternally divided; and should
she really wish to oblige me, let her persuade the villain she has
married to leave the country”. (Brontë 132)
Edgar Linton’s reaction shows that feelings have no place, or at least very little place, in his
world. Even if he knows that his sister probably is not happy, he cannot let go of the
conventions that rule the lives in his social class. These examples present a view of class
distinctions which places the real gentleman as something external, not on the inside. Edgar
criticizes Heathcliff and says that he is gentlemanlike only in the sense that he has nice
clothes, but despite this he acts according to superficial values in order to please society.
Heathcliff is a very cruel and mean person who is easy to dislike. Linton and several of the
others in his family, act almost as badly as their opponent at Wuthering Heights when they are
put in situations which are trying. Isabella Linton becomes nasty when she stays with her new
family on the moors. They do not treat her as a lady and laugh at her foppish desires. When
Ellen comes to visit her, Isabella’s spirits have sunk and her good upbringing cannot help her:
There never was such a dreary, dismal scene as the formerly
cheerful house presented! I must confess that if I had been in the
young lady’s place, I would at least, have swept the hearth, and
wiped the tables with a duster. But she already partook of the
pervading spirit of neglect which encompassed her. Her pretty
face was wan and listless; her hair uncurled: some locks hanging
lankly down, and some carelessly twisted round her head.
(Brontë 132)
Brontë depicts people as being both good and bad. It is not ones social affiliation which
decides how you act in difficult situations, but your inner qualities. To show that a person’s
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 15/31
13
social position is unimportant when defining a true gentleman Brontë has created the Hareton
character. He is badly educated and his language is undeveloped. He acts as cruel as his
master most of the time and it is just as easy to dislike him. As the story continues the reader
can see another side of him. Although he is treated badly both by Heathcliff and Catherine
Linton, he looks behind their outer personality and is able to value other things. Hareton is
humble and genuine as a person. He wants to learn and change, and he does so without
rejecting his past. Hareton still loves and honours his uncle Heathcliff even if he sometimes
thinks he is acting wrongly:
He said he wouldn’t suffer a word to be uttered in his
disparagement: if he were the devil, it didn’t signify: he would
stand by him; and he’d rather she would abuse himself, as she
used to, than begin on Mr. Heathcliff. Catherine was waxing cross
at this; but he found means to make her hold her tongue, by asking
how she would like him to speak ill of her father? (Brontë 266)
These words of Hareton’s show his ability to enter into other people’s feelings, which is very
important if you want to act like a true gentleman. His humble and thoughtful personality
makes him, in Brontë’s view, to a real gentleman.
1.7 Thoughts about the class system
Does Brontë like the class system she is describing in her novel? If the persons described are
investigated the answer must be, no. The Lintons’, who are in a higher position than the
Earnshaws’, show qualities that make them appear cold and scheming. Edgar Linton uses
Catherine’s illness for his own purpose, when he forbids Heathcliff to visit her at Thrushcross
Grange just because of his own jealousy; their communication “shall not exist”.(Brontë 132)
When Heathcliff is informed of this, he criticizes Mr Linton’s narrow-mindedness and almost
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 16/31
14
egoistical view of the friendship between him and his sister. He says to Ellen that Edgar has
nothing to give to Catherine:
“That is quite possible,” remarked Heathcliff, forcing himself to
seem calm: “quite possible that your master should have nothing
but common humanity and a sense of duty to fall back upon. But
do you imagine that I shall leave Catherine to his duty and
humanity...” (Brontë 133)
Brontë presents a description of Edgar Linton as a person who is not very likable since he
treats persons who do not belong to his family badly. The author shows that both of the
families have faults. Heathcliff shows his feelings but nevertheless, he can be really cruel in
order to take revenge. Edgar Linton acts politely in every situation, but both he and his family
members are hurt by his behaviour. This supports the opinion about people that Brontë wants
to put forward. A human being has both good and bad qualities and those are not distributed
among people according to what social class they belong to.
Another thing that reveals Brontë’s view of the class society is how she describes Ellen
Dean, who has been a servant with both the Earnshaws’ and the Lintons’ for all her life. She
thinks for her self and does not allow other people to decide for her. Both Catherine I and
Catherine II try to benefit from Ellen’s lower position but she retains her dignity through the
novel. In chapter XI she does not agree with her mistress’s plans when Catherine wants to
frighten Edgar because he has “startled and distressed her shockingly” (Brontë 109) Ellen
receives Catherine’s instructions with a stolidity which vexes the intriguing lady very much.
Ellen tells Lockwood that “I did not wish to “frighten” her husband, as she said, and multiply
his annoyance for the purpose of serving her selfishness”. (Brontë 110) She has the self-
esteem that allows her to go against her employer and take sides with the one she thinks is
weaker or unjustly treated.
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 17/31
15
Throughout the novel Ellen sees the people in an objective way, which means that she can
see both their positive and negative sides. This is something that neither Heathcliff nor Edgar
manage to do; they see either the good or the bad in a person. This quality of Ellen’s has the
function of showing the reader how badly the two other characters are acting in different
situations. Brontë uses Ellen as a yardstick and the men are to be compared to her. Because of
her social position and the fact that she is a woman, the author expresses her criticism of
social conventions. Ellen is a “gentleman” inside, even though she is of a lower social class
and a woman.
Emily Brontë’s opinion about the class society is also shown in Linton Heathcliff’s and
Hareton Earnshaw’s characters. Linton, who is considered a gentleman and belongs to
Thrushcross Grange from the beginning, is shown to be a weakling and a parasite, who takes
advantage of people around him. He has these qualities even though he is a man of very
extensive reading. Hareton, on the other hand, is an illiterate who has been taught to behave
rudely and to act like a villain. His language is limited and most of the time he seems to be
rather stupid. At the end of the novel, Brontë presents another picture of the man, in which he
is a sensitive individual who learns to read and treats other people with respect. Although he
knows that Heathcliff has been a cruel man during his lifetime, he does not want to talk badly
of him when he is dead; in fact, he is the only person who mourns his uncle:
But poor Hareton, the most wronged, was the only one who really
suffered much. He sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter
earnest. He pressed its hand, and kissed the sarcastic savage face
that every one else shrank from contemplating; and bemoaned him
with that strong grief which springs naturally from a generous
heart, though it be tough as tempered steel. (Brontë 278)
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 18/31
16
Hareton gives the story a positive angle of approach. Through him the reader understands that
people can change and that the good in a person does not depend on how much land he owns,
or how educated he is.
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 19/31
17
2. Nature – Civilization/Culture
Brontë has put the social classes in opposition to each other, in order to make a clear point.
She has used the same tool to put forward her thoughts about culture and nature as being parts
of life. Brontë lived most of her life on the moors and she loved the barren and wild landscape
which the infertile area offers its inhabitants. She lets the reader feel the sensation of freedom
which a long walk over the heather entails. In the preface of Wuthering Heights it can be read
that Brontë’s life as the daughter of a curate had given her experiences from a bleak
childhood, being looked after by her very strict aunt, which could be a reason for her
emotional descriptions of nature. The novel can be seen as a description of the two
phenomena, nature and civilization, where the author gives both positive and negative
criticism to both sides. There is a conflict going on between the two families. The Earnshaws’
symbolize Nature and the Lintons’ represent Culture and Civilization. This conflict can be
seen as an evolution from nature to civilization. This development is characterized by
Catherine I and Heathcliff on one side and Catherine II and Hareton on the other.
2.1 Brontë’s description of nature
In this text nature is described as harsh and dangerous. In the first chapter Lockwood becomes
aware of this when the snow stops him from going back home after his visit to his landlord.
Though the people at Wuthering Heights are very mean and short in their tone towards him,
they do not want him to leave because of the wild moor and the risks that come with walking
across it at night. Nature seems to be something pure and straightforward. It makes no
difference between rich or poor; everybody can be defeated by its force and it is important to
consider its changeable mood. Even if the snow and the wind make the environment
dangerous, Lockwood mentions it as being “certainly a beautiful country and very untouched
by society”. (Brontë 19)
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 20/31
18
The moors are very close to Emily Brontë’s heart and she describes them as dangerous but
at the same time she depicts them with love. They are a place where Catherine and Heathcliff
find freedom, and where the wind blows constantly. When Catherine experiences her saddest
moments she longs for her old home on the moors and her own room, were she could breathe
the wind coming from the desolate wide open spaces:
“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!”
(Brontë 115)
Nature is both insensitive to its inhabitants and a force which inevitably punishes everyone
that does not have the strength needed to manage it, or the intelligence to compromise. The
power to endure nature’s force is visualized by Wuthering Heights, which is a stone building
with very small windows to cope with the strong winds. The intelligence is personified by the
few trees that grow on the moors. They are leaning in the same direction that the wind blows,
because the wind cannot break something or someone that bends; they know how to
compromise.
2.2 Brontë’s description of civilization
Civilization is pictured as a gentleman who is balanced and does not show his true feelings or
fight with his bare hands. Everything, in this sort of environment is in order and well
organized. The weather is good and inside a civilized house a fire is burning in order to warm
a frozen soul. In the novel, The Lintons’ and their home, Thrushcross Grange, stand for
culture and civilization. Their actions are not filled with passion and impulsiveness. They live
in their world of politeness and etiquette and are disturbed by people who do not play their
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 21/31
19
game. This becomes clear in the beginning of the novel when the family meets Heathcliff for
the first time. He does not look like a gentleman and rather carries all the signs of being of a
lower class according to the standards that where prevailing at the time. Mr Linton described
him as follows:
---Don’t be afraid, it is but a boy - yet the villain scowls so plainly
in his face; would it not be a kindness to the country to hang him
at once, before he shows his nature in acts as well as features?
(Brontë 55)
Mr Linton remarks that he has heard that the children at Wuthering Heights are brought up in
“absolute heathenism” and he thinks that Catherine’s brother, Hindley, is very careless in his
way of looking after his little sister. Mrs Linton is terrified at the thought of the girl being
accompanied by “a gipsy” on the moors. Gipsies were looked upon as people who were close
to being animals and not able to act properly. They could also be seen as closer to nature and
intruders into the civilization of gentlemen. Scholars were totally sure that a man’s
intelligence could be seen in the colour of his skin or in the shape of his chin.5 This event
shows how prejudices concerning differences and poverty ruled the lives of people in higher
social classes and the effect which this kind of thinking had on the working class and people
with a darker skin than a native Englishman. Brontë pictures a civilization which condemns
and is cold, in which a man’s skills in keeping his face in different situations, are of great
importance for his future position in social life.
2.3 Is nature the same as freedom?
Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff consider nature to be the same as freedom. They do not
want to abide by any rules concerning social life. Heathcliff explains to Ellen that the children
5A.S.Wohl, www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rc4.html
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 22/31
20
at Thrushcross Grange seem to be spoiled and jealous of each other. When the children from
the Heights were looking through the window, the children inside were arguing over a dog.
Heathcliff thought it a weakness to be too fond of material things, and to him love for
Catherine was much more important. He did not have to consider any personal property in his
actions, which to him was a great freedom. Before Linton’s dog bit Catherine, she and
Heathcliff lived a free life and spent most of their time together. They shared the same bed
and stood by each other.
When Catherine returned from The Grange everything was different. She dismounted a
black horse like a “dignified person, with brown ringlets falling from the cover of a feathered
beaver, and a long cloth habit, which she was obliged to hold up with both hands that she
might sail in”. (Brontë 57) This new style made it impossible for her to treat her former best
friend like she used to. She does not dare to hug either Ellen or Heathcliff because she is
afraid to get dirt on her new dress. A reduction of freedom has occurred due to some curls in
her hair and an elegant dress. Civilization makes it impossible for Catherine to follow her
heart and marry Heathcliff. She has a wish to become “the greatest woman in the
neighbourhood” (Brontë 78), which forces her to marry Edgar even if she does not love him.
This marriage makes her feel trapped and she longs for the moors and Heathcliff until she
dies. Catherine’s actions make Heathcliff suffer too. He listens when she is having a
conversation with Ellen about marrying Edgar, and it is a terrible truth which is disclosed.
Heathcliff leaves the Heights for three years and during that time he plans a monstrous
revenge. His freedom disappears when he is bound to spend the remaining part of his life
trying to punish everybody else for his misfortune. Described in this way, Heathcliff’s and
Catherine’s view of life is not as free from following norms as they would like it to be.
Catherine marries Edgar due to the social conventions that are prevailing in society and
Heathcliff is a victim of his own passion and of the fact that he has to save face. In
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 23/31
21
consideration of the occurrences mentioned above, nature seems to be the same as freedom.
Brontë describes both Catherine and Heathcliff as being victims of social norms; Catherine
marries against her heart and Heathcliff acts in order to save face.
2.4 The development from nature to civilization
The fiction writer and critic, Joyce Carol Oates has undertaken a study of Wuthering Heights
and she mentions an inevitable development of Nature into Society.6 This development can be
seen by making a comparison between Catherine Earnshaw and her daughter Catherine
Linton. Catherine Earnshaw was brought up at Wuthering Heights, where she and her
stepbrother could live out their passions running around in the wild landscape, which
surrounded the farm. Throughout her lifetime, she sticks to her ideas about life and cannot
identify herself with anyone else than the little girl who everybody has to love, and who
explores the mysteries on the Yorkshire moors. During her last couple of days she is back in
her room at Wuthering Heights and she is a little girl again. The weather is terrible, and she
gives birth to a daughter who is named Catherine. This little girl was born when it was
pouring down, the night was black as coal and the house which was to be her home was warm
and filled with candles. This shows that she has both nature and civilization in her soul; she
carries genes, both from her mother who symbolises nature, and father who signifies
civilization and culture.
While growing up, Catherine Linton is as bad tempered as her mother could be, for
example when she does not want to have anything to do with Hareton. In her eyes, he is just
an ill-mannered bumpkin. Her experiences in life, her acquaintance with Heathcliff and
Linton, change her as a person. She stops looking at the external things only, and begins to
notice the inside of a human being too. Hareton becomes interesting to her, and by the end of
6J.C.Oates, http://storm.usfca.edu/~southerr/wuthering.html
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 24/31
22
the novel the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton has moved into Wuthering
Heights and created a total revolution in the household. Heathcliff is dead and buried.
Lockwood visits the farm and describes the situation:
I had neither to climb the gate not to knock – it yielded to my
hand. --- a fragrance of stocks and wallflowers wafted on the air
from amongst the homely fruit-trees. Both doors and lattices were
open --- a fine, red fire illumined the chimney. (Brontë 255)
This sort of free, and at the same time organized, atmosphere was not the usual one. When
Heathcliff, who signified nature during his lifetime, ruled at the Heights the situation was
totally different. The doors were locked and there was no fire burning; darkness had power
over the inhabitants. Book reading was prohibited and everything that was beautiful was
forbidden too. It was ugly to show weakness and even politeness. Heathcliff was, like nature,
harsh in his judgements; those who did not have the strength or the intelligence to stand
against his force were doomed. His opinion of weak people comes forward when he is
uttering, “I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to
crush out their entrails! It is moral teething; and I grind with greater energy in proportion to
the increase of pain.” (Brontë 137) After this speech of Heathcliff, Ellen asks him if he knows
what the word pity means and this is a question he will not answer. He does not even want to
talk about it. Even though these forces of both Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are strong,
they cannot survive the new winds that begin to blow.
Both Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw have a seed of culture and civilization in
them which is allowed to grow. They learn to control their passion, and their will to grow as
human beings is significant to the change of order at Wuthering Heights. As mentioned
above, reading books was forbidden when Heathcliff was alive. That Brontë attach great value
to literature is clear, when Hareton’s personality changes and his will to learn how to read is
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 25/31
23
obvious to the reader. The development from nature to civilization is complete when
Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw plan to marry, which will result in a new, more
civilized, Catherine Earnshaw. The couple are moving to Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering
Heights will be empty, except from Joseph who seems to be immortal.
2.5 Is nature better than civilization?
Emily Brontë was very found of the landscape that she lived in. She loved the open spaces
and the wind that always blew like God’s hand over those who lived there. This might give us
a hint that she favoured nature before culture and civilization. Wuthering Heights and the
people who lived there personify nature. The house is very strongly built, of stone and with
small windows, which make the inside dark and inhospitable. The surroundings are marked
by the harsh treatment it gets from the wind and the rain. The inhabitants of Wuthering
Heights have the same features as their home. They are as strong, healthy and passionate as
the environment they are living in. Their temper can be as bad as the weather. A look at
Thrushcross Grange gives the opposite impression. The garden which surrounds the wooden
house is beautiful with trees and flowers. Brontë lets the weather be as beautiful as the estate
when she writes about the Lintons’ who live in the house.
So far civilization seems to be much more attractive than nature. This feeling grows
weaker with a closer examination of the family members. They seem to be weak and sickly
and not as strong as the Earnshaws’ at the Heights. Due to social conventions they give a
somewhat cold first impression because the norms advocate moderation when it comes to
feelings. The pressure from society forces them to act against their heart on several occasions.
Even though Catherine loves nature and freedom, she falls into a trap when she thinks she has
to marry Edgar to become someone:
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 26/31
24
I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in
heaven; and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff
so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to
marry Heathcliff now. --- Whatever our souls are made of, his and
mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam
from lightning, or frost from fire. (Brontë 80)
Her action in this case is a result of several different things; Hindley’s treatment of Heathcliff
and the encounter with Edgar Linton. Brontë makes the reader believe that Catherine is
guided by pride and her wish to rise in rank, which puts her in a bad light. These actions are
signs of civilization and culture and in the novel nothing good comes out of it. Catherine
wishes for something else during the time she is at the Thrushcross Grange. The fact that she
now is “the greatest woman in the neighbourhood” (Brontë 78) does not help her much.
When the two families meet, the Lintons’ seem to be too mawkish and patronizing. This is
very clear when Heathcliff and the Lintons’ meet at Wuthering Heights to organize the return
of Catherine from Thrushcross Grange. Catherine has changed and she laughs at Heathcliff
and tells him that she thinks he looks “very black and cross --- and how funny and
grim!”(Brontë 58) Heathcliff feels offended and defends himself by saying, “You needn’t
have touched me! I shall be as dirty as I please; and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty.”
(Brontë 58) After Heathcliff’s outburst Mrs Linton accepts an invitation to the Heights for
Christmas dinner on the conditions that “her darlings might be kept apart from that naughty,
swearing boy”.
From the beginning the author leads the story to a point where nature is portrayed
positively. As the story develops an alteration of attitude is perceptible. Heathcliff’s
appearance is never depicted in flattering terms. The author shows him to be evil. Catherine
however, is changed. The first Catherine never stops dreaming of the moors and freedom but
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 27/31
25
her daughter, Catherine Linton, has other features that are allowed to overtake the almost
egoistical ones that fill her mother. She is, just like the second generation at Wuthering
Heights, more humble and respectful to other people. In a way she is a perfect blending of
both nature and civilization. She can be sulky if she is stopped in her actions, but at the same
time she is burning with curiosity to learn about her neighbourhood and she wants other
people to be happy and always makes it her responsibility to help her friends when they feel
depressed. Her curiosity and her love of adventure, which she has inherited from her mother,
force her to go on an excursion to the hills and to a cave she has heard of. Near the cave she
happens to meet with Heathcliff and she becomes a frequent visitor to his home. This is an
acquaintance which her father has tried to keep her away from since she was born. When
Linton Heathcliff is sick and unhappy, lying at Wuthering Heights, Catherine II offers
defiance to the prohibition her father has set up for her. She sneaks out when nobody watches
her and rides to the Heights to talk and read to Linton. Her conscience makes her stand up
against her father, who she loves and honours very much.
The change that has occurred in favour of civilization by the birth of Catherine Linton can
be seen in this contact between the two elements, nature and civilization. When the first
Catherine came to know the Lintons’ everything became chaotic; Edgar’s and Isabella’s
parents died and Isabella’s life became a disaster when she ran off with Heathcliff. Even
Catherine I died of a broken heart, as she put it herself. This time when the two families
interact, a lot of things are different. When Catherine has married her cousin Linton and
moved in at Wuthering Heights she is treated very badly. She is locked up in a room at
Wuthering Heights to prevent her from seeing her father before he dies. She offers Linton
everything she has to make him unlock the door, but he informs her that he already owns it
since they are married. The very moment the change in direction occurs, is when she gets to
know that Heathcliff has planned the marriage between the youths in order to be able to take
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 28/31
26
over the Grange. Linton’s true personality is suddenly obvious to her. She pushes Linton so he
hurts himself and shrieks, which frightens her and therefore she gives him a picture of her
mother which she has in a gold box round her neck. This is the moment when she breaks with
the past and begins to form a new life.
She gets to know Hareton and they start to make changes at the Heights. This is a real
challenge for them because both Heathcliff and Joseph are against what they are doing.
Joseph becomes mad when they plant some flowers in his garden and Heathcliff does not
approve when Hareton is taught how to read by Catherine. Heathcliff fades out and comes
closer to death; he does not participate in the family life as he used to by yelling and ordering
people to and fro. During his visits to the kitchen he just stares at the walls and talks to
himself. Suddenly one night he dies and with him dies the last existing element of nature.
Hareton and Catherine, who are left at Wuthering Heights, let warmth and light come into the
house again. This ending of the novel seems to favour civilization, but considering the fate of
Heathcliff and Catherine I, other thoughts are brought to the surface. These two persons, who
represent nature, also find happiness when they finally have their freedom together in death.
This makes it difficult to decide whether Brontë favours nature or civilization. A conclusion
might be that she thought that both elements were needed in order for society to work.
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 29/31
27
3. Conclusion
Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights is complex in the sense that it is possible to interpret
it in several different ways. This essay has examined three themes which can be seen in the
novel: the social class angle, the gender approach and nature versus civilization.
Brontë gives the characters features that makes the reader reflect on the contents of her
story. The way she describes the characters without any thought of which sex he or she
belongs to, signifies her opinion about men and women being equal, at least in regards to their
feelings. Catherine II becomes the owner of two estates. As land was of great importance for a
person’s social situation this inheritance of Catherine’s placed her at the same level as many
men, which can show that Emily Brontë thought that a woman was capable to take on the
same responsibilities as a man, and therefore had the right to be economically equal as well.
Her contribution to the discussion about class is illustrated by the Earnshaws and the
Lintons. She discusses the matter from a human perspective more than from an economic one.
Her opinion is that a man’s or a woman’s actions are not the result of being born in the right
social class; it is a matter of inner qualities which no clothes or buildings at all can have an
influence on.
It is not easy to decide which of the elements triumphs; nature or civilization. Brontë does
not avoid the things that are bad when she writes about either nature or civilization. Nature
can be seen as beautiful but also too harsh and evil and civilization is beautiful too, but often
cold and weak. In my opinion Brontë favours a mixture of the two elements, which is
embodied in the characters of Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw. Each of the two
characters has developed; Catherine from being a prejudiced and bad mannered person, to
becoming a kind and understanding woman. Hareton has dared to show his nice and caring
personality. They are dependent on each other to make these changes which show that nature
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 30/31
28
and civilization are both needed to build a functioning society or, for that matter, a good
human being.
7/23/2019 Criticism of Social Conventions and View of Nature and Civilization as Illustrated in Wuthering Heights
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/criticism-of-social-conventions-and-view-of-nature-and-civilization-as-illustrated 31/31
29
References
Main source
Brontë, Emily, Wuthering Heights, (Berkshire: Penguin: 1994) ISBN 0-14-062012-5
Secondary sources
Burgess, Anthony, English Literature, Essex: Pearson Education, 1974 ISBN 0-582-55224-9
Fraiman, Susan, “Unbecoming Women, British women writers and the novel ofdevelopment”, Gender and Culture, New York: Colombia U P: 1993 ISBN 0-231-08001-8
Moers, Ellen, Literary Women, London: The women’s P: 1986 ISBN 0-7043-3825-4
Thompson, Nicola Diane, Reviewing Sex, Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels,
London: Macmillan P: 1996 ISBN 0-333-62217-0
The World Wide Web
Landow, George P, Newman on the Gentleman,
http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor10.html
Oates, Joyce Carol, The Magnanimity of Wuthering Heights,
http://storm.usfca.edu/~southerr/wuthering.html
Wohl, Anthony S, The Function of Racism in Victorian England,
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/victor9.html
Wohl, Anthony S, Race and Class Prejudice and the Childlike;
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rc4.html
Wohl, Anthony S, Victorian Racism, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rc5.html