Pearl Craig

October 24, 2016

English IV H

2nd

Wuthering Heights Critical Analysis

Anyone interested in 19th century gothic novels might have a keen interest in Emily

Bronte’s Wuthering Heights but their enthusiasm for the novel will soon prove to be as empty as

the moors set in Wuthering Heights. The story follows Mr. Lockwood, the nosey tenant of a

neighboring estate, Thrushcross Grange, on the countryside of England, as he inquires a

housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to recollect the life of his dark-skinned, wealthy and hostile landlord,

Heathcliff, and the other residents of the manor house,Wuthering Heights. Mr. Lockwood learns

that Heathcliff was an orphaned boy who was taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, the original owner of

Wuthering Heights, and raised alongside his son and daughter, Hindley and Catherine. After Mr.

Earnshaw’s death, Hindley inherits Wuthering Heights and reduces Heathcliff to the status of a

servant, Catherine and Heathcliff become inseparable but despite their obvious love for each

other she decides she can never be with Heathcliff because of his social status so she marries

Edgar Linton, her cousin from the neighboring estate. Heathcliff runs away returns three years

later with mysterious wealth and a 17 year plan for revenge that ends with him acquiring both

Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, and inducing misery on the second generation of

Earnshaw-Linton-Heathcliff children as proxies for their dead parents offenses, before dying and

longing for afterlife with Catherine, and allowing the children to carry on with their lives. Emily

Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is a dark, off-putting novel attributed to its characterization, plot

line, and point of view.

Emily Bronte’s characterization has a repellent effect in Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is

the main protagonist of the novel, thus the whole book is centered around a vengeful, vile

character. His wife, Edgar’s sister, Isabella, describes his nasty character after learning his true

intentions of marrying her to spite Edgar, “ He is ingenious and unresting in seeking to gain my

abhorrence! I sometimes wonder at him with the an intensity that deadens my fear: yet, I assure

you, a tiger or a venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me equal to which he wakens”

(Bronte, Emily. 144). Heathcliff is overwhelmingly cruel, and the reader cannot bear to follow

his foolish quest for revenge and eternal conflict of love overtaken by hate, which drives the

entire plot. As terrible as Heathcliff is, the reader is even more infuriated by Catherine, the other

protagonist who is not worth avenging. Catherine explains her shallow reasoning as to why she

chose to marry Edgar Linton instead of Heathcliff, “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” (80). Losing Catherine is the sole cause of Heathcliff’s distress that

drives his ploy for vengeance. Heathcliff and Catherine surely deserve each other because they

are both mischievous wicked people, but Catherine rejected Heathcliff on her own accord, she

inflicted his pain, no one else did, so it is infuriating for the reader to watch Heathcliff destroy

the lives of innocent people in avenge for the prissy love of his life. Perhaps the only character

left for the reader to route for is the third member of the love triangle, Edgar Linton, but the

reader watches him grow from a spoiled brat to a soft, impotent man. When Edgar tries to throw

Heathcliff out of his house for scheming with Catherine he becomes scared of the bigger and

broader Heathcliff and tries to back down and call for help but Catherine disgraces him saying,

“If you have not courage to attack him, make an apology, or allow yourself to be beaten. It will

will correct you of feigning more valour than you posses” (114). Edgar very well could have

prevented a lot of conflicts throughout the novel, considering he was the only one alive with

power to do anything but he never took an action against Heathcliff. For that, the reader can’t

help but to put partial blame on Edgar for all the misery inflicted on the second generation,

including his daughter, Heathcliff’s son, and Hindley’s son. Bronte’s unlikable characterization

makes the novel tiresome to read.

The plot of Wuthering Heights can be seen as excessive and confusing. There are

essentially three sub stories that take place in the novel that tie together to form one big story.

The first being the plot of Mr. Lockwood. In the beginning of the novel he arrives at Wuthering

heights saying, “ Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as soon

as possible after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you my

perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross Grange” (3). The presence of Mr.

Lockwood in the novel interrupts the plot, his only purpose is to reflect on the story that he is

being told and chimes in from time to time to remind the reader that he is still there. The author’s

choice to follow his plot line as he observes the story, leaves england, then comes back to hear

more of the story, seems like an unnecessary and excessive measure for the reader. The second

plot line is Nelly Dean’s account of the early life of Mr. Heathcliff and the events that led him to

his quest for revenge, up until Catherine’s death. Nelley recounts Heathcliff’s childhood, “He

seemed a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley’s

blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in breath and

open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident, and nobody was to blame” (38). While this

part of the plot is essential, Heathcliff’s biography is presented in a sequence of different events,

that forces the reader to piece together what is happening and how it falls in line with

Heathcliff’s agenda.The third plot line begins to merge with the present time at the beginning of

the novel and parallels that of the second plot line, it is essentially the same story except with the

second generation. Heathcliff tells Nelly of the new addition to his revenge plot, that will

complete his plan to acquire Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, “ My design is as

honest as possible. I’ll inform you of it whole scope, he said. That the two cousins may fall in

love, and get married. I’m acting generously to your master: his young chit has no expectations,

and should she second my wishes she’ll be provided for at once as joint successor with Linton’

(210). The reader has already read through one part of Heathcliff’s revenge agenda and gone

through the tiresome love triangle, now the author wishes to repeat the same story with

Heathcliff’s son, Linton, representing Edgar; Edgar and Catherine’s daughter, also named

Catherine, representing the older Catherine; and Hindley’s son, Hareton, representing Heathcliff;

as Heathcliff torments him after his father’s death by reducing him to the status of a servant and

stopping his education. The entirety of this plot, makes Wuthering Heights tedious to read and

takes a step back in the direction of the plot, considering the second generation represents the

first generation and the reader has already seen how they all self-destructed.

Emily Bronte’s choice of point of view in Wuthering Heights is unreliable and biased.

The primary narrator is Mr.Lockwood but he inquires Nelly Dean to tell him a story that he

interprets and writes down in his diary, “Well Mrs. Dean, it will be a charitable deed to tell me

something of my neighbours: I feel I shall not rest if I go to bed; so be good enough to sit and

chat an hour” (35). Ultimately, what the reader has in front of them, is the account of a nosy

house guest’s account of a gossiping housekeeper’s account of a person’s life. Upon arrival Mr.

Lockwood was infatuated with residents of Wuthering Heights and Nelly was not slow to

confess all she knows about them to a stranger, as far as character goes they are not the best

candidates. In fact, on occasion, Nelly tries to defend her questionable actions throughout the

tail, “Was it right or wrong? I fear it was wrong, though expedient. I thought I prevented another

explosion by my compliance…”(152). Nelly is not a detached narrator, she is just as involved in

the story as any other character, if not more involved because she interacts with every character

when the other characters are not on speaking terms with one another. The reader cannot not

trust Nelly because she adds creative interpretations to the scene by commenting on her actions

and other characters’ actions. Likewise, the reader cannot trust Mr. Lockwood because he’s

shown to have ulterior motives in knowledge of the story. Lockwood is particularly fond of

young Catherine who is a current resident of Wuthering Heights when he visits, he even says, “It

may be very possible that I should love her; but should she love me? (247). Lockwood’s diary

serves as a median between Nelly’s story and the reader, he has shown a liking to young

Catherine, so he could be making her seem more likable throughout the story even though she is

described to carry the same characteristics as he her mother, older Catherine. Thus, both Nelly

and Lockwood present a biassed, untrustworthy account of Wuthering Heights.

Emily Bronte’s unlikable characters, complex plot, and unreliable point of view make

Wuthering Heights a deplorable novel. The book forces the reader to come to terms with the

destructiveness of love and the true nature of the wickedness of man. Readers may enjoy dark

novels but they should certainly cross Wuthering Heights off their pick up list.