Wuthering+Heights

=** ​ Title of Work**= //Wuthering Heights//

=Author= Emily Bronte

=Nationality/Ethnic Background=

Victorian English

= = =Genre and Sub-genres=

Gothic fiction

=Pertinent Biographical Information=

Emily Bronte was born in Yorkshire on 30 July 1818, the middle child of the three Bronte sisters, Charlotte and Anne her older and younger sister, respectively. Their mother died when they were very young, and the girls were raised by their eccentric, highly religious aunt, who is often thought to be the template for Joseph, a highly Pharisaical character in //Wuthering Heights//. The Bronte girls were all talented and creative writers, as all of them ended up renowned authors. Emily Bronte published her adult works under a masculine pen name, Ellis Bell, as female Victorian authors were not taken as seriously as their male counterparts regardless of talent.

She published //Wuthering Heights//, her first and only novel, in 1847 when she was twenty-nine years old. It received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, but the novel subsequently became a literary classic.

Bronte died of tuberculosis -- her health was said to be compromised by the harsh climate of home and school -- on 19 December 1848.

=Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background= Romanticism- It was the literary movement between 1798 and 1832. It featured a lot of interest in nature and had an emphasis on the individual, allowing for rebellion against social expectations. =Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts=
 * **Heathcliff** -- an orphaned gypsy boy taken in as a child by Mr. Earnshaw, who favors the boy, oftentimes over his own children. Heathcliff falls deeply in love with Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine. They have an emotionally abusive, though passionate relationship. They love one another very deeply, yet they hurt each other just as much. Heathcliff ends up in a loveless, abusive marriage with the naive Isabella Linton and has a son by her.


 * **Catherine Linton (nee Earnshaw) --** A wealthy young woman, Catherine is beautiful, spoiled, free-spirited, and emotionally volatile. She grows from a wild young girl to a socially aware young lady. She quickly forms a strong friendship with Heathcliff and falls deeply in love with him. However, her ambition and desire for social advancement causes her to marry not Heathcliff, but Edgar Linton, whom she claims to love, but not in the same way that she loves Heathcliff. Her love for Edgar is conditional, dependent upon his looks, money, and adoration of Catherine; while her love for Heathcliff is truly unconditional.


 * **Edgar Linton** -- a man who grew up with money, was taught well, and is very spoiled. He is the foil to Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Catherine is drawn to Edgar because of his money. Despite the fact that Edgar is handsome, cheerful, and rich he cannot gain the love off his wife, Catherine, who is truly in love with Heathcliff.


 * **Nelly** -- is the Earnshaws' servant and narrator of most of the book. She is good-natured, down-to-earth, and quite insightful, acting as the reader's guide throughout the story. Nelly being on of the characters in Wuthering heights shares a biased opinion of the events around her. Throughout the novel she hints at her love for Hindley Earnshaw. Since she shares grew up with most of the characters nad carries a bias her narration is complicated.


 * **Hindley -** is Catherine's older brother and the son of Earnest Earnshaw. Hindley hates Heathcliff for coming to live with him. Once their father dies Hindley inherits the estate and tortures heathcliff. he makes him quite school and work. When Hindley's wife, Frances, dies he turns to alcohol.


 * **Joseph -** is an old servant at the Earnshaws. He is a religious fanatic who was sure that everyone around him was going to spend eternity in damnation. Joseph constantly scolds his fellow characters.


 * **Mr. Lockwood -** is the addtional narator of the novel. He lacks the vision that Nelly does and is seen to be close minded. Lockwood and Nelly give different aspects of the novel giving the reader nore information and most of the story.

=Brief Plot Summary= A man named Lockwood comes to rent the Grange and, while staying there, meets a mand named Heathcliff. He finds out that Heathcliff used to be in love with a woman named Catherine. His curiousity gets the better of him and he asks Nelly to tell him their love story. Nelly tells the whole story, starting off with when Mr. Earnshaw returned to his family with a little boy (Heathcliff). While he is at first shunned, Catheine (Mr Earnshaw's daughter) grows to love him. They become inseperable. However, when they go to the Grange one night to play a trick on the Lintons, Catherine gets bitten by a dog and is forced to stay at the Grange for five weeks as she recovers. When she returns, she has become a proper young lady and is infatuated with the Linton's son, Edgar. This leads to problems between Heathcliff and Catherine. She becomes engaged to Edgar and Heathcliff runs away from home, not coming back until three years later. He seeks revenge when he returns and, with skillful manipulation, inherits Wuthering Heights. He also marries Isabella Linton as a way to possibly inherit the Grange. In the process, Catherine gets ill, has a baby, and dies. This affects Heathcliff greatly and he begs Catherine's spirit to haunt him so that she won't leave him. Still married to Heathcliff, Isabella has a baby and flees to London, leaving Heathcliff alone. Catherine's daughter, also named Catherine, grows up and, one day, while walking through the moors, discovers Wuthering Heights and Hareton. Later, Isabella dies and young Linton has to come with Heathcliff, who is very mean to his son. Catherine and Linton soon start up a romance, which they keep private. However, it is soon discovered that Heathcliff is forcing Linton to pursue Catherine in the hopes that he will finally inherit the Grange. Heathcliff kidnaps Catherine and forces her to marry Linton. Edgar Linton, Catherine's father, soon dies, followed close behind by Linton. Heathcliff now owns the Grange. He forces Catherine to be a servant at Wuthering Heights and he rents the Grange to Lockwood. This leads the story to the present. Catherine, while living at Wuthering Heights, falls in love with Hareton. As Heathcliff ages, he starts going crazy and talking to Catherine. He finally dies, leaving Catherine and Hareton to inherit both manors as they plan to get married.

=Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance= Doubles (motif)- Bronte uses several images to show total difference. Wuthering Heights and the Grange are right down the road from one another, but what happens in those houses are completely different. Heights is complete madness on the inside. The Grange is very proper and perfect. They are used as examples of what is right (Wuthering Heights is where Heathcliff is) or what is accepted (Linton is a better suitor for Catherine according to society). Repitition of Time (motif)- Time skips a lot in the book. It goes back and forth when Lockwood is hearing to the story to when the story is actually happening. It makes it seem that the present Wuthering Heights never moved on from the past Wuthering Heights. Also, since Heathcliff and Catherine originally didn't work out, when their children get together, it is as if the children are repeating time until they fix what their parents didn't accomplish, showing that true love cannot be stopped. Pressures of the Culture (motif)- Catherine has to face the pressure of culture after staying with the Lintons. She had to pretend to be proper around them after staying with them. That made her a different person around Heathcliff sometimes because Heathcliff wasn't allowed to be around the Lintons since he was considered an outcast among society. The pressures of culture ultimately drew a wedge between her and Heathcliff. Ghost (symbol)- In Chapter 3, Catherine has her ghost appear to Lockwood. This is what initially got Lockwood interested in Catherine and Heathcliff's love story. She came to him as a nightmare, but then sparked the obsession that Lockwood then devoloped on discovering the story behind the love. Also, when Heathcliff dies, the people from the nearby town spread rumors that they are seeing Heathcliff's ghost. The ghost in the story can symbolize the ghost of Catherine and Heathcliff's love that could linger for their children. Moors (symbol)- Catherine and Heathcliff often snuck out to play in the moors. Also, when Heathcliff had to leave when the Lintons came over, he would escape to the moors. The moors were used a symbol because moors are land that can't be lived on. They aren't occupied, which is why it was a symbol for Catherine and Heathcliff's love. It was there, but couldn't be acted upon. =Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events)= "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. 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." - Catheirne tslking to Nelly about this is the turning point in the plot. Heathcliff overhears Catherine saying that it would degrade her to marry him and he decides to leave Wuthering Heights. Most the characters of this novel find peace in their place in society. each person tries to move up in the social rankings. twhich is what Catherine wants to do by marrying Edgar. By stating that her an Edgar are one in the same shows their passion for one another but ultimately leads to their demise.

"'And I pray one prayer--I repeat it till my tongue stiffens--Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered DO haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! only DO not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I CANNOT live without my life! I CANNOT live without my soul!'" - This quote is Heathcliff's last hope to be forever with Catherine. He begins in anger but end in sadness and pleading .

=Major Themes= The destructive nature of passion Love is uncontrollable.