Information about Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Title page of the first edition
Author	Emily Brontë
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Thomas Cautley Newby
Publication date	1847
Media type	Print (Hardback)
ISBN	NA

Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte. The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres. (As an adjective, wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather.). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys both themselves and many around them.

Now considered a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights's innovative structure, which has been likened to a series of Matryoshka dolls, met with mixed reviews by critics when it first appeared.^[1][2] Though Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was originally considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works, many subsequent critics of Wuthering Heights argued that its originality and achievement made it superior.^[3] Wuthering Heights has also given rise to many adaptations and inspired works, including films, radio, television dramatisations, musicals and songs (notably the hit Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush), ballet and opera.

Plot summary

The narrative is non-linear, involving several flashbacks, and involves two narrators – Mr Lockwood and Nelly Dean. The novel opens in 1801, with Lockwood arriving at Thrushcross Grange, a grand house on the Yorkshire moors he is renting from the surly Heathcliff, who lives at nearby Wuthering Heights. Lockwood spends the night at Wuthering Heights and has a terrifying dream: the ghost of Catherine Linton, pleading to be admitted to the house from outside. Intrigued, Lockwood asks the housekeeper Nelly Dean to tell the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights.

Nelly takes over the narration and begins her story thirty years earlier, when Heathcliff, a foundling living on the streets of Liverpool, is brought to Wuthering Heights by the then-owner, Mr. Earnshaw and raised as his own. Earnshaw's daughter Catherine becomes Heathcliff's inseparable friend. Her brother Hindley, however, resents Heathcliff, seeing him as an interloper and rival. Earnshaw dies three years later, and Hindley (who has married a woman named Frances) takes over the estate. He brutalizes Heathcliff, forcing him to work as a hired hand. Catherine becomes friends with a neighbour family, the Lintons of Thrushcross Grange, who mellow her initially wild personality. She is especially attached to the refined and mild young Edgar Linton, whom Heathcliff instantaneously dislikes.

A year later, Hindley's wife dies, apparently of consumption, shortly after giving birth to a son, Hareton; Hindley takes to drink. Some two years after that, Catherine agrees to marry Edgar. Nelly knows that this will crush Heathcliff, and Heathcliff overhears Catherine's explanation that it would be "degrading" to marry him. Heathcliff storms out and leaves Wuthering Heights, not hearing Catherine's continuing declarations that Heathcliff is as much a part of her as the rocks are to the earth beneath. Catherine marries Edgar, and is initially very happy. Some time later, Heathcliff returns, intent on destroying those who prevent him from being with Catherine. He has, mysteriously, become very wealthy, and has duped Hindley into making him the heir to Wuthering Heights. Intent on ruining Edgar, Heathcliff elopes with Edgar's sister Isabella, which places him in a position to inherit Thrushcross Grange upon Edgar's death.

Catherine becomes very ill after Heathcliff's return and dies a few hours after giving birth to a daughter also named Catherine, or Cathy. Heathcliff becomes only more bitter and vengeful. Isabella flees her abusive marriage a month later, and subsequently gives birth to a boy, Linton. At around the same time, Hindley dies. Heathcliff takes ownership of Wuthering Heights, and vows to raise Hindley's son Hareton with as much neglect as he had suffered at Hindley's hands years earlier.

Twelve years later, the dying Isabella asks Edgar to raise her and Heathcliff's son, Linton. However, Heathcliff finds out about this and takes the sickly, spoiled child to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff has nothing but contempt for his son, but delights in the idea of him ruling the property of his enemies. To that end, a few years later, Heathcliff attempts to persuade young Cathy to marry Linton. Cathy refuses, so Heathcliff kidnaps her and forces the two to marry. Soon after, Edgar Linton dies, followed shortly by Linton. This leaves Cathy a widow and a virtual prisoner at Wuthering Heights, as Heathcliff has gained complete control of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. It is at this point in the narrative that Lockwood arrives, taking possession of Thrushcross Grange, and hearing Nelly Dean's story. Shocked, Lockwood leaves for London.

During his absence from the area, however, events reach a climax; Cathy gradually softens toward her rough, uneducated cousin Hareton, just as her mother grew tender towards Heathcliff. When Heathcliff realizes that Cathy and Hareton are in love, he abandons his life-long vendetta. He dies broken and tormented, and Catherine and Hareton marry. Heathcliff is buried next to Catherine (the elder), and the story concludes with Lockwood visiting the grave, unsure of what to feel.

Characters

Heathcliff is the central male character of the novel. An orphaned foundling raised by the Earnshaw family, he forms an early bond with his foster sister Catherine Earnshaw, and falls passionately in love with her as they grow. Meanwhile he nurses a bitter rivalry with his foster brother Hindley, who resents the attention their father shows Heathcliff. A brooding, vindictive man, his anger and bitterness at Catherine's later marriage to their neighbor Edgar Linton sees him engage in a ruthless vendetta to destroy not only his enemies but their heirs, a crusade that only intensifies upon Catherine's death.

Catherine Earnshaw is Heathcliff's adoptive sister. A free-spirited and somewhat spoiled young woman, she returns Heathcliff's love utterly, but considers him too far beneath her for marriage; instead choosing another childhood friend, Edgar Linton. Later, after Heathcliff's return, she acknowledges to both men that Heathcliff is her true love. However her physical and mental health is destroyed by the feud between them, and she descends into prophetic madness before dying during childbirth.

Edgar Linton is a childhood friend of Catherine Earnshaw's, who later marries her. A mild and gentle man, if slightly cold, cowardly and distant, he loves Catherine deeply but is unable to reconcile his love for her with her feelings for her childhood friend. This leads to a bitter antagonism with Heathcliff, and it is partly this which leads to Catherine's mental breakdown and death. Linton is incapable of competing with Heathcliff's guile and ruthless determination across the decades, and his health fails him while still a relatively young man.

Isabella Linton is the younger sister of Edgar who becomes infatuated with Heathcliff. She fundamentally mistakes his true nature and elopes with him despite his apparent dislike of her. Her love for him turns to hatred almost immediately, as she is ill treated both physically and emotionally and held captive against her will. Eventually she escapes, leaves for London and gives birth to their son Linton Heathcliff, whom she attempts to raise away from Heathcliff's corrupting influence.

Hindley Earnshaw is Catherine's brother and Heathcliff's other rival. Having loathed Heathcliff since childhood, Hindley delights in turning him into a downtrodden servant upon inheriting Wuthering Heights. However, his wife's death in childbirth destroys him; he becomes a self-destructive alcoholic and gambler and it is this that allows Heathcliff, upon returning to Wuthering Heights, to turn the tables and to maneuver the family property away from him.

Nelly Dean is, at various points, the housekeeper of both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, and is one of the two narrators of the novel. Having been a disapproving witness and unwilling participant to many of the events between Heathcliff and both the Earnshaw and Linton families for much of her life, she narrates the story to Lockwood during his illness.

Linton Heathcliff is the son of Isabella and Heathcliff. He bears no resemblance to Heathcliff and takes after his mother. He is a sickly child who grows up ignorant of his father until his mother's death, when he is thirteen years old. He is forced to live at Wuthering Heights and grows into a bullied, trembling shadow of his father. Heathcliff arranges for him to marry his cousin Catherine Linton so that he may inherit both the estates of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. He dies shortly after entering into the forced marriage.

Catherine Linton is the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton. She inherits both her mother's free-spiritedness and dark eyes and her father's gentle nature, facial features and fair hair. Heathcliff takes advantage of her fundamentally pure nature and manipulates her into marrying his own son, Linton. Once she has become another captive of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff resorts to the same torture he applies to everyone against whom he bears a grudge. As a result, she regards him with contempt and disgust and becomes silent and morose. She later falls in love with her cousin, Hareton Earnshaw.

Hareton Earnshaw is the son of Hindley Earnshaw, who is adopted by Heathcliff upon Hindley's death. Even before this, he has waged a campaign of torment against the young man while living together at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff spitefully turns Hareton into a downtrodden, illiterate servant, much as Hindley once did to him. Despite this, Hareton remains strangely loyal to him, even adopting a superficially similar personality. Quick tempered and easily embarrassed, he falls in love with Catherine at an early point, and despite her contempt for him is thus inspired to improve himself. He bears a strong likeness to his aunt and is the only person who mourns Heathcliff upon his death.

Joseph is a servant of the Earnshaws and later Heathcliff. A bullying, lazy and snide man, he hates Heathcliff but is somehow bound to be his servant. Intensely religious, he is sanctimonious, self-righteous and largely held in contempt by those around him. He speaks in a thick Yorkshire brogue.

Lockwood is the other narrator of the novel. A recently-arrived tenant at Thrushcross Grange at the beginning of the novel, he is intrigued by the curious goings-on at Wuthering Heights, and persuades Nelly Dean to tell him the story of what happened during a bout of sickness. Lockwood is apaprently a wealthy, relatively young man who comes to regret not approaching the younger Catherine Linton himself. Despite displaying many self-centred attributes, he is also a sensitive and romantic soul who is deeply affected by the saga of Heathcliff and Catherine.

Timeline

1757	Hindley born (Summer); Nelly born
1762	Edgar Linton born
1764	Heathcliff born
1765	Catherine Earnshaw born (Summer); Isabella Linton born (late 1765)
1771	Heathcliff is brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr Earnshaw (late summer)
1773	Mrs Earnshaw dies (Spring)
1774	Hindley is sent off to college
1777	Hindley marries Frances; Mr Earnshaw dies (October); Hindley comes back (October); Heathcliff and Catherine visit Thrushcross Grange, Catherine remains behind (November), then returns to Wuthering Heights (Christmas Eve).
1778	Hareton is born (June); Frances dies (autumn or winter)
1780	Heathcliff runs away from Wuthering Heights; Mr and Mrs Linton both die
1783	Catherine marries Edgar (March); Heathcliff comes back (September)
1784	Heathcliff marries Isabella (February); Catherine dies and Cathy is born (20 March); Hindley dies; Linton Heathcliff is born (September)
1797	Isabella dies; Cathy visits Wuthering Heights and meets Hareton; Linton is brought to Thrushcross Grange and is then taken to Wuthering Heights
1800	Cathy meets Heathcliff and sees Linton again (20 March)
1801	Cathy and Linton are married (August); Edgar dies (August); Linton dies (September); Mr Lockwood goes to Thrushcross Grange and visits Wuthering Heights, beginning his narrative
1802	Mr Lockwood goes back to London (January); Heathcliff dies (April); Mr Lockwood comes back to Thrushcross Grange (September)
1803	Cathy plans to marry Hareton (1 January)

Local Background

Though tourists are often told that Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse, near the Haworth parsonage, is the model for Wuthering Heights, it seems more likely that the now demolished High Sunderland Hall, near Halifax was the partial model for the building. This Gothic edifice, near Law Hill, where Emily worked briefly as a schoolmistress in 1838, had grotesque embellishments of griffins and misshapen nude men similar to those described by Lockwood of Wuthering Heights in chapter one of the novel:

"Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantity of grotesque carving lavished over the front, and especially about the principal door, above which, among a wilderness of crumbling griffins and shameless little boys, I detected the date "1500"".

The originals of Thrushcross Grange have been traditionally connected to Ponden Hall near Haworth (although it is far too small) and, more likely, Shibden Hall, near Halifax.^[4][5] A feud centred around Walterclough Hall is also said to have been one inspiration for the story along with the story of Emily's grandfather, Hugh Brunty.

Literary allusions

Traditionally, this novel has been seen as a unique piece of work conceived in solitude by a genius confined to the lonesome heath, and as almost detached from the literary movements of the time. However, one may be surprised to learn from the Biographies that, besides Charlotte, also Emily (even though she kept up a somewhat monkish behaviour and returned to England sooner than Charlotte did) received some thorough literary training at the Pensionnat Héger in Brussels by imitating and analyzing the styles of classic writers, and also learned German. In this way, she could also read the German Romantics in the original, apart from Lord Byron, who was admired by all three sisters.

The brother-sister relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy (who are brought up together) is reminiscent of the brother-sister-couples in Byron's epics (together with the idea of a shared identity, as expressed in the famous "I am Heathcliff!"), with the role of the Byronic hero quite well-cast. There may still be a multitude of other influences yet uninvestigated, as, e.g., the scene of a woe-begone Catherine plucking feathers from the sofa-cushion and naming the birds they once belonged to evokes Ophelia handing out her various flowers.

Gothic and supernatural elements

The novel contains many Gothic and supernatural elements although the true nature of the latter is always ambiguous. The mystery of Heathcliff's parentage is never solved: described by Hindley as an 'imp of Satan' in chapter four, by the end of the novel Nelly Dean is entertaining notions that Heathcliff may be some hideous ghoul or vampire. The awesome but unseen presence of Satan is also alluded to at several points in the novel and it is noted in chapter three that 'no clergyman will undertake the duties of pastor', at the local chapel, which has fallen into dereliction.

Ghosts also feature: at the beginning of the novel, Lockwood has a horrible vision of Catherine (the elder) as a child, appearing at the window of her old chamber at Wuthering Heights, begging to be allowed in; not only does Heathcliff, on hearing of this, lend it credence, but when he dies it is noted that the window of his room was left open, raising the possibility that Catherine returned at the moment of his death. After Heathcliff dies, Nelly Dean reports that various superstitious locals have claimed to see Catherine and Heathcliff's ghosts roaming the moors, although in the closing line of the novel Lockwood discounts the idea of "unquiet slumbers for those sleepers in that quiet earth."

Allusions/references in literature

• In Albert Camus' essay "The Rebel", Heathcliff is compared to a leader of the rebel forces. Both are driven by a sort of madness: one by misguided love, the other by oppression. Camus juxtaposes the concept of Heathcliff's reaction to Cathy with the reaction of a disenchanted rebel to the ideal he once held.
• Maryse Condé's novel Windward Heights adapted Wuthering Heights to be set in Guadaloupe and Cuba.
• Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes both have poems titled "Wuthering Heights".
• Ann Carson wrote a poem titled "The Glass Essay" in which is woven multiple references to Wuthering Heights and the life of Emily Brontë.
• James Stoddard's novel The False House contains numerous references to Wuthering Heights.
• Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels often mention Heathcliff as the most tragic romantic hero.
• In the preface of his novel Le bleu du ciel, the French writer Georges Bataille states that, in his view, Wuthering Heights belongs to those rare works in literature written from an inner necessity.
• The opening line of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a reference to Nelly Dean and to the inset narrator used to recount the stories from both novels.
• Alice Hoffman's "Here On Earth" is a modern version of Wuthering Heights.
• Wuthering Heights is discussed in Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse by Bella and Edward and why Bella enjoys the story so much.
• The novel Glennkill by German writer Leonie Swann, published in 2005, is in some way centered around Emily Bronte's novel, and is perhaps the main reason why said novel is set in Ireland. The book, as we discover in the last pages, is being read to the sheep by the shepherd's daughter, and in a strange and dreamy way helps the main character of the novel, a sheep-detective called Miss Maple, to guess the identity of the murderer.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

• 1920: the earliest version of Wuthering Heights is filmed in England, directed by A.V. Bramble. It is unknown if any prints still exist.^[6]
• 1939: Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon as Catherine Linton, Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff, David Niven as Edgar Linton, Flora Robson as Ellen Dean, Donald Crisp as Dr. Kenneth, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Isabella Linton and Leo G. Carroll as Joseph Earnshaw. The film was adapted by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston. It was directed by William Wyler. The movie was nominated for the 1940 Academy Award for Best Picture. It did not depict the entire novel, portraying only half.
• In 1948 BBC Television staged a live 90-minute version of the novel. This was not recorded.
• A 1953 adaptation on BBC Television was scripted by Nigel Kneale, directed by Rudolph Cartier and starred Richard Todd as Heathcliff and Yvonne Mitchell as Catherine. This version does not survive in the BBC archives. According to Kneale, it was made simply because Todd had turned up at the BBC one day and said that he wanted to play Heathcliff for them; Kneale was forced to write the script in only a week as the adaptation was rushed into production.^[7]
• A 1954 (loose) Spanish-language adaptation filmed in Mexico by Luis Buñuel, titled Abismos de Pasión.
• In 1962, BBC Television screened a new production of their 1953 version. This was again produced by Rudolph Cartier and has been preserved in the archives. Kneale's adaptation concentrates on the first half of the novel, removing the second generation of Earnshaws and Lintons entirely. Claire Bloom played Catherine and Keith Michell was Heathcliff.^[8]
• 1970: Wuthering Heights starring Timothy Dalton as Heathcliff and Anna Calder-Marshall as Catherine (the elder). It does not cover the whole story.
• 1970: Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 episode # 15 featured a sketch "The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights", which had the actors communicating via semaphore flags.
• Egyptian television did a serialized version in the early 70's.
• 1978: Another BBC adaptation, directed by Peter Hammond and produced by Jonathan Powell, with screenplays by Hugh Leonard and David Snodin. Ken Hutchison plays Heathcliff and Kay Adshead plays Cathy. This adaptation covers the whole story, and has been reissued on DVD.
• 1985: French film adaptation Hurlevent by Jacques Rivette.
• 1987: Austrian drama adaptation Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen by Elfriede Jelinek.
• 1988: Japanese film.
• 1991: A Filipino film adaptation Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit, starring Richard Gómez and Dawn Zulueta. It was reprised in 2007 with an English title, The Promise, starring Richard Gutiérrez and Angel Locsín.
• 1992: Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights starring Juliette Binoche in two roles, Catherine Earnshaw and her daughter, and Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff.
• 1995 Adaptation for theatre by Gillian Hiscott published by J. Garnett Miller Ltd.(now Cressrelles)
• 1998: Adaptation by Neil McKay for London Weekend Television directed by David Skynner and starring Sarah Smart as Catherine (the younger, and Orla Brady as the elder Catherine) and Robert Cavanah as Heathcliff. Also broadcast by PBS television as part of Masterpiece Theatre.
• 2003: Wuthering Heights for MTV. It starred Erika Christensen, Mike Vogel, and Christopher Masterson.

New versions

In 2006 it was reported that a new film adaptation was in development, with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp presently attached to star, however, no further developments appear to have been forthcoming. M. Night Shyamalan was once offered the project to direct, but he turned it down to work on The Village, which he later revealed to be inspired partly by the novel.^[9]

ITV has commissioned a new remake, to be adapted by Blackpool writer Peter Bowker. The three-hour Bronte is expected to be broadcast in early 2008.^[10]

In 2007 Orchises Press of Alexandria, Virginia, published a facsimile of the first edition of 1847.

Musical allusions and adaptations

Opera

• Bernard Herrmann wrote an opera based on the novel in 1951. The libretto was by Lucille Fletcher, and it was first performed in London in 1966, with the composer conducting the Pro Arte Orchestra. It featured the soprano Morag Beaton in the role of Cathy, and the baritone Donald Bell as Heathcliff. It was subsequently recorded on Unicorn-Kanchana records.
• Carlisle Floyd also wrote an opera based on the novel in 1958.
• Bernard J. Taylor wrote a musical Wuthering Heights, recorded in 1992 as a concept album starring Lesley Garrett, Dave Willetts, Bonnie Langford and Clive Carter, and first performed in 1994. It has been translated into German, Romanian and Polish.^[11]
• The All-female Japanese opera company, Takarazuka Revue, has their own interpretation of the story, the musical drama is first performed in the 1970s and the most recently production is in 1998, starring Yōka Wao.

Other

• "Wuthering Heights" is a song by Kate Bush, which appears on her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside, and was also released as her debut single. It has been repeatedly covered by other artists, including Pat Benatar, on her 1980 album Crimes of Passion, the Brazilian power metal band Angra, on their 1993 album "Angels Cry", and Hayley Westenra, on her 2003 album Pure (Hayley Westenra album). The Puppini Sisters have released a swing version of the Kate Bush song, as have the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain.
• The title and cover art of the second 1976 album "Wind & Wuthering" by the British progressive rock group Genesis were inspired by the novel. It also includes two instrumental pieces titled "Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers..." and "...In That Quiet Earth", respectively, which are the last words in the novel.
• "Wuthering Heights" is a Danish heavy metal band.
• Song writer Michael Penn makes reference to Heathcliff in his song "No Myth".
• Song Cycle version of the novel using Emily Brontë poems as libretto.
• Wuthering Heights is produced as a play in the Japanese manga "Garasu no Kamen" by Suzue Miuchi, in which the young Cathy is played by fictional actress Maya Kitajima.
• In 2003, Japanese singer-songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka penned and released a b-side track on her maxi-single "Beautiful Fighter," which was entitled "嵐ヶ丘," a name taken from the Japanese translation of the title Wuthering Heights.
• In 2005, Japanese violinist Kawai Ikuko composed an instrumental piece of the same name. Its slightly more elaborate variation includes the subtitle, "Dear Heathcliff."
• Korean pop artist Eugene has a song entitled "Wuthering Heights" released in 2004.

External links

• Wuthering Heights, available at Project Gutenberg.
• Reader's Guide to Wuthering Heights
• Wuthering Heights voted UK's favourite love story, Guardian
• Map of Locations associated with Wuthering Heights and Emily Brontë

References