Discussion of Wuthering Heights

[anu_]

I was supposed to read Wuthering Heights as a part of my Masters degree. But, when I found that Emily Bronte had written under a pseudonym to protect her identity and save herself to be branded as an unwomanly writer, I was put off. I did not want to read an author, who could not owe upto her own work. However, last year, I read her novel and was left mesmerized. I simply loved the first few pages, wherein she created a suspense around the Wuthering Heights as a haunted place, and introduced Catherine and Heathcliff in a secretive manner, when Mr. Lockwood experiences a chilling encounter with them on a dreaded night.

Though, as the novel progressed, it was clear that the real ghost of the story resides in the minds of its protagonists. With Catherine's obsession and Heathcliff's frustration, the story does become slightly dark and I found it a bit depressing. But, still Heathcliff managed to garner my sympathies, particularly during his childhood, as an orphan, who knows he is a burden on the family, but has to find his place in it. In my view, his haughtiness is a product of years of inferiority complex drilled into his mind by the neglect of Mrs. Earnshaw and her son. However, his soft side was all too evident when he broke down at Catherine's grave. Probably, unrequited love makes people strange, and for Heathcliff, his life was nothing but a steady stream of broken relationships.

Heathcliff, being the illegitimate son of Mr Earnshaw, does seem an interesting possibility for Mrs. Earnshaw's cold attitude towards a small, innocent boy. Though, I believe, that Mrs. Earnshaw hated him, as she viewed him as a possible future rival for her son.

[utopiadream]

I came across Emily Brunte's work Wuthering Heights in my MBA Literature curriculum and I must say I enjoyed it, one of the best female writers that I've read..

[apeman]

Along with Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights is my favourite Victorian novel. Agreed the love is spiritual rather than physical and Heathcliff is a creature of darkness who is far from realistic. This 'novel' belongs in Northrop Frye's category of Romance, where the characters tend to inhabit a poetic-mystical world rather than the traditional domestic world of the novel proper. I think it was David Cecil who called Heathcliff 'a demon lover demon over the border (He didn't mean Scotland!). My favourite line is Heathcliff's dismissal of the bourgeois Linton: 'Edgar Linton, I'm mortally sorry you're not worth knocking down.'

[Francine]

Hello
Thanks for provide me information about Wuthering Heights because this will help me.
Regards
Francine

[mouseofcards89]

Bronte was a bright, captivating woman whose portrait of Heathcliff caused me to feel as though I were staring into a dark mirror. She is one of the few writers with whom I have ever wanted to speak. I get the impression that she was a pensive, sensitive soul who was trapped in a chrysalis and grew to like it. Heathcliff was a foundation for her. She has been dead for 170 years, but I know her better than I do most of my contemporaries. This is a hallmark of great literature.

[Morpheus]

This is a great book. It's a classic of English literature.

[theboss]

I really enjoyed the information shared here. This is my first time reading Wuthering Heights and it's an interesting book so far and I am enjoying it. It has a very complex plot with all the family connections and that is why I like it.