Wuthering Heights

It's tempting to want to diagnose Heathcliff—his character is a kind of perfect storm of psychopathologies. I think, however, that we miss the point of the book in trying to assign Heathcliff (or...

The question regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights is a subjective one. What this means is that different readers will find different strengths and...

Cathy Earnshaw was once a headstrong child, and that is undeniable. When we analyze her at age six, we see a child with a clear knowledge of her background and rank. She is especially aware that...

Christmas Eve marks the return of Catherine Earnshaw to Wuthering Heights, and she returns a much changed girl. In her absence, Hindley has succeeded in relegating Heathcliff to the status of a...

Two examples in the text of Wuthering Heights that show that Nelly is reading Isabella's letter to Mr. Lockwood are in Chapters 13 and 14. In Chapter 13 Nelly tells Lockwood about a note Isabella...

The type of narrative used in Wuthering Heights is called a "frame story". This is a very old type of narrative structure dating back to "One Thousand and One Arabian Nights". This technique allows...

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a rather atypical Victorian novel set on the Yorkshire moors of England. The conditions there are harsh and unforgiving. One of the two primary settings in the...

In Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, the two manor houses are symbolic of everything that is wrong with Heathcliff's life, and so will drive him fanatically to get what he does not have, but...

Nelly and Mr. Lockwood are both characters and narrators in this novel. Nelly has a unique perspective as a narrator, however, because she has been an eye witness to most of the events and provides...

I agree that Heathcliff is a dark character, by which I mean he is horribly tormented by his past, but I do not agree that he is evil. He is a classic case of a character more sinned against than...

"Wuthering Heights" opens with the new tenant, Mr. Lockwood, arriving on a tempestuous night at the home Heathcliff. The location, Lockwood states, is a perfect misanthopist's Heaven: and Mr....

In chapter 30 of Wuthering Heights the relationship between Zilla and Cathy is mutually contemptuous, with both parties having perhaps genuine reasons to dislike one another. Nelly explains that...

Wuthering Heights is a dramatic account of events that, when retold, are so intense, they seem real and current - not historical. Nelly Dean tells much of the story - as she sees it - to Mr...

In the novel Wuthering Heights, Edgar Linton does love Catherine, yet he can never truly have her love because they do not share the passion she has with Heathcliff. Catherine will always be in...

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In "Wuthering Heights" while Edgar Linton, cousin of Catherine, has the traditional husband/wife relationship of their society, the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff is completely...

The first time we meet Hareton Earnshaw is in Chapter Two, when Lockwood decides to take his second ill-advised visit to Wuthering Heights. Let us remember that Hareton is the soon of Hindley...

In Chapter 33 of Wuthering Heights, after a violent conflict with young Catherine and Hareton, Heathcliff confides in Nelly that a strange change approaches as the two young people cause him much...

Heathcliff is an adopted son, brought back by the father from the streets of Liverpool. Hindley resents Heathcliff's intrusion into the life of the family and, more than that, is bitter and angry...

Bronte wants the reader to see Lockwood by the end of the first chapter as a bit of a fool who doesn't read situations clearly but projects on to them his own desires. He, for example, thinks of...

There seems to be two things that this chapter could foreshadow. First, and most significantly, it foreshadows the scenes at the end of the novel in which Heathcliff wanders the moors, supposedly...

Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange both reflect the characters of their principal inhabitants, one group tough and hard, the other soft and effete. Wuthering Heights, built in 1500, is a...

For context, you should think of Romanticism as a broad movement spanning literature, art, music etc., and then consider how this particular novel fits into the overall cultural picture of the late...

In Wuthering Heights, Nelly has worked for the families for many years. She is one of the main narrators of the story and has, over the years, felt sympathy for Heathcliff, trying to protect him...

Although Bronte's novel was published in 1847, the narrative takes place from 1771-1803 before England's Inheritance Act of 1834 and the Wills Act of 1837. According to one researcher, C. P....

Chapter three is pivotal chapter in the book. This is the chapter where Lockwood tries to spend the night in the crazy old fashioned bed that had been Catherine’s, sees her carvings in the window...

Nelly is angry at Catherine. She thinks Catherine is acting the part of a drama queen and pretending to be sick to manipulate Edgar. However, Nelly is quite wrong. Catherine genuinely is very ill....

Here are the 6 topics that I include on my essay test: 1. Investigate the character of Nelly (Or Ellen Dean). Why does Bronte choose Nelly for the main narrator? She is painfully silent at...

Much has been written about the narrative technique of this outstanding novel, and in particular the Gothic characteristics that it employs. Firstly, let us note that a framing narrative is used,...

A tragic hero has several characteristics which Heathcliff clearly demonstrates. For example, a tragic hero has a tragic flaw, which is one fundamental flaw in his or her character which, more than...

The first thing to consider is that the Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901, in the second longest reign in English history, only recently surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II. This was a period of...

Well, I guess that depends primarily on whether you think that Heathcliff is a character that should be defended or not. This is rather a large question, and it seems to be related to the idea of...

The structure of Wuthering Heights is quite complicated. It's natural to think about "duality" as a way of reducing this complexity, but it is a crude method, which will leave unexamined much of...

I think it is safe to say that Catherine's marriage to Linton was a source of friction for Heathcliff! And it is not simply because he was dumped. Catherine's marriage amounted to a betrayal of...

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a Victorian novel, which traditionally contains characters who lead a hard and difficult life in nearly every way and are then redeemed in the end by hard work...

Redscar has given you a terrific outline of the characters in this novel. The only thing I might add is this: not all characters in fiction are considered "main characters". Characters have...

Catherine Earnshaw is the heroine of Wuthering Heights, even though she dies about halfway through the novel. Catherine is the daughter of old Mr. Earnshaw, who adopts Heathcliff and brings him...

When Linton insults him when they are still children, Heathcliff tells Nelly clearly about his plans for revenge: "I am trying to be settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don't care how long...

"Tragedy" is one of the most difficult terms in literary criticism to apply to a text outside of drama. Most students are aware that the word should not be used colloquially in an English class to...

The short answer is both. Heathcliff no doubt has bad intentions for Hindley and the Lintons, but at this point, the reader still keenly remembers the wrongs Heathcliff has suffered that brought...

Hindley begins to treat Heathcliff abominably - "his treatment of (Heathcliff) (is) enough to make a fiend of a saint". Hindley takes from Heathcliff the opportunity to continue...

Bronte adds elements of the Gothic in this love story as the couple appears reunited at the close of the work. The darkness of the setting heightens the scene when the little boy sees the couple as...

Near the end of Chapter Two of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood has entreats the master of the miserable house to provide him with a guide to show him the way back since the weather...

Probably Earnshaw's preference of Heathcliff is a reflection of the state of England during the mid-1800's. Working conditions in the factories of the newly industrialized nation were horrific,...

The English Victorian Age was the result of hundreds of years of a society living in class conflict. Lands, inherited money, and title were everything in the eyes of the law and society. If a man...

Heathcliff: The English heath moors were considered a wild, haunted, unforgivable and untamable landscape, and that fits very well with Heathcliff's character.Lockwood: one of the two narrators...

On the contrary, it appears that the news caused Heathcliff to greatly clarify what he wanted to do. There is no sense that he became mad or insane. Actually, if we look at what he tells Catherine...

Wuthering Heights most certainly fits the bill as a classic example of gothic literature. Gothic literature is well known for its surreal blend of fiction and horror, with plot points relating to...

The two houses in Wuthering Heights are the Earnshaws' rugged sixteenth-century farm, called Wuthering Heights, and the Linton's more gracious and modern home, Thrushcross Grange. Each house...

The wild moors that surround Wuthering Heights represent freedom for the young Catherine and Heathcliff. The two grow up, especially after old Mr. Earnsahw dies, in a dysfunctional and violent...