Heathcliff, an unruly orphan dripping with infernal metaphor, is adopted into a wealthy rural family in 1770. Later, he is stonewalled in his attempts to conduct a love affair with the daughter of the house, Catherine; a dream which dies with her in the middle of the book. He spends the remainder of the narrative pursuing a cold vendetta against all those who stood between their love, which includes almost every other character in the book, including people not born at the time.
He’s over-doing it a bit, isn’t he?
Imagine a heart as black as hell being introduced to love, and then having that love taken away with no hope of remission. All that’s left is a Catherine-shaped hole and nothing to fill it but twenty hard years of violent rage, undisguised bitterness, and a hatred so pure I feel like writing a poem about it. Through the worst cruelties, the skill of the writing puts you firmly on his side.
Wait. Who’s this? I thought she was dead?
Yeah. There’s one character with the first name of Linton, but half of the characters (not including him) have the last name Linton. Catherine has a daughter who is also called Catherine, so you’ll have to pay attention during the flashbacks. Although, given that 90% of the book is told through flashbacks, maybe you should just pay attention. If you’ve read Game Of Thrones and you still think that the family relationships in Wuthering Heights are too complicated, you should probably present yourself to the relevant authorities at first light.
What the hell is wrong with these people?
Clearly they’re all lunatics, but more than that, they’re unhappy. As Tolstoy said in the opening line of Anna Karenina: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.“ Wuthering Heights is a story of the unique ways in which two particular families were unhappy.
What should I say to make people think I’ve read it?
"I will never read Jane Austen again."
or if you feel like being laconic
"Cathy! Heathcliff! CATHY! HEATHCLIFF!”
What should I avoid saying when trying to convince people I’ve read it?
“So, do they do it or not?”
Should I actually read it?
Definitely. This is a beautifully written book, an extremely subtle depiction of extremely unsubtle emotions and events. It’s a book of stark opposites. It describes a godless world using heavy biblical imagery. It’s a love story about hate. Most of the high passion happens off-page, and one of the most disturbing things you will ever read is only hinted at obliquely.
Part of the fun of the book is that the people relating the events to the narrator don’t seem to quite “get” it, as if their tiny human brains would not be able to contain such mad love.
Monday morning was one of sudden changes in the weather, when drenching showers rushed across the sky chased by dazzling autumn sunshine, which lasted only a few minutes before it, too, fled away to the east, pursued by huge black clouds lit up from time to time by a beautiful rainbow.
Algy hopped up into the wee cherry tree by the feeder for his smaller fluffy friends, and revelled in a short-lived burst of golden light. This poor wee tree had struggled for many years to grow in the challenging local conditions, and it was rare that it held its leaves long enough for them to “turn”, but this year had been kinder than most, and Algy was delighted to see that for once it had a chance to display its glorious autumn colours.
From time to time a golden leaf fluttered to the ground as the wee birds stocked up on supplies to get them through the chilly autumn night, and somewhere, hidden in another tree behind Algy’s head, a robin who was evidently more concerned with higher things was singing his autumn refrain:
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree. I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night’s decay Ushers in a drearier day.
[The robin is singing the poem Fall, leaves, fall by the 19th century English author Emily Brontë.]
Keeper and Emily were devoted to one another, and the inhabitants of Haworth were well used to the sight of the dog and his mistress striding out together. Following Emily’s death, Keeper walked alongside the mourners at her funeral, following her coffin to the vault, and continued to make daily visits.
Collars were part of the legal obligation of the dog tax. Keeper’s reputation for ferocity was legendary in Haworth and his collar gives some indication of his size and power.
Jane Austen really said ‘I respect the “I can fix him” movement but that’s just not me. He’ll fix himself if knows what’s good for him’ and that’s why her works are still calling the shots today.
Meanwhile Emily Brönte just said “We can make each otherworse.”
Mary Shelley said, “I can make him
Charlotte Brontë said "he is the worst but I love him”.
Jane Austen really said ‘I respect the “I can fix him” movement but that’s just not me. He’ll fix himself if knows what’s good for him’ and that’s why her works are still calling the shots today.
Meanwhile Emily Brönte just said “We can make each otherworse.”
Happy 60th Birthday to Kate Bush, born on July 30, 1958. It’s also worth noting that today is Emily Brontë’s birthday, born in 1818. Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights is the inspiration of this song by Kate Bush of the same name.
Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same
If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.
