Nature or Nurture?: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

Throughout this book, I continually found myself struggling with the idea of Heathcliff being a villain of his own doing or simply a product of his environment. From the very beginning, Mr. Lockwood is not welcomed warmly, and thus begins our introduction to Heathcliff as the antagonist. Right off the bat, Heathcliff strikes the reader as odd, cold, and dark. The reader knows there is a story behind his demeanor, and the first few chapters set up the story beautifully. This theme of darkness is prevalent in the entire book– and Brontë gives us a taste of this darkness early on.

Because this book is primarily narrated by Nelly and Mr. Lockwood, it is through their descriptions and interactions that we get to know the main characters– only sometimes through personal revelations like letters. Lockwood from the get-go describes Heathcliff as “exaggeratedly reserved” (p. 3), and donning a “universal scowl” (p.9) He doesn’t present himself as very agreeable or even nice. He is rude to the stranger, Mr. Lockwood, and even laughs at his misfortune when Lockwood was attacked by Heathcliff’s dogs. But as I came to know more about Heathcliff, I found myself desperately trying to justify his actions. I almost began to advocate for his “rebellion”.

At first, he strongly reminded me of a young Harry Potter. He was rescued off the streets of Liverpool by Mr. Earnshaw, a fair and even man. However, his new family members did not take to him at all at first. They treated him as an outsider, lesser. Specifically Hindley, who made a habit of abusing Heathcliff out of jealousy of his father’s high regard. Heathcliff was brought to a strange place with strange new people who didn’t exactly treat him kindly. To me, this was their biggest mistake that led to all of their eventual demise. Upon reflection, I assumed Heathcliff was not an evil mastermind he was simply a product of his hostile environment. That he was a victim of a series of unfortunate events, class standing, and circumstance.

For example, Heathcliff fell in love with Catherine, but after Catherine had the misfortune of getting bitten at Thrushcross Grange and was forced to remain there for several months, and Edgar began to court her, it all began to go downhill for Heathcliff’s dreams. His lack of class and circumstances beyond his control led to his being disappointed yet again. Catherine was his greatest defender against Hindley’s wrath, and when she was gone for so long, Hindley was hell bent on making Heathcliff feel inconsequential and treating him like a servant –he lived in misery. Which is a poor situation. But then he had his heart broken when Catherine was voicing her affection for Heathcliff to Nelly after she returned to Wuthering Heights, and he overheard the wrong part of her sentiments–especially the part about how it would “degrade her” to marry him. She was compelled to marry Edgar for his social status despite how much she loved Heathcliff. Another terrible event — and so Heathcliff’s revenge plot begins.

Three years pass, and Heathcliff (to me) turned from poor Harry Potter to a crazy revenge seeking maniac– but in the back of my mind I continued to be open to the idea that his ill intentions were not entirely his fault. Just an outcome of his unlucky life. Or maybe Heathcliff was just the ultimate example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, my opinion on the subject of Heathcliff’s guilt or innocence quickly changed when he deliberately began to unravel the (relatively) stable lives of the characters as he turned crazy. He ruins the lives of strangers (Linton) out of spite, and causes a fight between Edgar and Catherine that Catherine never fully recovers from. His greed and determination to fulfill his selfish motives put me off. After he captured Linton for his own and forced young Catherine to marry him, I began to see him as despicable, and certainly his darkness had to run deeper than simply his being raised in a un-nurturing household. It had to be darkness from somewhere no one can understand. His actions no longer seemed rational or justifiable as the book progressed. He collected all of these people and places and objects that he thought would make him feel right with the world, but in the end he ended up alone and dead. So in a way, I believe he is a mixture of both his environment and the conscious he was born with. I don’t believe that the two categories of his evilness are mutually exclusive, and there is most likely some overlap to his core values and the one’s he was raised with.

 

NeNe Leakes in the Modern Day Catherine: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

Catherine Earnshaw is a manipulative and selfish woman. She knows that she is not love in love with Edgar Linton, yet she still marries him to improve her social status. Her manipulative behavior is similar to the actions of Nene Leakes from the reality television show Real Housewives of Atlanta. Real Housewives of Atlanta is a television series about well-known women in Atlanta whom either own businesses or have successful careers. However, many of the cast members aren’t even housewives which is ironic. Nonetheless Catherine Earnshaw and Nene Leakes are both manipulative, arrogant and their actions show that both care about the their social status more than their own happiness.

Catherine and Nene are very similar because they both women compromise their own happiness for their social status, women are manipulative and they are arrogant. Throughout the novel, Catherine makes it known that she does not love Edgar; she merely marries him because he is rich. Catherine’s marriage to Edgar is one prime example of manipulation because she uses Edgar to get what she wants. Catherine’s manipulation to Edgar mirrors Nene’s manipulation towards her fellow cast member, Cynthia Bailey. Nene befriended Cynthia because Nene knew that Cynthia knows lots of people in the acting industry. After Nene boosts her “acting resumé” with the help of Cynthia, she tries to ignore Cynthia, which leads to her own misery. Catherine is also in her own misery in her marriage because she only loves Edgar for his money. Both women are very unhappy with their lives, but they caused their own unhappiness because both women manipulated people to improve their own social status. In addition to Catherine being manipulative in order to improve her social status, she is also very arrogant. Catherine is very arrogant because she knows that she is beautiful and always gets what she wants. Nene is arrogant just like her because she knows that she is well known in Atlanta and she has many connections. Whenever she talks to the other women on the show she always looks down on them as if she is better.

Although Catherine Earnshaw, an Englishwoman born in 1761, and Nene Leakes, a dramatic character on a modern day reality television, do not seem like they are similar. Ironically, both women carry the same characteristics! You’re probably thinking, “Did she really compare Catherine Earnshaw to a Real Housewife of Atlanta?” The answer to your question is-yes, yes I did.

 

Heathcliff the new Jack Sparrow?: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

Let me just start off by saying, Heathcliff is persistent as Jack Sparrow is when he was trying to get the key to dead man’s chest, or when he wanted rum. But Heathcliff is a very different type of persistent, he was the patient persistent while Jack was more of the lucky persistent (situations just seemed to work in his favor and assist him in his goals).

While reading Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, I was considerably impressed by Heathcliff’s patient dedication to completely ruin Hindley and the Linton Family. He accepted suffering and complete isolation from Hindley throughout his youth, patiently awaiting the day where he would completely destroy Hindley’s lineage, starting with young Hareton. Nelly encounters this patient-side of Heathcliff when he was a young boy, she says, “I was surprised to witness how cooly the child gathered himself up, and went on his intention …sitting down on a bundle of hay to over come the qualm which the violent blow occasioned … He complained so seldom, indeed, of such stirs as these, that I really thought him not vindictive: I was deceived completely” (Bronte 40). Nelly was practically convinced that Heathcliff was a good boy when he was younger, but instead the whole time he was the most manipulative character in the book. He appears to not have a plan at all, no means to an end (marrying Catherine), but all along he knows exactly how to get his revenge and still win back the heart of Catherine, not unlike the methods of Jack Sparrow. Jack would appear not to have a plan, but every single time he would escape his shackles, or get the treasure, or get the rum that he had been wanting. Both characters are manipulative with specific actions, to find a means to a very specific end. Heathcliff to be a worth man for Catherine, which is why he leaves and comes back wealthy and completely owns Hindley, the man who used to own him. Jack, in the first movie, using Will to get to the treasure and get his ship back. While completely different styles of manipulation, Jack Sparrow and Heathcliff are very similar characters, with their patient dedication.

 

They Got 99 Problems and Money is One: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

While I was reading Emily Brontë’s classic Wuthering Heights I routinely thought, “Why are all these people so horrible? What caused every single person mentioned in this book to have glaring, and unforgiveable flaws in their respective personalities.” When I finished the book this question still stuck in my head and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that all these people’s character flaws came from money, or more specifically their obscene quantities of it. I slowly realized that had this book taken place in the slums of London, that the same people would probably have been kind, good-natured people.

To delve deeper into this theory I first looked at each character’s major flaw. For starters, Heathcliff is spiteful, cruel, and has a quick temper. Hindley is a raging alcoholic as well as being quick to anger and just as spiteful as Heathcliff. Edgar Linton is very vindictive, but also spineless. Both Catherines have an inflated ego and self-importance due to their physical attractiveness. Linton is manipulative, weak, selfish, and a wimp. After doing this I looked for the cause of all of these flaws and came to the following conclusion: Heathcliff was spoiled rotten by his adopted father, which instilled a deep-seated hatred of him in Hindley who was jealous of all the attention Heathcliff was getting because Hindley viewed him as inferior because of his ethnicity. Therefore when Hindley became master of the house following his father’s death he immediately relegated Heathcliff to the role of servant because of Hindley’s preconceived notions about class and Heathcliff’s subsequent violation of this when Mr. Earnshaw favors Heathcliff. Catherine 1 and 2 major flaws both come from their childhood where they are extremely spoiled and therefore feel that they can and should have whatever they want when they want it. Catherine 1 and 2 also cause many of the issues with Heathcliff and Hareton respectfully. Catherine 1 refuses to marry Heathcliff because he doesn’t have enough money, however when she marries Edgar Linton she refuses to be separated from Heathcliff, which only furthers his flaws. Catherine 2 frequently insults Hareton because he isn’t as smart as she is. Catherine 2 is also extremely spoiled which is the cause for her love for Linton. She loves Linton because he is the first thing in her life that she cannot have. Had Linton either A) not spoiled Catherine 2 to the extent he did or B) not forbidden her to see Linton I believe she wouldn’t have fallen in love with him.

To summarize, the characters’ major flaws came from the spoiling of two people Heathcliff, and Catherine 2. Heathcliff’s spoiling eternally pit him against Hindley, and his lack of money pit him against Edgar Linton. Catherine 2 loved Linton because he was the “forbidden fruit” which only furthered the hatred between Edgar and Heathcliff.

 

Rumor Has It…: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

First off let me start by saying that Emily Bronte could make a fortune working for the famously melodramatic and extremely addicting CW television network. While reading Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, I noticed eerie similarities between the work and my Netflix guilty pleasure, “Gossip Girl.” I can hear the introduction now… “Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Wuthering Heights elite.” Of course while watching Gossip Girl I am just as entranced as Lockwood was in the novel; eager to eat up every single word that comes out of Nelly’s mouth. I’m sure some English teachers, novelists, and critics alike are rolling over in their graves, trying to grasp the concept that a stupid teenager is trying to compare a masterpiece piece of literature to a trashy and unsophisticated (*read: amazing and brilliant) TV show. Despite any preconceived notions you may have concerning “Gossip Girl,” I’m here to simply point out that both Wuthering Heights and Gossip Girl use the same thematic conventions that make for a, for lack of a better word, juicy story.

The first comparison one could argue is the striking similarity between Bronte’s Heathcliff and Catherine, and Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf. In Wuthering Heights, Catherine says that marrying Heathcliff would degrade her; after all, the whole family (minus Old Mr. Earnshaw) treated Heathcliff more like a servant than a brother. I’m sure Blair feels the same way about dating Chuck, since she has said since kindergarten that she would marry Nate Archibald, the most suitable choice for her polished pedigree. Despite what Blair may have with Nate, her passion and love for Chuck is undeniable. Chuck even declares that he knows Blair better than he knows himself. Catherine is seen struggling with her love for Heathcliff, even telling Nelly that, “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.” Both romances are not without drama, fighting, or revenge however. Heathcliff seeks revenge on Edgar and Catherine much like Chuck tries to sabotage Blair and Nate’s relationship.

The ferocious gossip that takes place in both the show and novel plays it’s own hand in stirring up trouble. Nelly seems to be the eyes and ears of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, much like Gossip Girl knows exactly what goes on in the Upper East Side. Both are brutal in their quick judgments and nasty comments. And what would be a good book without a little exaggeration? Wuthering Heights and Gossip girl both deal with the heady topics of love, lust, anger, revenge, scheming, suffering, betrayal, selfishness, and miscommunication. Many people dislike Wuthering Heights because of these unforgiving human qualities. But I’d like to propose that we still read it because it is very similar to dramatic television. You have to watch the next episode; you just can’t look away at the train wreck that is taking place in front of you.

 

Catherine Linton/The Worst Character in the Book: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is quite a depressing book. It started out as a typical love story, but by the end, everyone is dead or alone or depressed. And who are you supposed to cheer for? Rachel and Kit made excellent points on how there is no protagonist in this story. I thought a lot about that while reading, but I was also thinking about who the antagonist was. For a while I thought everybody in the book did something wrong, which is true. However, looking back at the book and further analyzing the characters, Catherine Linton is the worst character in the whole book. She obviously loves Heathcliff more than anyone in the world. Their love is pure and true and something that so many people hope their whole lives to found. She was so happy and innocent when they were together. Catherine chooses to give up this love for money. I don’t think this in any way lessens her love for Heathcliff, but completely lessens my respect for her. Catherine made this decision completely on her own. It wasn’t the pressure of her family or friends trying to make her marry for money, but her own selfish ways. Her father loved Heathcliff more than he loved his own son. After Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights with fortune, Catherine then decides he is worthy, and completely disrespects her husband. I understand that a woman shouldn’t have to report to her husband, but they are married and vowed to stay faithful to each other. Yes, Linton and Heathcliff made mistakes throughout this story, but Catherine seems to be the reason for all of their angry outbursts or other wrongdoings. Catherine has two men who love her with all of their heart, and all she cares about is money and status. Catherine Linton started out as an innocent child deeply in love with Heathcliff, but as the book when on, she became a money obsessed snob who robbed two men of a happy life. Before she died, she became sick when her husband asked her to choose between him and Heathcliff. This is just another example of how she was able to get out of a tough situation. She always chose the easy way out, and never thought about other people’s feelings, or long term consequences of her actions. Overall, Catherine was lazy and selfish, and caused most of the tragedy in this book.

 

Only Effective in Getting Me to Hate Everyone: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

Rachel stole a bit of my thunder with her post on how much she hated everyone in this novel, because same, Rachel. Same. I hated all of them and often had to put the book down to take a moment to have a bit of an existential crisis about why I was reading a novel in which I didn’t care about any of the characters’ story lines or endings. Cathy 1 was petulant and self-centered, Cathy 2 took after her mother, Edgar was an annoying wet blanket, Hindley was an abusive drunk, Linton was lame, Hareton was a bit of jerk (but at least not as bad as his father), Nelly was a gossip who hated literally everyone and seriously bummed me out with all of that negativity, Heathcliff is the worst person I’ve ever met (through literature), and I have no idea what was going on with Joseph, because he yelled in a language that I honestly don’t believe was just “an accent”. None of these characters are sympathetic. I don’t think this was Brontë’s intention, though; I think it is an accidental consequence of ineffective storytelling.

The reason I call Brontë’s method of storytelling in this novel ineffective is because the vast majority of information that both the reader and Mr. Lockwood are presented comes from a limited, biased, first person point of view – Nelly’s. We as readers miss out on a lot from this. For example, we know that Cathy 1 really, truly loved Heathcliff. With what I know about Heathcliff, all I can say in response to that is, “Why??“. As far as I can tell – as far as Nelly has told me – the only good thing about Heathcliff is the fact that he’s handsome. He’s a jerk in every other respect – a “brute”, as Nelly likes to call him, or the devil, or something else equally flattering. So what made Cathy fall in love with him? There must be some redeeming quality, right? I get the feeling that we’re missing something. Maybe Heathcliff showed a softer, more attractive side of his personality when he and Cathy would run off together to have adventures when they were kids. Nelly wasn’t invited on these adventures; she wouldn’t know what happened. There’s a lot we’re missing, because there’s a lot Nelly missed. She can’t be in every moment of all these character’s lives, and so neither can we. If they have any redeeming qualities that Nelly doesn’t know about, then we miss out on them, too.

Another reason is that Nelly, the narrator, is a character in this novel just as much as Heathcliff is. She has her own opinions on things and people and events, and those show through and affect her narration, even if she would like for Mr. Lockwood and the readers to believe that she is giving a factual, mostly indifferent account. As I mentioned early, Nelly really doesn’t seem to like anyone. She hates Heathcliff, hates Cathy 1, grows to dislike Hindley for the way he abuses Hareton (who she loves like a son, since she was his nanny when he was a baby), and isn’t fond of Joseph either. As a result, these are some of the most hated characters in the novel – because we’re seeing them mainly through the eyes of someone who already hates them. Nelly’s views meld with out own. After all, that’s pretty much all that we have to go on.

I personally feel that telling Wuthering Heights from a third person point of view, whether that be a limited POV where the narrator was a character in the novel like Heathcliff or third person omniscient, would have been more effective in creating sympathetic characters, and thus, a story I actually care about. What do you guys think? What would have been the most effective way to tell this story? Who besides Nelly would you like to have heard this story from? Or was Brontë trying to create a novel where the reader can’t stand the characters? What purpose might that serve?

 

When You Don’t Learn From Mistakes: A Reader’s Guide to Wuthering Heights

At the conclusion of Wuthering Heights, I thought back upon the novel and reflected upon the array of immorality expressed by nearly all the characters. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the root of many of the problems in the novel were bad parenting and a refusal to accept past mistakes. As the adage goes, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, which is clearly expressed in the novel time and time again.

From the very onset of the story, parenting goes awry. Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw spoil their newly adopted son Heathcliff, making their own son Hindley envious of the newcomer. Then, once both Earnshaw parents die, Hindley comes back from college to enact his revenge upon Heathcliff for being the object of his parent’s affection, stripping Heathcliff down to a lowly servant, forced to serve the manor.

Later in the novel, Hindley has his own son, Hareton, at the cost of his wife’s life. After Frances’ death, Hindley spirals out of control, frequently becoming drunk and relying almost entirely upon Nelly Dean to raise young Hareton. Hindley soon dies, making Heathcliff the new master of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff then decides to treat Hareton much as Hindley had treated him, forcing Hareton to work as a servant. Just like Hindley, who despised Heathcliff for no fault of his own, Heathcliff despises Hareton simply because of the paternal connection to his old rival. Yet, even with his child, Linton, Heathcliff does not learn from Hindley’s mistakes in raising (or the lack of raising) Hareton, and treats Linton with extreme contempt.

Catherine Earnshaw also expresses another flaw brought on by parenting, this time by a neighboring family. When she was first raised by her parents and even under Hindley’s rule, Catherine was a tomboy, who saw Heathcliff and herself as equals. Then, under the guidance of the Linton family, Catherine is elevated to a proper well-mannered young lady, whose grace and beauty allow her to have whatever she wishes. Catherine now looks down upon Heathcliff, who isn’t well educated or in a high social position, and decides she cannot marry him. She breaks Heathcliff’s heart, and when he flees after hearing news of the marriage, Catherine becomes distraught. She makes herself ill, manipulating both Edgar and Nelly to obey everything she desires, as a means of coping with the absence of Heathcliff.

Once Heathcliff returns, Catherine is joyous to see him. Yet, once Heathcliff begins courting Isabella Linton, she again grows distraught and forces herself to become sick, envious of Heathcliff’s supposed affection to Isabella.

Catherine is a spoilt brat, who wants all of her desires met and fails to see the consequences of her actions. She refused to marry Heathcliff, and then she refuses to live up to her decision, unsure of what she really wants, and ends up killing herself because everything didn’t go her way.

In conclusion, I found many of the characters in Wuthering Heights to be stubborn and arrogant, refusing to acknowledge past mistakes made by themselves or parental figures, which leads to a myriad of problems and a lot of unhappiness.

 

But Aren’t We All Insane?: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

“Wuthering”: The turbulent state of human minds.

Many AP Lit students have already expressed their awe in the absurdity that is Wuthering Heights. I have heard things ranging from “this book is a little crazy” to “every character is insane.” And I have to say I had a similar reaction to this novel. When you contextualize some of the character’s actions and image someone today doing such a thing, you realize how exaggerated this novel can really be. As I was reading it, I turned to my friend who is majoring in psychology at Duke and said to him, “Noah I really think you should read this and diagnose every character with a different mental illness.” Now, I am not a trained medical professional but I have taken a class in psychology and based on my knowledge I have developed a profile for Catherine1 and Heathcliff.

Catherine: When Edgar told Catherine she had to choose between him and Heathcliff she locked herself up, refused to eat, and made herself “brain sick.” If I did that my parents would probably have me hospitalized. But Catherine always wants to have her way, no matter how impossible that may be. Catherine has the characteristics of histrionic personality disorder- a desire for constant attention and has extreme emotions.

Heathcliff: He plots elaborate revenge schemes, has murderous tendencies, and locked up Nelly in his house and starved her. He lures Catherine2 and Nelly into his house and holds them hostage. The lack of regard of others’ rights and/or feelings suggests antisocial personality disorder. Heathcliff talks to Catherine’s ghost as if he can see her- that sounds like schizophrenia. He also essentially has a mental breakdown at the end of the novel, overcome with grief, which leads to his death.

Overall, many scenes of this book are of people locked up, having an emotional breakdown, or having extreme reactions to a situation.

Emily Brontë could have been making an astute commentary on mental health in England at the time, especially in such an isolated region such as the British moors. Every character has a personality quirk or emotional problem that affects their life and relationships. Also, because the moors are so isolated, societal norms and the law are not significant influences in their lives.

However, Brontë could be expressing the true nature of human beings. Emotions are complicated and we have been trained to suppress them and abide by “norms” for a stable society. Now, life on the moors in this novel is not stable and every raw emotion is shown. Is Bronte just exposing what everyone feels but is not allowed to show? Would we act like Catherine if we did not fear the consequences?

Many say “wuthering” describes the bitter wind of the moors but I believe that it means something more. I believe that the minds of the characters, and our minds, are filled with “wuthering winds”, mixing up our emotions and ferociously racking our minds.

 

Money’s Effect On Love: A Reader’s Response to Wuthering Heights

I noticed after limping my way through the dense and somewhat slow novel Wuthering Heights that money had yet again found its way to smearing true love. It seems that money has a way of controlling just about everything that happens in this world, and it wasn’t hard to notice how money also drove the characters in this book astray from true feelings and from moral rectitude. In example, when Catherine (1) tells Nelly that she has accepted Edgar’s marriage request and Nelly ask her why, she then gives her a couple of bogus reasons and then admits that if she marries him then she will be loaded. So here we see that money has driven Catherine (1) to abandon her true love Heathcliff and run off with some rich dude. Now I’m not saying that everyone runs from true love for money but I have no doubt it happens all the time. Usually I suspect money plays a roll in relationships where the man/woman is decades older than their spouse and the elder coincidentally has butt loads of cash. Funny how that works right? Anyways, later in the book after Catherine (1) dies and her daughter Catherine (2) grows up, and she too is screwed by money. Her inheritance is substantial and it drives Heathcliff to lure her to Wuthering Heights and not let her leave until she promises to marry the dying son of Heathcliff named Linton. Meanwhile her father Edgar is on his death bed and she has no choice if she wants to see him alive again but to accept Linton’s ‘marriage proposal’. The book even says that Heathcliff even loves Catherine (2) because of her resemblance to her mother but money drives him to smack her around until she fears him. Funny how money can bring happiness apparently, yet it gives grubbing people like Heathcliff enough incentive to beat up his true love’s daughter and feel numb to his sons death. In my opinion this is all bogus but in a way it makes sense because most everybody desires money. In certain situations (such as this one), money even serves as a greater importance than true love. It’s whack but I know it happens all the dang time. I am lost with anger and confusion as to why this stuff can happen, for how can a person’s relationship with dollar bills be more significant than a person’s relationship with another person? Then again I suppose Heathcliff just wanted to rub it in Catherine (1’s) dead face that because she abandon him for some cash he could take revenge and soil her offspring and diminish her remaining family tree. Pretty pitiful I must say, and this issue didn’t intrigue me to the point of admiration for this book, but it simply made me mad. Oh well, I suppose I’ll just take from what I read to try and shape my future love life around real affection and not bank accounts.