Power And Responsibility In Wuthering Heights By Emily Bronte

With great power comes great responsibility; one could flip this statement around and say that with great responsibility comes great power. Often times those who have the most responsibility, although they also have the most power, go greatly unnoticed. Emily Bronte uses the character Ellen “Nelly” Dean to show that the many complex roles of a servant, no matter how minute, have great power and control that hides under their responsibilities and tasks.

Despite the social placement of the characters they all trust Nelly and her friendship, which gives her a great deal of control over any events that occur in Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. She says that she “was almost always at Wuthering Heights; because [her] mother had nursed Mr. Hindley Earnshaw...and [she] got used to playing with the children” (ch. 4. page 36). The unique way in which Nelly becomes a part of the Earnshaw family provides for her position as a servant but also as a friend and ultimately creates a bond of trust between her and the other family members. Despite her being a servant, the family altogether regards her as one of their own. Before Mr. Earnshaw leaves on a trip he asks what the children would like for gifts and he did “not forget [Nelly]; for he had a kind heart, though he was rather severe

Some of these characters believe these changes to be caused by their own actions, their feelings, or divine intervention; consequently, their responses are geared towards only those they deem important. However, the true control for the events of their lives lies in the hands of those they consider to be below them; the servants. Emily Bronte comments on the power of servants roles and the underappreciation for their hard work in her novel Wuthering Heights through the minor character Ellen