Importance of Setting in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

943 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Settings in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

The Importance of Setting in Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is a timeless classic in which Emily Brontë presents two opposite settings. Wuthering Heights and its occupants are wild, passionate, and strong while Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants are calm and refined, and these two opposing forces struggle throughout the novel.

Wuthering Heights is out on the moors in a barren landscape. Originally a farming household, it sits "[o]n that bleak hilltop [where] the earth was hard with a black frost" (14). Because winds constantly buffet the house, "the architect?[built] it strong; the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defend with large jutting stones" (10). Even the name suggests its wildness: " 'Wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed to" (10). The innards of Wuthering Heights "lay bare to the inquiring eye?Above the chimney were sundry villainous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols: and by way of ornament, three gaudily painted canisters disposed along its ledge?the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green; one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade" (11). Both the outside and inside of Wuthering Heights are clearly exposed to tumult and wildness.

In addition, the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights are stormy and wild. Hindley Earnshaw beats Heathcliff--the adopted, "dark-skinned gypsy" (11)--who, with strong fortitude, "would stand Hindley's blows without winking or shedding a tear" (42). In one particular instance, Hindley throws an iron weight at Heathcliff, "hitting him on the breast, and down he fell, but staggered up immediately, brea...

... middle of paper ...

...ediate, as they are joined in love.

Sources Cited and Consulted

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Norton Critical ed. 3rd ed. Ed. William M. Sale, Jr., and Richard J. Dunn. New York: W. W. Norton, 1990.

Dawson, Terence. Physical and Psychological Settings: The Polarized Houses in Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights'. 7 Nov. 2000 <http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/bronte/ebronte/dawson1.html>.

Ferguson, Susan. "Place in Wuthering Heights." Style 32.1 (1998). 24 Oct. 2002 <http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/Web...recno=3:

Entityemailfullresultset=2>.

McCarthy, Terence. "The Incompetent Narrator of Wuthering Heights" Modern Language

Quarterly 42 (1981): 48-64.

Williams, Jeffrey. "The Powerful Settings in Wuthering Heights." Diss. State University of New York at Stony Brook,

1990.

Show More
Related

  • Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw": Are The Ghosts Actually Real?

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...eives nothing from the children. It should be obvious to the reader at this point that the children are obviously in no way doing any wrong and are telling the truth to the best of their knowledge. The continual obsession of the governess over maintaining the protection and innocence of the children gets so severe that it causes Flora to come down with a serious fever and Miles grows seemingly weaker and sicker without his sister there with her.

    Read More

  • Maternal Instinct in The Turn of the Screw

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    All in all, the governess definitely has good intentions, and absolutely means the best for the children; however good intentions do not always translate into proper action. The governess’s maternal instincts are heavily present, but they are nowhere near competent, since the governess failed to keep one of the children alive. Therefore, the governess should not have been put into the position at Bly estate with so little experience. If someone else had been put into the governess’s position, it is highly likely that the outcome would have ended up vastly different, and Miles would still be alive.

    Read More

  • The Essay 'Staying Awake’' by Ursula Le Guin

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    The essay Staying Awake by Le Guin agrees with the NEA essays to a point, but she takes a different approach to present her essay, she also does not believe the reading decline to be as much of a gloom and doom situation as the NEA essays do, her thesis statement is “I want to question the assumption that books are on the way out. I think books are here to stay. It’s just not that many people ever did read them.’’(Le Guin p34) She says that readers have never been in the majority so why should that change now? (Le Guin p 34) Le Guin uses history as her background data she refers to the “century of the book,’’ (Le Guin p34) which was the peak of our reading abilities after that period of time the reading decline began. Being literate equals having control and separates the people who have power and control from those who do not. While the NEA essa...

    Read More

  • The Turn Of The Screw Literary Analysis

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    The obscurity of the character of the Governess as a reliable narrator and sane person creates confusion and riddle in the story. Her first nights at Bly, the Governess listens "for the possible recurrence of a sound or two, less natural and not without but within, that I fancied I heard"

    Read More

  • Response to Chapter 8 of "Lord of the Flies"

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Lord of the Flies” on the other hand represents darkness, more specifically the dark side of ma...

    Read More

  • The Invention of Basketball

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Basketball today has grown in the United States to bout 300 million people, that is a very large sum (“Bellies”). Although there are many stories to who discovered the game of basketball, it really just depended on who and where the story was told. The man that I have researched that seems to be the most credited is Dr. James Naismith. Here is a little bit of how he started the game and how it has vastly transformed over the years.

    Read More

  • The Country Setting in Wuthering Heights

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wuthering Heights is a classic in which Emily Bronte presents two opposite settings using the country setting. Country settings are often used as a place of virtue and peace or of ignorance and one of primitivism as believed by many city dwellers. But, in the novel Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte has used Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights to depict isolation and separation. Wuthering Heights setting is wild, passionate, and strong and Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants are calm, harshly strict, and refined and these two opposite forces struggle throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • How the Houses in Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights Compare

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    strong magnetism representing savagery and Thrushcross grange with its refinement and pleasant appearance representing civility. Wuthering heights has the characteristics of being very strong. prominent structure and is described by Mr Lockwood as being a misanthropists in heaven and beyond. It is a very desolate and lonely place up on a hill exposed to stormy weather with no real beauty and can be seen as an uncivilised place to live. Thrushcross Grange is a very classy, civilised estate and a lovely home.

    Read More

  • Informative Essay On The History Of Basketball

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    Basketball was originated in 1891 by a man named James Naismith. He was assigned to teach a physical education class at the YMCA training school in Springfield Massachusetts, where he came up with the idea of making basketball a sport. The equipment he used when basketball was first originated

    Read More

  • The History Of Basketball: The Origin Of Basketball

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first basketball type game may have been played by the early Olmec people of ancient Mexico as early as 500 years ago. The Aztec, and Mayan cultures also had a game similar to basketball, only instead of a rubber ball, they used the decapitated skulls of their conquered foes. The game of basketball as we currently know it, was designed and founded by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was born on November 6, 1861, in Almonte, Ontario. Born and educated in Canada, Naismith came south to pursue his interests of physical education and Christian ministry. Shortly thereafter, he became a teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Dr. Naismith was given two weeks to discover a game that would

    Read More

  • Olympics

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...cive to hosting the winter games, and the other area suitable for the summer games. Since the International Olympic Committee has the funds, and the final say in location, they should pay the costs associated with establishing and constructing a permanent Olympic site. There could also be a fee paid by each nation to participate in the Olympic Games, and this money could go towards the upkeep of the facilities. As stated above, the International Olympic Committee makes a great amount of money just by selling broadcasting and licensing rights, and the income generated from this could be used to pay all other costs associated with maintaining the games.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Setting in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, Wuthering Heights is a contribution to the theme of the novel because it sets the mood for the scenes taken place inside the house. The house is first introduced to the reader during a storm. The house stands alone and the land around it is described as dreary and foreboding, which creates a mood of isolation. “On the bleak Yorkshire moors” describes the Yorkshire moors physical appearance. The estate has little vegetation and is more weathered, which moors are, as they are jutting, bare rocks towards the ocean. Wuthering Heights is an old stone house with gothic architecture and bleak interior. The people that live in Wuthering Heights are bitter and act violent. The characters of the story act wild when they are at Wuthering Heights, compared to other places in the novel. The setting of the house enforces the actions of the Earnshaws’, and Heathcliff. The name of the estate even sets a theme of gloom in the novel. Lockwood says Wuthering is, “a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather” (12).

    Read More

  • Controversies Surrounding the Summer Olympics

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    By reading these two articles I have come to agree with Tom Worstall on the Summer Olympics being held in one location each four years. I believe that having the Summer Olympics in different cities each four years is very expensive to do especially for the less developed countries. With the Summer Olympics being held in the same spot each time the facilitates being built won’t be useless once the Olympics are over. They can be reused again and again which will save money for everyone.

    Read More

  • Bronte's Use of Language and Setting in Wuthering Heights

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bronte's Use of Language and Setting in Wuthering Heights Between pages 15 and 18 there are identifiable ways in which 'Bronte' uses 'language and setting' to establish the characters and create a distinguishable atmosphere. In this essay, themes, genres and styles will be discussed to show how 'Bronte' establishes the characters; there will also be a discussion of the 'gothic' elements which Wuthering Heights contains. Many people would argue that the style of 'Wuthering Heights' is peculiar and complex, the power of Wuthering Heights owes much to its complex narrative structure and to the device of having two conventional people relate a very unconventional tale. Bronte importantly introduces the element of 'the supernatural' into chapter 3 which is an important technique as it grips the reader. Lockwood has come into contact with the ghost of Cathy, who died 18 years before, Some might argue that she is a product of Lockwood's imagination, and it is clear that Bronte has presented these facts in this way so that the reader can make up their own mind on the subject.

    Read More

  • The Use of the Supernatural in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Bronte uses the supernatural and ghosts in Wuthering Heights to emphasise the power of love between Cathy and Heathcliff and proving that love exists beyond the grave and that the quality of love is unending. Furthermore, ghosts are used to assist in the storytelling, to help in enhancing the setting and develop characterisation, particularly in the character of Heathcliff, Nelly and Lockwood. The use of the supernatural enables the reader to be intrigued by the confusing use of extraordinary beings.

    Read More

More about Importance of Setting in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

Open Document