In Emil Brontë's novel "Wuthering Heights" the two main residences, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, are both grand, wealthy houses lying near the wild, Yorkshire moors, "completely removed from the stir of society" (pg1). Besides these similarities though, they are almost exact opposites. Wuthering Heights is associated with passion, nature and the elemental whereas Thrushcross Grange epitomises civilisation, peace and order. The characteristics of both abodes are also evident in their respective residents. I will examine the distinct differences in their interior and exterior appearance as well as their inhabitants.
A first difference is the location and exterior of the two residences. Wuthering Heights is built on high ground where it is subjected to severe storms. It is ?strong?, its ?narrow windows are deeply set in the wall? (pg2). The front is decorated by ?grotesque carving(s)? displaying a ?wilderness of crumbling griffins? (pg2). All the above depict Wuthering Heights as unwelcoming, rugged, gloomy yet natural and elemental.
Thrushcross Grange on the other hand lies in a pleasant, sunlit valley below the moors where it is sheltered from adverse weather. It is surrounded by a walled park with well-kept gardens. Flowerpots decorate the windows, which are ?only half closed? by the curtains emitting a warm, amiable light (pg43). These features give the impression of a civilised, sophisticated, serene house.
Apart from the exterior contrasts, the interior of the two households is also profoundly different. The furniture at Wuthering Heights is primitive: a ?vast oak dresser? and ?high-backed? chairs (pg3), meat and guns hang from the roof and Lockwood discovers a ?heap of dead rabbits? (pg8) ? further signs of nature but also of violence and danger. The huge fireplace ?glow(s) delightfully in the radiance of an immense fire? (pg7). This symbolises power, danger, uncontrollability and, foremost, passion. The dogs kept at Wuthering Heights are ?wolfish?, ?hairy monsters? with a ?guttural gnarl? (pg4,15).
At Thrushcross Grange however, Edgar and Isabella quarrel over a small pet dog, which they both want to cuddle. Contrastingly, the fire at Thrushcross Grange is at first extinguished. When it glows, it gives off a harmonious but dull light. Thrushcross Grange is beautifully carpeted and furnished, with a ?pure white ceiling bordered by gold?, from which a chandelier hangs (pg44). Unlike Wuthering Heights? elemental interior, Thrushcross Grange is tranquil and refined.
The two houses contrast not only in appearance but also in the characters of their inhabitants, especially in Heathcliff and Edgar.
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights share similarities in many aspects, perhaps most plainly seen in the plots: just as Clarissa marries Richard rather than Peter Walsh in order to secure a comfortable life for herself, Catherine chooses Edgar Linton over Heathcliff in an attempt to wrest both herself and Heathcliff from the squalid lifestyle of Wuthering Heights. However, these two novels also overlap in thematic elements in that both are concerned with the opposing forces of civilization or order and chaos or madness. The recurring image of the house is an important symbol used to illustrate both authors’ order versus chaos themes. Though Woolf and Bronte use the house as a symbol in very different ways, the existing similarities create striking resonances between the two novels at certain critical scenes.
Martha Nussbaum describes the romantic ascent of various characters in Wuthering Heights through a philosophical Christian view. She begins by describing Catherine as a lost soul searching for heaven, while in reality she longs for the love of Heathcliff. Nussbaum continues by comparing Heathcliff as the opposition of the ascent from which the Linton’s hold sacred within their Christian beliefs. Nussbaum makes use of the notion that the Christian belief in Wuthering Heights is both degenerate and way to exclude social classes.
Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff’s dwelling place whom he shared with his son Linton and Hareton, underwent the most significant change since the Earnshaw’s resided there. Wuthering, by definition, is a wild wind blowing strongly with a roaring sound. This shows the readers that the residents of each property also reflect the character’s behavior and actions that dramatically affects the appearance of the properties and a change in weather. But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. Wuthering Height...
In comparison, Catherine has not only grown up with Heathcliff, allowing her access to a myriad of interactions which Brontë’s audience wasn’t previously privy to, but she has developed her understanding of societal norms alongside him. Thus, the unabashed sympathy Cathy initially feels for her “poor Heathcliff” provides a new narrative altogether—a narrative that focuses on the individual, closely following Heathcliff’s transmogrification from a “starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb [child] in the streets of Liverpool” to a man who Lockwood interprets as filled with cruelty and “savage vehemence” (22, 37, 27). In addition, Catherine’s possible retelling of Wuthering Heights through her diaries eventually allows for Heathcliff’s cruelty to be put into conversation with his upbringing as a non-white subject in a wholly white
The setting of Wuthering Heights is in country of Yorkshire, in the north of England. Wuthering Heights is much darker then Thrushcross Grange and is almost its exact opposite. Wuthering Heights is an ancient mansion on the high ridge, overlooking a wasteland. Wuthering Height uses the country setting filled emotion of hatred, cruelty, chaotic atmosphere, violence, and savage love. A country setting is usually seen as relaxing, peaceful, and laid-back, as described by romanticist. But, Wuthering Heights ha...
The tone in Wuthering Heights is dreary and melancholy. This style provides the dark atmosphere to the story. Most of the story is conveyed through the narration of Ellen Dean. Setterfield uses a similar style in her story. Most of the story in her book is told by Vida Winter. The technique of flashbacks is used in both books. In both novels the two characters Lockwood and Margaret start out the story from their perspective, later the narrator changes. Wuthering Heights’s Mr. Lockwood hears the story from Ellen Dean (Nelly) much like Margaret hears the story from Vida Winter in The Thirteenth Tale. The two stories are broken up into sections due to interruptions made by the storyteller and situations that arise. The story of Wuthering Heights is told through flashbacks recorde...
There is two stereotypical types of families, one where the children learn from their parents behavior and do the same as they grow up, and the other where they dislike – and do the opposite. In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the characters are quite intricate and engaging. The story takes place in northern England in an isolated, rural area. The main characters of the novel reside in two opposing households: Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights is a story of a dynamic love between two people. This love transcends all boundaries, including that over life and death. The author takes parallelism to great extends. Much of the events that happen in the first half of the story correspond to events in the second half; first generation of characters is comparable to the second generation. Many may argue that the characters are duplicates of each other and that they share many traits. Although Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton are mother and daughter, their personalities and lifestyles are very different. This is a great example where the child is and behaves quite different than her mother.
The complicated nature surrounding Heathcliff’s motives again adds an additional degree of ambiguity to his character. This motivation is primarily driven by Catherine’s marriage to Edgar and past rejection of Heathcliff, since he was a servant whom Hindley disapproved of. Prior to storming out of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff overhears Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (Brontë 87). The obstacles that ultimately prevent Heathcliff from marrying Catherine provide insight into Heathcliff’s desire to bring harm to Edgar and Hindley. The two men play prominent roles in the debacle, Edgar as the new husband and Hindley as the head figure who refused Heathcliff access to Catherine. Following this incident, Catherine says, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” (Brontë 87). Catherine’s sentiment indicates she truly would rather be with Heathcliff, but the actions of others have influenced her monumental decision to marry Edgar. Furthermore, Heathcliff is motivated to not only ruin Edgar’s livelihood, but also gain ownership of his estate, Thrushcross Grange. This becomes clear when Heathcliff attempts to use Isabella
The Linton and Earnshaw family's dependence on the erratic British social classification system galvanized the caustic nature of characters in the story and influenced their decisions greatly. Without the existence of such communal prejudices, the Linton family would have condoned the impecunious past of the Earnshaw family and permitted lovers to love who they had been destined to adore. Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, the two instigators of every emotional and physical situation in the story would have been truly happy, leaving them no need to have any injurious intentions for those around them. The precarious importance placed on British social class had been the sole devastating factor in the characters' lives and the stimulus for the cataclysmic nature of personages in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
The setting used throughout the novel Wuthering Heights, helps to set the mood to describe the characters. We find two households separated by the cold, muddy, and barren moors, one by the name of Wuthering Heights, and the other Thrushcross Grange. Each house stands alone, in the mist of the dreary land, and the atmosphere creates a mood of isolation. These two places, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange differ greatly in appearance and mood. These differences reflect the universal conflict between storm and calm that Emily Bronte develops as the theme.
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).
...e. On a very simplistic level, it is attractive, the name ‘Wuthering Heights’ sounds to the ear a more mysterious and enigmatic choice than Thrushcross Grange. But it can be assumed that the author had made the choice of naming the novel based on reasons that run deeper than mere attractiveness. The setting is vital to the plot, and as Wuthering Heights and its presence directly or indirectly precipitates a major part of the action, the choice is an apt one. In conclusion,the characters’ relation with Nature runs deep, and this too has been highlighted forcefully by the title, that keeps reminding the reader that in ‘Wuthering Heights’, the setting is the thread that runs through the entire narrative holding it together, and halfway through the novel, we can almost perceptibly feel the throb of Nature that is alive, that is at work, and that has a will of its own.
Laar, Elisabeth T. M. The Inner Structure of Wuthering Heights: A Study of an Imaginative Field. The Hague: Mouton, 1969. Print.
Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. N.p.: Project Gutenberg, 2007. Print. Transcribed from the 1910 John Murray edition by David Price
Heathcliff's character parallels with the qualities possessed by The Heights; he is depicted as a member of lower class and does not have the qualities necessary to live at Thrushcross Grange. Cold, dark, and...