Introduction:
Emily Bronte's lone work, 'Wuthering Heights', was published a year after she died at the age of thirty. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights is a multigenerational love and vengeance story about the residents of a barren farmhouse named Wuthering Heights and its owner Heathcliff. It is also a fiery picture of metaphysical intensity, in which heaven and hell, nature and society are violently opposed.
Summary:
Wuthering Heights is a wild narrative about Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff's deep and passionate love. Heathcliff is an orphan adopted by Catherine's father Mr. Earnshaw. He is tormented and humiliated by Catherine's brother Hindley after Mr. Earnshaw's death, and mistakenly believes that his love for Catherine is not acknowledged, so he leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He then goes on to exact an act of horrific revenge for his previous misfortunes. The story's action is chaotic and exhaustingly violent, yet the novel's mastery of a complex structure, compelling descriptions of the lonely moorland environment, and poetic magnificence of vision combine to make it a classic of English literature.
Review:
This is not a happy-ever-after love story; rather, it is a cruel and twisted tale of all the worst ways humans can ruin feelings. And it was quite engaging to read. In Wuthering Heights, I felt all of the characters to be nasty or worthless in some way. Even Nelly, the narrator, and maid, who may have been portrayed as a sympathetic and kindly figure, is guilty of treating other characters badly. This, however, was all part of the charm to me. It may seem strange to like a book so much when you can't possibly like any of the characters, but there's something energizing about reading a story in which the author has purposefully set out to expose all of humanity's worst aspects.
Many people, I believe, will be caught between despising the characters and admiring the story's literary brilliance. I don't mind that all of the characters are horrible; I think it just demonstrates a writer who was so motivated to portray either what she saw in the world or what she saw that was missing from novels at the time. By the conclusion, however, I had grown to sympathize with Hareton(Son of Mr. Earnshaw), so I suppose he is the novel's salvation.
The links between everything in Wuthering Heights are one of the most fascinating aspects of the novel. There are pairs everywhere you look, and the story keeps repeating itself. There are two Catherines, two Heathcliffs, two homes (Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights), two families (Earnshaw and Linton), and two halves of the novel.
I enjoyed the first few chapters of this novel, especially the Gothic elements. The Gothic sections of this novel truly drew me in and created such a beautiful atmosphere. However, several portions of this novel were tough for me to read, and I couldn't really concentrate on the story. This novel spans a long period of time and features numerous characters from the same family who are referred to by their surnames. For this one, I actually looked up a character chart to make sure I was following the appropriate folks.
Conclusion:
The writing was enjoyable; I found it to be approachable and engaging, which was a pleasant surprise. Reading classic books is another something I've been drawn to recently. However, I believe that this novel would have been far more enjoyable if it had been narrated by one of the main characters rather than a side character years after the events had occurred.
Overall, I'm puzzled about this one and how I feel about it.
My Rating: 7/10
