PAPER 3, MODULE 18: TEXT

(A) Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof. Tutun

Mukherjee

University of Hyderabad

Paper Coordinator Dr. Neeru Tandon Kanpur University, Kanpur

Content Writer/Author

(CW)

Dr. Jaya Kapoor Allahabad University, Allahabad

Content Reviewer (CR) Dr Supriya Shukla Kanpur

Language Editor (LE) Dr Ram Prakash

Pradhan

VSSD College, CSJMU Kanpur

(B) Description of Module

Item Description of module

Subject Name English literature

Paper name Nineteenth Century Literature

Module title Wuthering Heights

Module ID 18

Pre-requisites The reader is expected to have familiarity with

the main trends of the Victorian age and its

literature.

Objectives To familiarize the reader with the text along

with giving a detailed analysis of the various

critical interpretations of the text.

Key words Fiction, women novelists, multiple narratives,

feminism, Bronte sisters,

18.1 Introduction

18.2 The novelist

18.3 The family tree

18.4 The story

18.5 The characters

18.6 The Victorian and the Romantic impact

18.7 The Geographical Location

18.8 Plot construction

18.9 Narrative style and narrators

18.10 Theoretical interpretations

A-Feminist interpretation-

B-Marxist interpretation

C-Postcolonial interpretation

18.11 Interesting facts

18.12 Further readings

18.13 Assessment and Evaluation

I. Wuthering Heights

18.1 Introduction

Wuthering Heights was published in 1847. The novel stands at the cusp of the romantic and

Victorian ages and reflects the traits of both but seems to quite ahead of its times in terms of the

treatment of the subject. This could have been one of the reasons why the novel was not very

well received by the critics and readers alike but slowly gained fame and was established as a

classic tale that transcended its age. It is the only published novel of Emily Bronte who died

soon after completing the book. The book was published by her sister Charlotte after her death.

The novel is remarkable in the way the idea of love evolves in various relationships ranging from

the overwhelming passions of Heathcliff and Catherine to the equally deep and intense love of

Cathy and Hareton, the way it builds up the complexities in the character of Heathcliff who

could be detested for his ruthlessness but for his love for Catherine who is also a very complex

character with her intense passionate love for Heathcliff which she sacrifices and to marryEdgar

Linton but fails in remaining committed to the marriage as well. What is as remarkable as the

story is the narrative pattern and language of the story. With two narrators, and constant

movement between flashbacks and present narrative there is a possibility that the novelist might

lose grip over the story, but that does not happen here. One of the ways the novelist achieves the

smooth movement of the narrative is by language. Where each character could be identified by

the way they speak from the completely rustic Joseph to the slightly better Nelly to Hareton to

Cathy and finally the language of Lockwood. It would amount to an achievement for any

novelist and is all the more creditable since it is the first work by a young person.

18.2 The novelist

The novelist, Emily Bronte, was the daughter of a clergy man, Patrik Bronte, from Thornton

village in Yorkshire. They were five sisters and one brother. Their relatively limited social life

led to an early literary interest in the children. They were deeply influenced by Keats, Shelly,

Walter Scott, and Byron. Three of the sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne - wrote and published

a poetry collection under pseudonyms of Currer Bell (Charlotte B.), Ellis Bell (Emily B.) and

Acton Bell (Anne B). The volume was not very remarkable except a few pieces mostly by

Emily. Charlotte went on to write ―Jane Eyre‖ which became very popular and Charlotte

became a household name. The journey was difficult for Emily whose novel was not very well

received by the public as well as the critics. Its unconventional story and even more

unconventional romance did not go down well with the Victorian reader. She died soon after the

publication of the first edition at the age of thirty. The novel slowly gained popularity and stands

as a classic today. Emily was a reclusive and private person so not much is known about her.

Her sister‘s introduction to the second edition is valuable source of information. In fact

Charlotte Bronte‘s account of her sister is virtually the only biographical account of any

authenticity on the writer. That such a gentle and shy person could conceive a tale with such

turbulent emotions and unconventional storyline adds to the enigma of the writer as much as to

the myth of the novel.

18.3 The family tree

Before we look at these and other aspects of the masterpiece, let us understand the way the

family tree of the story is build.

Lintons of Thrushcross Grange and Earnshaws of Wuthering Heights are both old and well

established families of the neighbourhood. Linton household is more urbane and sophisticated as

compared to the Earnshaws at the point the story of the novel begins. Mr. Earnshaw has two

children – Hindley and Catherine. A third child had died a few years back. Mr. Earnshaw brings

home a destitute boy home and he is named Heathcliff after this third child who had died.

Hindley marries Frances and they have a child, Hareton. Catherine had fallen in love with

Heathcliff but marries Edgar Linton and has a daughter named Catherine but here called Cathy.

Heathcliff marries Edgar‘s sister Isabella and their child is named Linton. Cathy is first married

to Linton and then after his death, she is betrothed to Hareton. It is remarkable how well-crafted

the entire story is around the complexities that emerge from these relationships. There is nothing

left to chance or incredible. Even the way Heathcliff could have earned the wealth when he was

away for three years is explained by the way he becomes the master of Wuthering Heights and

also Thrushcross Grange on his return. Infact the unknown origins of Heathcliff, his unusual

appearance and the way he suddenly becomes wealthy creates a sense of mystery around him

and deepens his enigmatic character. He is a typical Byronic hero – dark, brooding, fearless,

capable of deep passions including both love and hatred.

18.4 The story

The story, put very simply, is about the love of Catherine and Heathcliff. Catherine‘s father

finds a small boy Heathcliff on the streets and brings him home. He treats the boy like a son.

The boy is very quiet and does not show a lot of response to either the love of Mr. Earnshaw or

the dislike of most of the other household. The boy sparks hatred in Hindley but his

companionship with Catherine slowly grows into a deep love. After the death of Mr.

Earnshaw,Hindley takes over the farm and does not treat Heathcliff well. He stops the education

of Heathcliff and puts him to work in the farm. He also stops Catherine from spending time with

Heathcliff.He succeeds in the first but fails in the second and Heathcliff and Catherine grow up

defying him and spending long hours in the moors. Once Catherine is hurt while hanging around

in the garden of Thrushcross Grange with Heathcliff and is forced to stay there till she gets

better. Catherine interacts with the Edgar and Isabella who are socially her equal and refined

people. Even on her return to Heights, she keeps up her interaction with the Linton‘s. She is

torn between her passions for Heathcliff and the freedom she feels in his company, and the

refined and socially acceptable interactions she has with the Lintons. Catherine starts

understanding that her relationship with Heathcliff will not be socially acceptable so she agrees

to marry Edgar who is socially her equal. Heathcliff is very disturbed and disappears without a

trace. Catherine meanwhile has settled into her life at Thrushcross Grange where she is adored

by Edgar. Heathcliff comes back after three years as a very wealthy man. Heathcliff‘s return

brings the lovers together again but this time the relationships have become very complex.

Heathcliff is filed with spite for Linton and there are clashes between the two. Heathcliff also

runs away with Isabella and after marrying her, treats her with cruelty and brutishness.

Catherine is unable to contain her love for Heathcliff in spite of all the troubles. But she is also

not able to take the stress of the trouble this brings to her marriage and loses her sanity and

passes away. Catherine passes away and is buried in the moors as she had spent her last few

days longing to be there and wanted to be buried there. Heathcliff is devastated but refuses to

soften up. Heathcliff marries Edgar‘s sister more as a revenge for Catherine marrying Edgar.

She is unable to bear the brutish behavior of Heathcliff and escapes to Grange but Linton refuses

to accept her and she goes too London. She has a son from Heathcliff but Heathcliff has no

interest in either of them and never makes any attempt to meet them. He swindles Hindley into

selling Wuthering heights bit by bit. Hindley had got into a deep problem of drinking and

gambling after his wife had passed in childbirth. Hindley has no affection for his son Hareton

who is taken care of by Nelly. Heathcliff uses this weakness for gambling and drinking to wreck

Hindley and avenge for his past. Hindley dies under very mysterious circumstances and

Heathcliff becomes the master of Wuthering Heights. And as a further revenge, Heathcliff does

not let Hareton get any education or upbringing expected for his station in life. He sends Nelly

away and keeps Hareton with him at Wuthering Heights. He turns the boy into almost a savage,

uncultured, uneducated boy. Catherine‘s daughter Cathy turns into a beautiful and well brought

up girl under the love and care of Edgar and Nelly. Meanwhile Isabella dies and writes to Edgar

to take care of her son. Edgar brings her son Linton to live with them but Heathcliff asks Edgar

to send his son to him. There was no love of paternal concern in this gesture but merely spite

and scheming. Linton is a very sick child and there is no hope that he can live long. Soon

Heathcliff forces Cathy to marry Linton who is seriously ill and almost on his deathbed.

Immediately after this marriage, Edgar passes away and is buried beside Catherine in the moors.

Cathy takes care of Linton in his last days even though she is struggling to come to terms with

her father‘s death and deeply distressed by the circumstances of her marriage. Linton‘s health

deteriorates but Heathcliff refuses to even call the doctor and Linton dies soon. Heathcliff is

now the master of both Heights and Grange and refuses to send Cathy back to Grange. He keeps

her in Heights and treats her with utter contempt and disdain. During this period of struggle,

Cathy develops a deep and intense love for Hareton. Heathcliff meanwhile suddenly becomes

careless about everything and starts spending long hours in the moors. He dies under mysterious

circumstances and is buried beside the graves of Catherine and Edgar. Cathy sustains through

the trials and finally finds happiness in her true love unlike her mother who had died a broken

unfulfilled heart.

18.5 The characters

At the center of the narrative are the Catherine, Cathy and Heathcliff. Catherine‘s basic nature

seeks the freedom that the moors offer. She loves to spend time on the moor away from the

brooding atmosphere of the Wuthering Heights. As she comes in contact with Heathcliff, she

finds in him the same unbridled spirit and love for the moors. Her deep bonding with him is also

not defined by social norms of propriety. But as she grows up she goes against her instincts,

leaves Heathcliff and marries Edgar. Her decision could have risen out of a sense of social

propriety and probably insecurity inherent in the economic status of the women of the time, even

the ones belonging to wealthy families. She justifies her decision before Nelly and confesses to

her deep attachment to Heathcliff which her marriage could not even touch. The relationship of

Heathcliff and Catherine is completely Romantic in spirit – unbound by social traditions,

individualistic and as close to the natural instinct of the characters as possible. Catherine marries

Linton and tries to conform to the social order but fails to curb her love for Heathcliff. Her

actions are often guided by entirely selfish motives as she tries to create a space for herself in the

normal social order. She realizes that marriage to Heathcliff is not going to be a very good

decision for their future, while in marrying Edgar she is securing her social position and

economic status. She is fond of Edgar and does not want to either hurt him or leave him. She is

unable to contain her love for Heathcliff and gives in to it when he returns after three years with

unaccounted for wealth and grooming. Her insanity is also a reflection of the intensity of her

inner turmoil as she strives to strike a balance and fails. Her crisis is a deep crisis of identity

which she fails to resolve. Heathcliff is an even more enigmatic character. He has all the

qualities of a Byronic hero. He has a sense of being an alien in the world he is brought in by Mr.

Earnshaw as a young boy. His origins are not known and cannot be deciphered from the

description of his dark looks and black hair which could make him anything from a gypsy to a

slave or an illegitimate child. He gets the glamour of wealth from unaccounted sources and also

gets education and manners of the genteel classes in a very short time. His nature is as much

ruled by his passions as Catherine‘s is and is a combination of a deep love for Catherine and a

burning hatred for Hindley. The two emotions define his character and drive all his actions in

the novel. He disappears when Catherine marries Edgar, becomes a rich and educated man and

comes back and marries Isabella who is Edgar‘s sister. He also cheats Edgar and takes over

Thrushcross Grange driven by the urge to avenge the loss Catherine. Hatred for Hindley is the

reason why he comes back and cheats Hindley into mortgaging Wuthering Heights bit by bit.

Led by the same hatred, he does not get Hareton educated and makes sure that he grows up into a

completelyilliterate savage, and unrefined young man. There is a bond between the two as

Hareton grows up, which implies that Heathcliff identifies Hareton with himself as he was at that

age. Infact Hareton is the only one who actually mourns his loss on his death. This unlikely

affection is in contrast to the equally unreasonable hatred Hindley had nursed against Heathcliff

and that had led him to reduce the later to the status of a servant when his father has treated him

as a son. He is ruthless and cunning and there is nothing to redeem him except his love for

Catherine. She is the only one for whom he is capable of displaying a positive attachment, for

everyone else he is hatred and ruthlessness incarnate. But he has an acute consciousness of this

selfish and ruthless aspect of his nature. His behavior is like that of a man possessed and so

hardly able to control his actions. It is this consciousness which puts the reader in doubt about

his being a complete villain. The deliberateness of his actions and the hatred that drove him

becomes all the more obvious in the description of the last few days of his life where he lets go

of the Hareton and Cathy whom he had diabolically contrived to strip of happiness and love.

They seem to transform into reflections of Catherine in his eyes instead of painful reminders of

his deprivations and losses and he can no more hurt them. Catherine and Heathcliff completely

identify with each other. They are guided in their actions only by this natural instinct and

passion for each other. Cathy in a lot of ways is representative of the values that the Victorian

temperament upheld. She is educated, able to restrain herself and sustain through a bad

marriage, she loves Hareton who is as disinherited and uneducated as Heathcliff had been but

unlike her mother who thought it would ―degrade me to marry Heathcliff‖, she neither rebels nor

gives up on her love but working patiently within the social limits, finally takes her relationship

to her desired culmination. Her patient nature is in contrast to the impulsive nature of her

mother. Unlike Catherine who was unable to remain in her marriage with Edgar because it went

against her grain, even though there was nothing she could complain about, Cathy sustains her

marriage with Linton in spite of the way he treated her. Her nursing him through his last few

days when Heathcliff abandons him to die reflects the strength of her character and the humanity

of her spirit. Linton realizes his mistake and is acutely aware of his weakness that led to his

actions. Once again it is his awareness of his frailty that stops him being considered as evil or

wicked. Set within this frame narrative of patience, the story of the passions of Catherine and

Heathcliff seems even more remarkable. The reader is led to admire the character of Cathy and

accept the unreasonable selfishness and ruthlessness of the elder couple, but the honesty of the

two souls, their inability to sustain pretensions and their complete identification with each other

is the most fascinating part of the timeless quality of the story.

18.6 The Victorian and the Romantic impact

Like most fiction of the time, the novel explores relationships in various aspects. Relationships

of both love and marriage are the explored. There is a clear influence of the both the romantic

spirit of adventure and freedom and the Victorian middle class values and sense of propriety in

the evolution of the relationships in the novel. The central idea that love can be deep and true

unbound by social constraints, it could be an all-consuming uncompromising emotion as well as

the driving force of one‘s life is high Romanticism. The love of the two central characters for

the freedom of the moors is also symbolic of their own free uninhibited spirits. Unfettered by

social bonds, their final burial place is also where they found the truest expression of their spirits

and also of their love. But the Victorian impact could be seen in the way their relationship,

though not criticized, is shown to be unfulfilled while the relationship of Cathy and Hareton

reaches a happy conclusion because it has the social sanction. The Romantic idea engaged in

here is that love could be the reason to die as in the case of Heathcliff and Catherine, or the

reason to live as in case of Hareton and Cathy. Marriage on the other hand is a social

commitment which involves a responsibility and here the Victorian impact is very strong.

Catherine was unable to accept the compromises and the responsibility that her marriage with

Edgar involved and the result is unhappiness and trauma. Heathcliff‘s marriage with Isabella

and its torment is also fallout of this inability of the two lovers to understand the implied

commitments of marriage. In both cases, the novelist through her Victorian narrator Nelly brings

out the unfortunate consequences of violations of the social norms. On the other hand, Cathy

understands the responsibility and creates a positive impact on the lives of the people around her.

Heathcliff has an unknown lineage and his physical appearance is also not very helpful in the

matter. He is described as dark haired and dark eyed and at one point, it is said that he could

pass for a child of a Chinese king or an Indian princess. His inability to conform to the Christian

ways addsto the difficulty in establishing an identity. The Victorian middleclass reader would

find it rather hard to look upon him as a hero since he does not show any qualities to be

emulated. Catherine too is not ladylike in her behavior by Victorian standards. Her love for the

moors and her refusal to adopt ladylike manners initially are criticized by Nelly. Though she

does marry Edgar as her station in life would have demanded, her inability to remain committed

to the bond of marriage is unpardonable. Her trauma and crisis are, by implication, a result of

her inability to remain committed to her marriage – the most sacred institution in the eyes of the

Victorian mindset. The strongly individualistic temperaments and uninhibited display of

passions that the lovers display are romantic and very attractive, but such unfettered

individualism becomes nihilistic in the end. A strong impact of the Gothic is seen in various

ways in across the novel. The wild location of wuthering heights is very much under the impact

of the Gothic fiction. Catherine‘s ghost haunting Heights, Heathcliff‘s constant presence

commented upon as diabolic, unholy and his unknown origins create an enigmatic hero who has

more qualities of the anti-hero

18.7 The Geographical Location

The novel is set in the Yorkshire moors and in the love of the moors of most of the character

including Catherine, Heathcliff, Edgar, Cathy and Hareton reflects the love the novelist herself

had for the pace. The moors are the refuge that the battered and troubled souls found solace in.

They are also associated with the happiest moments in the lives of the characters. Catherine and

Heathcliff ‗s love blossomed in the moors, Cathy loved going for walks out in the moors and

after falling in love with Hareton, the two often spent time together there. The moors as a

symbol of nature are therefore also the place the Heathcliff and Catherine with their impulsive

uninhibited temperaments sought spontaneously. They could identify with it naturally and

yearned to be out there free and carefree.The free spiritedness and the sense of belonging that

they share is also associated with the moors. It is only when they were together on the moors

that they were completely happy. Neither Thrushcross Grange nor Wuthering Heights gives

them that joy. It is the moorswith its wilderness and isolation which identify it with the free

spirit of nature that also rules the temperaments of the two lovers. It is this freedom that

Catherine had sacrificed in entering into the marriage with Edgar and that she yearns fortill the

end. Wuthering Heights is a dark brooding imposing place that has been interpreted as hellish.

It is cannot give solace to the people who live in it. The dark foreboding atmosphere, the

location in the isolated wilderness exposed to the winds strong enough to permanently bend the

trees around it do not look inviting or prove to be hospitable. It is a contrast to the warmth and

comfort of Thrushcross Grange. In a lot of ways Wuthering Heights is a reflection of the love of

Catherine and Heathcliff- unbound, proud, and free from social bondages, existing in a world of

its own.

The Wuthering Heights is itself reminiscent of the building described in the Gothic novels. It has

an isolated ‗primitive‘ location in the wilderness, where it is stands exposed to the ravages of the

elements. It is far from normal social interactions and the hovering spirit of Catherine sensed by

Lockwood further creates a place which is as fascinating and close to the spirit of nature as the

passions of Heathcliff and Catherine. Their spirits seem to hover at Wuthering Heights and the

Moors, places associated with the essential spirit of their relationship. The other house in the

novel, Thrushcross Grange is much closer to social life, and hence associated with normal social

existence which Catherine tries to embrace. She fails to curb her natural impulses and falls into

insanity as a result of the conflict. Cathy, who grows up there, inherits the spirit of Catherine

and the temperance of Edgar. She, therefore, has a balanced temperament that enables her to

resist the hatred of Heathcliff and also to create a life for herself as she wants. Hareton and

Cathy fall in love in at Wuthering heights but decide to shift to Thrushcross after marriage

symbolically moving into the accepted social structure, bond by a socially accepted relationship.

The house is rented to Lockwood who is one of the narrators of the story and again a balanced

and cultivated mind.

18.8 Plot construction

In the construction of the plot, the novelist does not use a lot of chance happenings or accidents

to further the story as a lot of the novelists of the time did. The story is very well crafted and

though the plot shifts between the past and the present using several timeframes, the narrative

never really loses the grip over the plot. It works within a very limited social canvas and uses

few characters but those it does are well defined. The character of both the protagonists is not

idealized. Their behavior is not like typical romantic heroes and heroines. There is a selfish

streak in Catherine who leads her to marry Edgar for his charm and social status. Still more on

Heathcliff‘s return, she put Edgar under pressure to accept the former‘s presence in Grange. She

does this in spite of the fact that she can read the character of Heathcliff closely and knows that

apart from herself, he is incapable of loving anyone else and his presence at Grange can only

bring disruption there. She also knows how Heathcliff is swindling her brother of his property

but refuses to speak on his behalf. This is not how a romantic heroine is supposed to be like

especially in the Victorian mindset. And even more surprising is the portrayal of character of

Heathcliff whose actions are cruel and vindictive to the extreme tempered only his love for

Catherine. He abides by none of the characteristics which are the hallmark of a romantic hero.

Not only is he incapable of loving anyone except Catherine. But also does not stop to show

remorse or pity to those whom he finds hateful. Emily Bronte‘s succeeds in creating them

convincingly at a time when the anti-hero was not a much explored idea reflects her competence

as a narrator. To think of protagonists in an extra-marital affair and to make them vulnerable to

human weaknesses could not have been easily conceivable at that time especially since she was

the daughter of a clergyman and had led a very protected and secluded life in the countryside.

18.9 Narrative style and narrators

Even more remarkable is the narrative style of the novel. It involves two clear narrators as

Lockwood whose narration is includes the narration by Nelly who in turn at times gives a

reported account of events. It is very interesting because this layered narrative also involves

making the narrators distinct through their language. So the genteel educated and literary

language of Lockwood is clearly demarcated from the Nelly‘s language that comes from the

lower class but is self-educated and has read a lot. So her language might not be that of the

genteel but it is also not totally the dialect that the other servants like Joseph and Zillah speak.

And where she is reporting what others have told her, she speaks from memory but her language

is faithful to that of the narrators. So we see that the narrative that comes to us is in certain

places filtered as many as three times. In using so many sources, the novelist is maintaining the

element of reliability of the narrative and establishing the credibility of the events in our eyes.

But as far as far as their reliability as narrators is concerned, Lockwood has had no interaction

with most of the major characters and being an outsider, he has very limited interaction with

those who still around. His first impressions about most of the characters he personally meets

aremislaid and he is lead to revise them time and again. He mostly depends on Nelly for his

perspective and Nelly being not just a silent witness but also a crucial agents in many events, is

judgmental and biased. But even through this bias, the novelist brings out the characters with

shades other than those Nelly sees them in. Her disapproval of the Catherine‘s relationship with

Heathcliff or her approval of Edgar are typically Victorian and very clearly so as is her affection

for Cathy and Hareton and her approval of their relationship and revealed through her narrative

of the story which also equally strongly brings out her prejudice towards Heathcliff. The

novelist brings out these aspects of the story and reveals it all through the simplicity of Nelly‘s

narrative since she is not a very skillful narrator and is also emotionally involved with the fate of

the characters. But she does skip out the unrelated events and jumps in time frames to keep the

narrative streamlined and Lockwood engaged in the story. There is much to be read between the

lines for the reader. But it does not make the narrative vague or unclear. This is very skillfully

carried out by the novelist through her detailed treatment of the way the plot builds up.

In terms of the narrative technique, in fact, the novel has over the years intrigued the critics. The

layered narrative with multiple points of narration and multiplicity of voices adds to the richness

of the text. It creates a polyphonic text that is open to more than one interpretations depending

upon the perspective from which the reader choses to look at the text. For example the character

of Catherine could be looked upon as a strong headed and wild, thoughtless and selfish or deeply

passionate and clear-hearted and each interpretation will be true depending upon how we look at

it. This polyphonic quality of the text was one of the reasons why the critics were baffled by the

novel initially and did not know how to interpret it. In fact they found only the closing of the

story with a long suffering heroine finding love in a kindhearted lover and the rightful heirs

getting their inheritance to be the most acceptable and appreciable. That was the time when

straightforward narratives were the norm in fiction and direction of the story could be established

without problem.

18.10 Theoretical interpretations

The novel has been a subject of analysis by critics using various approaches because of this

polyphonic quality of the text ranging from formalists to Marxists to psychoanalysts, from

feminists to post-colonialists.

A- Feminist interpretation- The women in the novel are a very interesting group.

Not only Catherine and Cathy but also the other women like Nelly, Isabella and

even Zillah have something to say to the reader. Cathy does provide an example

of the woman within the Victorian parameters of the term. It is Catherine who

offers the tricky question. And to some extent, Emily Bronte‘s characterization

stands answerable through the Victorian ideas of womanhood again.Her

behaviour is unseemly in that age and time for a woman of her standing in

society. Her love for Heathcliff and her defiance of the social norms initially

could have been overlooked but after her marriage, her continued involvement

with Heathcliff is inappropriate for the Victorian mindset. Her consequent

madness could be justified by this refusal to observe the social decorum. Her

madness is the only available option for a woman in Victorian society who cannot

walk out her marriage under any circumstances. The Victorian reader could have

read it as retribution but the feminist critics read it differently. For the women in

the Victorian society, inheritance rights were very unfavourable and marriage was

the only security available for them. Catherine justifies her acceptance of Edgar‘s

proposal for this reason to Nelly. Her madness has been interpreted by Elaine

Showalter in ―The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture 1830 –

1980‖ as a yearning for the childhood and its freedom and security. Zillah says at

one point in the novel about Isabella that her position is worse than Zillah‘s

because the latter could at least earn a living by herself but for Isabella, even that

road is closed and she is bound to suffer in the marriage with Heathcliff.

A very interesting interpretation of Heathcliff‘s character is provided by Gilbert and

Gubar (1979) in ―The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the

Nineteenth-Century Imagination‖ (1979) when they propose that Heathcliff because

of his lack of a lineage and family name and economic deprivation could be classed

as a feminine character. He faces the same dilemma and crisis of identity that the

women in the Victorian society face. In fact his defiance of the patriarchal status of

Linton and Edgar is almost a Feminist protest against patriarchy. Another way he is

a feminine character comes from the beginning of the story where Catherine asks her

father for a whip and he brings home Heathcliff. Her desire for control is manifested

in her demand for the whip and Heathcliff proves to be a manifestation of that

demand. He completes her identity as she says – ―I am Heathcliff‘. The two have

pointed out to a division of the novel along feminine and male principals.

Thrushcross Grange, Edgar, Culture are the masculine being manifestations of

Heaven and order while Catherine, nature, Heathcliff, and Wuthering Heights are the

feminine aspects, manifested as wild and hellish in the novel.

B- Marxist interpretation– an interesting interpretation of the novel is provided by

the Marxist critics who look at the novel as a manifestation of the eternal class

struggle. At the top of the bourgeois set up is Thrushcross Grange and Cathy with

her bourgeois values and upbringing, feels most at ease in it. Wuthering Heights

on the other hand represents the changes in society being run by the servants for

all practical purposes. Even Hareton remains at Heights till he is dispossessed

and shifts to Grange when after the death of Heathcliff, he becomes the heir to the

property. It is the character of Heathcliff which most interests the critics. He is

not just a destitute but also devoid of any lineage or heredity – a part of the

mobile workforce that came out of the increasing industrialization. His coming

into the Yorkshire country with its more or less settled division between the

landed bourgeois and the working class disturbs the balance. Marxist critic Terry

Eagleton in his book ―Myths of Power: A Marxist study of the Bronte‘s‖ gives an

interesting reading in this regard. He says that Heathcliff is the threat and the

opportunity for the social system. He redefines and reinterprets it, defying the set

patterns with his rootless identity. His ownership of the two places- Wuthering

Heights and Thrushcross Grange - associated with the highest bourgeois identity

in the region is symbolic of the changing times and the new order of things in

society.

C- Postcolonial interpretation – In the post-colonial interpretation, an important

work is ―Imperialism at Home: Race and Victorian Women's Fiction‖ by Susan

Meyer. She proposes that Heathcliff is often referred to as a savage and is

described as having a dark hair and dark skin. He was also speaking a gibberish

language when he was found by Mr. Earnshaw on the streets of Liverpool. It is

also said by Catherine that he could very well be the son of an Indian princess or a

Chinese emperor. This alien appearance could be rooted in any of the colonies of

Britain at that time and could explain the instant dislike he generated in most of

the people around him. The prejudices he faced were in that case not those of a

personal nature but arose out of a deep racial discrimination and made the

acceptance of Heathcliff in the conservative rural society impossible.

Some other interesting interpretations have been provided by critics along other

approaches as well. Dorothy Van Ghent applies the formalist techniques of

interpretation and looks at the many windows in Wuthering heights as possible escape

routes from the prison like structure. Philip Wion takes the psychological method and

proposes that there is an emphasis in the novel on food and the food consumed in the

two houses could be representative of the engagement of the two places with the

senses. Also the loss of appetite could be a loss of vitality and a movement towards

death.

18.11 Interesting facts

The three Bronte sisters had brought out a poetry collection which had 21 poems by

Emily. It sold just two copies. Her poems were considered to be the better ones in the

collection.

A respected journal reviews the novel as under, showing how the critics could see the

brilliance of the work but could not accept the unconventional characters and story

threads -

―Wuthering Heights is a strange sort of book,—baffling all regular criticism; yet, it is impossible

to begin and not finish it; and quite as impossible to lay it aside afterwards and say nothing

about. In Wuthering Heights the reader is shocked, disgusted, almost sickened by details of

cruelty, inhumanity, and the most diabolical hate and vengeance, and anon come passages of

powerful testimony to the supreme power of love – even over demons in the human form. The

women in the book are of a strange fiendish-angelic nature, tantalizing, and terrible, and the men

are indescribable out of the book itself. Yet, towards the close of the story occurs the following

pretty, soft picture, which comes like the rainbow after a storm....We strongly recommend all our

readers who love novelty to get this story, for we can promise them that they never have read

anything like it before. It is very puzzling and very interesting, and if we had space we would

willingly devote a little more time to the analysis of this remarkable story, but we must leave it to

our readers to decide what sort of book it is." - Douglas Jerrold's Weekly Newspaper